Artist & Tune
About the Song
What if no matter how angry he was
How outraged he was, how furious he was
What if no matter how angry he was
He couldn't lay hands on a gun? (2x)
What if no matter how right he was
How wrong they were, how evil they were
What if no matter how right he was
He couldn't lay hands on a gun? (2x)
(in G) C - G - / D C G - :// D C G -
No rifle, no shotgun, no pistol in sight
No revolvers, automatics, no assault guns tonight
No clips crammed with bullets anywhere to be found
No weapons just laying around
D - G - / / C - G - / A - D (bass run C B A)
What if no matter how outraged he was
How furious he was, how murderous he was
What if no matter how outraged he was
He couldn't lay hands on a gun? (2x)
If he dug through his Chevy, the back seat, the trunk
The attic, the basement, piles of old junk
Came up empty-handed again and again
Tell me, what would he do then?
What if no matter how angry he was
How outraged he was, how furious he was
What if no matter how angry he was
He couldn't lay hands on a gun? (2x)
- words & music by Tom Paxton (c) 2011 Pax Music (ASCAP). All rights reserved.
Tom wrote this song after the 2011 attempted assasination of Rep. Gabby Giffords of Arizona by a man who was angry she wasn't doing more to resist immigration across the southern border of his state.
The song can be found on recordings he made of a tour with The DonJuans folk duo.