Am/G                C/B
    
                  E A D G B e         E A D G B E
E|-------------| -------------
                  3 x 2 2 1 0         x 2 2 0 1 0

**Capo 2nd fret**  (All chords relative to capo)


[Intro]

(Studio Version): Am 
Intro W/Harmonica*: Am F C C/B Am G Am

*Some live versions and his recording for "The People Speak"


[Verse]

Am                     Am/G   Am
Man walkin‘ long the railroad tracks
C                                 G
Goin‘ some place there’s no going back
Highway patrol choppers comin‘ up over the ridge
    Am                  Am/G      Am
Hot soup on a campfire under the bridge
                        Am/G      Am
Shelter line stretchin‘ round the corner
C                        G
Welcome to the new world order
Families sleepin‘ in their cars in the Southwest
Am                Am/G     Am
No home no job no peace no rest


[Chorus]

F
The highway is alive tonight
             C                    C/B      Am
But nobody’s kiddin‘ nobody about where it goes
G
I’m sittin‘ down here in the campfire light
Am                Am/G         Am
Searchin‘ for the ghost of Tom Joad


[Verse]

Am                                Am/G     Am
He pulls a prayer book out of his sleeping bag
         C                             G
Preacher lights up a butt and takes a drag
Waitin‘ for when the last shall be first and the first shall be last
    Am                  Am/G      Am
In a cardboard box neath the underpass
                        Am/G         Am
Got a one-way ticket to the promised land
         C                                    G
You got hole in your belly and a gun in your hand
Sleeping on a pillow of solid rock
Am                Am/G     Am
Bathin‘ in the city aquaeduct


[Chorus]

F
The highway is alive tonight
             C                    C/B      Am
Where it’s headed everybody knows
G
I’m sittin‘ down here in the campfire light
Am                Am/G         Am
Waitin' on the ghost of Tom Joad


[Harmonica Break]

F  C  C/B  Am  G  Am


[Verse]

Am                     Am/G   Am
Now Tom said: "Mom, wherever there’s cop beatin‘ a guy
C                                 G
Wherever a hungry newborn baby cries
Where there’s a fight gainst blood and hatred in the air
    Am                  Am/G      Am
Look for me Mom I’ll be there
                        Am/G      Am
Wherever there’s somebody fightin‘ for a place to stand
C                        G
Or decent job or helping hand
Wherever somebody’s strugglin‘ to be free
Am                Am/G     Am
Look in their eyes Mom you’ll see me"


[Chorus]

F
Well the highway is alive tonight
             C                    C/B      Am
But nobody’s kiddin‘ nobody about where it goes
G
I’m sittin‘ down here in the campfire light
Am                Am/G         Am
With the ghost of old Tom Joad