Intro  
| Am | Am | (2/4) G | Am | Am 
 
Verse
| Am                                    | Am     |  
  Man walkin' 'long the railroad tracks   . . . . 
| * C                                | G 
   Goin' some place there's no going back . . 
           | G                                      | G 
  Highway patrol choppers comin' up over the ridge   . . . . 
   |* Am                 G        | Am 
  Hot soup on a campfire under the bridge 
| Am                                       | Am 
  Shelter line stretchin' round the corner   . . . . 
| * C                       | G 
   Welcome to the new world order 
          | G                                      | G 
  Families sleepin' in their cars in the Southwest  . . . . 
  | * Am               G        | Am 
  No home, no job, no peace, no rest 
 
Chorus
           | F                       | F 
  Well, the highway is alive tonight  . . . . 
            | * C                    C/B    | Am 
  But nobody's kiddin' nobody about where it goes 
     | G                                       | G 
  I'm sittin' down here in the campfire light   . . . . 
| * Am                G           | Am 
   Searchin' for the ghost of Tom Joad 
 
Verse 2
            | Am                                  | Am 
  He pulls a prayer book out of his sleeping bag   . . . . 
        | * C                           | G 
  Preacher lights up a butt and takes a drag 
                      | G 
  Waitin' for when the last shall be first 
                              | G 
  And the first shall be last   . . . . 
    | * Am                       G   | Am 
  In a cardboard box 'neath the underpass 
 
           | Am                                  | Am 
  You got a one-way ticket to the promised land   . . . . 
 
         | * C                                   | G 
  You got a hole in your belly and a gun in your hand 
 | G                                  | G 
  Sleeping on a pillow of solid rock   . . . . 
| * Am                    G  | Am 
   Bathin' in the city's aqueduct 
 
Chorus
           | F                       | F 
  Well, the highway is alive tonight  . . . . 
| * C                 C/B     | Am 
   Where it's headed everybody knows 
     | G                                       | G 
  I'm sittin' down here in the campfire light   . . . . 
| * Am             G           | Am 
   Waitin' on the ghost of Tom Joad . . . 
 
Harmonica Solo
| F | F | * C  C/B | Am | (2/4) G | Am | Am 
 
| Am               | Am      |  
  . . Now Tom said,  . . . . 
          | Am                            | Am      |  
 "Mom, wherever there's cop beatin' a guy  . . . . 
          | * C                  | G 
  Wherever a hungry newborn baby cries 
                 | G                                           | G 
  Where there's a fight against the blood and hatred in the air . . . . 
| * Am                G      | Am 
   Look for me, Mom. I'll be there . . . 
          | Am                                     | Am 
  Wherever somebody's fightin' for a place to stand . . . . 
    | * C                      | G 
  Or a decent job or a helping hand 
          | G                               | G 
  Wherever somebody's strugglin' to be free  . . . . 
| * Am                      G         | Am 
   Look in their eyes, Ma. You'll see me" . . . 
 
Chorus
           | F                       | F 
  Well, the highway is alive tonight  . . . . 
| * C                 C/B     | Am 
   Where it's headed everybody knows 
     | G                                       | G 
  I'm sittin' down here in the campfire light   . . . . 
| * Am                G      | Am 
   With the ghost of old Tom Joad 
 
Outro 
| F | F | * C C/B | Am | G | G | * Am . G | Am 
| F | F | * C C/B | Am | G | G | * Am . G | Am (hold and let ring out)