C        Am C                 Am C
Hey Nelly Nelly, come to the window
 C         Am C   Am      G     Am
Hey Nelly Nelly, look at what I see
       Dm                   Am
He's riding into town on a sway back mule
      Dm                     Am
Got a tall black hat and he looks like a fool
    Dm                            F    G
He sure is talkin' like he's been to school,
         Am G Am
And it's 1853


[Verse 2]
 C        Am C                 Am C
Hey Nelly Nelly, listen what he's sayin'
 C         Am C   Am      G            Am
Hey Nelly Nelly, he says it's gettin' late
     Dm                     Am
Says all them black folks should all be free
    Dm                     Am
To walk around the same as you and me
    Dm                                 F  G
He's talkin' 'bout a thing he calls democracy,
         Am G Am
And it's 1858


[Verse 3]
 C        Am C                 Am C
Hey Nelly Nelly, hear the band a playing
 C         Am C   Am      G     Am
Hey Nelly Nelly, hand me down my gun
          Dm                       Am
Cause the men are cheerin and the boys are too
        Dm                    Am
They're all puttin' on their coats of blue
    Dm                           F    G
I can't sit around here and talk to you,
           Am G Am
Cause it's 1861


[Verse 4]
 C        Am C                 Am C
Hey Nelly Nelly, Come to the window
 C         Am C   Am         G   Am
Hey Nelly Nelly, I've come back alive
    Dm               Am
My coat of blue is stained with red
        Dm                    Am
And the man in the tall black hat is dead
    Dm                                F  G
We sure will remember all the things he said,
         Am G Am
And it's 1865


[Verse 5]
 C        Am C                 Am C
Hey Nelly Nelly, come to the window
 C         Am C   Am      G      Am
Hey Nelly Nelly, look at what I see
       Dm                               Am
I see white folks and coloured walkin' side by side
         Dm                              Am
They're marchin'  in a column that's a century wide
              Dm                      F    G
It's still a long and a hard and a bloody ride,
         Am G Am
And it's 1963