William
By Chris Knight

Capo 3

G Cadd9 D G

G               D 
Well I remember William
   Cadd9                  G
We weren't much more than kids
    Cadd9             G
His family lived in a run down shack
         D                       Cadd9
Like the rest of the white trash did
G              D
Now me and ole William
           Cadd9                G
We used to smoke out behind the barn
        Cadd9                     G
Til his daddy caught him stealing cigarettes
        D                        G
I still think he broke William's arm

When I was drinkin my first beer
Ole William was getting high
He got kicked out of school for fightin and drugs
And he stayed out late at night
He never said too much about home
Or the bruises on his back
I asked him about ‘em one time
But he never answered back

Chorus:
C
Yeah William
    D                G
You grew up hard and mean
    C                         G
You weren't the apple of your mama's eye
         D                      G
And your daddy was a burned out fiend
G                       D
For what it's worth now William
           C                       G
I know you could've had a heart of gold
            C                            G
But I don't think you ever knew that you had one
        D                   G    C  D  G
I don't think you were ever told

He spent a year in reform school
Cause he broke in a hardware store
Now me and William lost track of each other
I never saw him much anymore
The last time I seen William
He was married and had two kids
He tried to raise em like he was supposed to
But sometimes he raised em like his daddy did

Chorus

Well just last Sunday mornin
Momma called me on the phone
Said there's a story in the paper about William
She just thought I might like to know
He got shot by a city cop
While he was robbin a local drugstore
He was survived by two hungry kids, a wife
and a pool of blood on the floor

Chorus