Potter's Field

Written by:

Times Played 303
First Played 04-16-2003
Last Played  07-16-2025

Lyrics:

  • Capo 3rd fret

  • E|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  • B|----------------0-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
  • G|-------0--2--2-----2--0------------------------------------------------------0-----------0-
  • D|--0h2--------------------2--2--0-----0--0--2--0-----------------0--0--2-----2--0--2---
  • A|--------------------------------------3---------------3--------0--2---------------------------
  • E|----------------------------------------------------------3--3----------------------------------


  • E|--------------------
  • B|--------0-----------
  • G|--2--2-----2--0--2
  • D|--------------------
  • A|--------------------
  • E|--------------------

  • Verse: Am C G G* Em Am
  • Chorus: Am G Am Am* Am; Am G Am Em Am x2
  • Bridge: F Am x3; G F x2
  • I'm just a traveler passing through
  • I wont haunt or bother you
  • Though you could lend an ear to my story

  • You can call me old Jack
  • You might have seen me caped in Black
  • As I roam the streets of the village

  • In her long flowing hair
  • You might find my story there
  • Though it was not my own hand that killed her

  • I went down a moon lit trail
  • Rode out on a rail
  • And began my long life of journeys

  • In the ripple that rolls on the water
  • In the high rolling wave out at sea
  • In the shadow that flies on the valley
  • In the middle is where you'll find me

  • In a foul tub of a boat
  • My passage I did float
  • Joined the ranks right on the docks of the city

  • In the fire of the Devil's den
  • With the gray-coated men
  • I lost all my hope and my two brothers

  • So I wandered in the West
  • I settled down and did my best
  • But my heart was unsteady and restless

  • I took a room on Houseton Street
  • Where the pawned poets would meet
  • And we poured out the wine of the ages

  • In the ripple that rolls on the water
  • In the hard-hearted moon we both see
  • In the shadow that falls in the alley
  • In a riddle is where I will be

  • Ten little fingers...
  • Ten little toes...
  • Sleep little baby...
  • Will you ever know?
  • Will you ever know?

  • Years ago my lid was sealed
  • They threw me down in the potter's field
  • With the souls of the lost and forgotten

  • And though my name is dead and gone
  • I remain and I carry on
  • And I roam with an old band of brothers

  • And if you strum the ancient string
  • You may call my spirit in
  • Or if you blow on the whole of the whistle

  • By an old highland air
  • I may stop and listen there
  • Or when the wren pulls her nest from the thistle

  • In the ripple that rolls on the water
  • In the high rollin' wave out at sea
  • In the shadow that flies in the valley
  • In a riddle is where you'll find me

  • High above the cuillen moor
  • Stands the ole' man of storr
  • In the mist, the stone, and the mountain

  • If you scramble up that scree
  • Won't you stay a while for me
  • And watch the white rollin' waves wash the island


  • G*: G w/2nd string 3rd fret
  • E|-----3-----
  • B|-----3-----
  • G|-----0-----
  • D|-----0-----
  • A|-----2------
  • E|-----3------

  • Am*: Just release 2nd & 3rd fingers from Am for one strum.
  • E-----0-----
  • B-----1-----
  • G-----0-----
  • D-----0-----
  • A-----0-----
  • E-----x-----