A                      C        D
Well, I can hear mamma singin' the hangin' tree
  C                        G      A
Sound like someone singin' harmony
A                         C           D
And me and my brother we don't make a peep
 C                     G       A
We go down slow to the hangin' tree
 A                           C       D
Hangin' tree's down by the river's edge
 C                           G        A
We come up stream and peek over the ledge
 A                              C       D
And mamma's got a rope and a kitchen knife
 C                             G          A
And the harmony singer is the preacher's wife
 A                    C           D
Mamma put a bible in her right hand
     C                      G          A
And asked her if she been seein' her man
 A                              C        D
Well, me and my brother don't hear no more
 C                           G        A
Cause right then the rain began to pour
 A                                  C           D
It was an hour past dark when she came back home
          C                   G        A
And we never saw papa round here no more
 A                              C       D
Mamma took to sittin' by the hangin' tree
           C                    G     A
But there ain't no body singin' harmony
 A                              C           D
The preacher's wife she don't leave his side
         C                 G        A
And we ain't got papa to tan no hide
A                      C        D
My older brother he took his life
    C                           G         A
And I took to peepin' on the preacher's wife
A                    C           D
I left my mamma when I was sixteen
   C                             G        A
Strung up in the limbs of the hangin' tree