Shades Of Gray

	  		Shades of Gray  
Robert Earl Keen  
 to play with CD  
Am    C    G        Am  

Am               C  
We made Oklahoma a little after 3  
G                          Am  
Randy, his brother Bob and my old GMC  
Am 
We had some moonshine whiskey  
C  
and some of Bob's homegrown   
G  
we were so messed up we didn't know   
   Am  
if we were drunk or stoned  
Am                    C  
Randy was a sad sack; tall, kinda frail  
G                        Am  
Bob was a raving maniac, crazier than hell  
Am                                   C  
They been kicked out of high school several years ago  
    G                              Am  
for pushin over port a cans at the 4H rodeo  
Am 
Since then they've done their little dance   
C  
right outside the law  
        G                 Am  
popped twice in Oklahoma, once in Arkansas  

and I don't know what possessed me   
C  
to want to tag along  
      G  
Cause I was raised a Christian  
    Am  
and I knew right from wrong  

F                        C  
Right or Wrong, black or white  
G                          Am  
Cross the line you're gonna pay  
C         G              Am  
  In the dawn before the light  
F               G         Am  
Live and die by shades of gray
  

We stole two Charolais heifers from   
Randy's sweetheart's paw  
sold them at the livestock sale  
outside of Wichita  
We got $900 and never did suspect  
the world of hurt we'd be in once   
we cashed that check  
next day we heard the story  
on the local radio  
made our plans that very night   
to go to Mexico  
I swear we would have made it  
if it wasn't for that shine  
I got sick about the time we crossed   
that Kansas line  

Chorus  

I was layin in the bar ditch  
prayin I would die  
when a light come on above us  
and a voice come from the sky  
a half a dozen unmarked cars  
came screeching to a halt  
They grabbed bob, he started screamin  
it was all my fault  
There were men and dogs   
and helicopter buzzin all around  
they had the brothers on the  
pickup hood and me down on the ground  
Bob flew all to pieces but randy he  
held tight when a black man in a  
suit and tie stepped out into the light  
he told his men to turn us loose  
they put down their guns  
he said these are just some   
sorry kids, they ain't the ones  

Chorus  

They left us by the roadside  
down hearted and alone  
Randy got behind the wheel  
said boys I'm going home  
We turned around to face our fate  
hungover but alive on that  
mornin in late April, Oklahoma, 1995  

F                        C  
Right or Wrong, black or white  
G                          Am  
Cross the line you're gonna pay  
C         G            Am  
In the dawn before the light  
F             G         Am  
Live and die by shades of gray  
F             G         Am  
Live and die by shades of gray  

repeat intro