Three Wooden Crosses (Jericho's arrangement)

Artist: Randy Travis (English)
User: Jeremiah McCaw Budnark
Duration: 130 seconds
Delay: 12 seconds
Chord names: Not defined
Abusive:
Comment:
A couple of notes with our arrangement:
The 'C/B' chord can also be played as an 'Em7' chord.
The last 2 lines of the verses as Randy wrote are a 'Dm', not an 'F'. We've just gotten used to, and prefer an 'F' chord.
Randy ends the song on a '5' chord ('G' in the key of 'C') and very effectively. We've chosen to resolve it and credit to my musical partner Eric Bower for the 'F Dm Am' ending,

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Updated last time:
Jeremiah McCaw Budnark,
February 22, 2024, 9:47 PM
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Text

Three Wooden Crosses
Randy Travis  (arr by Jericho)

intro:
     C            C/B           Am                  Am/G
 It's not what you take when you leave this world be-hind you:
     F                 G                 C
 It's what you leave be-hind you when you go.


  C          C/B        Am         Am/G      
 A farmer & a teacher, a hooker & a preacher, 
 F                         C              G
 ridin' on a midnight bus, bound for Mexi-co.
     C             C/B             Am         Am/G    
One was headed for va-cation, one for higher edu-cation, 
  F                G                  C
 & two of them were searchin' for lost souls
     F                          G          
 That driver never, ever saw the stop sign, 
    F                                 G
 and eighteen-wheelers can't stop on a dime.


chorus:
        C            C/B            Am                Am/G
 There are three wooden crosses on the right side of the highway.
 F                            C           G
 Why there's not four of them Heaven only knows. 
             C            C/B           Am                  Am/G
 I guess it's not what you take when you leave this world be-hind you:
     F                 G                 C
 It's what you leave be-hind you when you go.
           
             
                        
     C             C/B        Am        Am/G   
 That farmer left a harvest, a home & 80 acres, 
  F                               C                  G    
 a faith & love for growin' things in his young son's heart
     C                C/B           Am               Am/G       
 & that teacher left her wisdom in the minds of lots of children, 
        F                G            C
 did her best to give 'em all a better start
        F                                      G               
 And the preacher whispered, "Can't you see the Promised Land?”  
      F                           G
 As he laid his bloodstained Bible in that hooker's hand.
         
           
repeat chorus:
          C            C/B            Am                Am/G
 There are three wooden crosses on the right side of the highway.
 F                            C           G
 Why there's not four of them Heaven only knows. 
             C            C/B           Am                  Am/G
 I guess it's not what you take when you leave this world be-hind you:
     F                 G                 C
 It's what you leave be-hind you when you go.
          
          
bridge:     
         Am                                C   
 That's a story that our preacher told last Sunday,
     F                                    C            G
As he held that blood-stained Bible up for all of us to see.     (pause)
                    C              C/B                Am      Am/G
 He said, "Bless the farmer and the teacher __________ and the preacher
              F                     C         G
 Who gave this Bible to my mama, who read it to me."
         
           
final chorus:
         C            C/B            Am                Am/G
There are three wooden crosses on the right side of the highway.
 F                            C           G
 Why there's not four of them now I guess I know
             C            C/B           Am                  Am/G
 I guess it's not what you take when you leave this world be-hind you:
     F                 G                 C
 It's what you leave be-hind you when you go.

tag:
          C            C/B            Am                Am/G    F  Dm  Am
There are three wooden crosses on the right side of the highway

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