Tougher Than Leather chords by Willie Nelson

[Intro]

A     A       
 
 
[Verse]

       A
He was Tougher Than Leather
       A
And he didn't care whether
    D                D
The sun shined or not
       E
When a young kid from Cow Town
E
 Wanted a showdown
           E          
And he was careless or 
               A
just maybe forgot
 
 
[Verse]

       A
But he died in the gunfight
A
Blinded by sunlight
      A7               
Never draw when you're 
               D
facing the sun
        E
And old Tougher Than Leather
     E              
Just carved one more 
             A
notch on his gun
 
 
[Verse]

A                      E
 And when he turned to go
  E7                     E7
A beautiful maiden knelt down
                          A
Where her dead sweetheart lay
A                            B
 And on his breast, placed a rose
          B7         
While the townspeople 
             E  E
stared in dismay
 
 
[Verse]

        A
And old Tougher Than Leather
A
Should have known better
       A            
But he picked up the 
            E
rose in his hand
        E
And the townspeople froze
         E
When his hands crushed the rose
        E           
And the rose petals 
            A   F#
fell in the sand
 
 
[Verse]

        B
And old Tougher Than Leather
      B
Was a full-time go-getter
    B                
The grass never grew 
            F#
beneath his feet

         F#
From one town to another
         F#
He would ride like the wind
        F#       
But his mind kept 
                  B
going back to the street
 
 
[Verse]

        B
Where a young cowboy died
      B
And a young maiden cried
    B           
And rose petals 
            F#
fell in the sand
        F#
And his heart had been softened
       F#
By the beautiful maid
       F#          
And he knew he must 
          B B
see her again
 
 
[Verse]

             B
Well he went back to the town
         B
Where it all had come down
       B                
And he searched but his 
              F#
search was in vain
       F#
He had wanted to find her
    F#
And say he was sorry
    F#          F7   
For causing her heart 
        B
so much pain
 
 
[Verse]

    B
But one night he died
       B
From a poison inside
        B        
Brought on by the 
             F#
wrong he had done
        F#
And old Tougher Than Leather
    F#             
Had carved his last 
             B  G#
notch on his gun
 
 
[Verse]
            C#
Well he was buried in Cow Town
C#
Along about sundown
        C#         
Looking good in his 
                 G#
new store-bought clothes
         G#
When the young maiden came over
    G#7
And knelt down beside him
    G#7                   C#
And on his lapel placed a rose
 
 
[Verse]

C#7                    F#
 There's a bird in the sky
F#                   C#
 Flying high, flying high
C#                 G#
 To a place from a place
G#7                        C#    C#7
 Changing skies, changing skies
 
 
[Outro]

  F#       F#       C#       C#      
  G#7      G#7      C#       C#7     
  F#       F#       C#       C#      
  G#       G#7      C#       C#

ℹ️ About This Song

The track was written by Willie Nelson.

Track Info

• Song: Tougher Than Leather
• Artist: Willie-Nelson
• Produced by Bee Spears & Willie Nelson
• Album: Tougher Than Leather
• Released Date: February 1983

Chords Info

• Tuning: Standard(E A D G B E)
• Key: E
• Chords: A, D, E, A7, E7, B, B7, F#, F7, G#, C#, G#7, C#7
• BPM: 126
• Suggested Strumming:
• D= Down Stroke, U = Upstroke, N.C= No Chord