Jan182022

June Carter Cash – Ole Slew Foot Chords on Piano & Ukulele

Updated January 8, 2026

ChordsC F G

KeyKeyCapo

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[Intro]
C      C      F      C      C

[Verse 1]
C
High on the mountain
what do I see
        C
There's bear tracks,
            F               C
bear tracks lookin' back at me
    C
You better get your rifle
boys before it's too late
     C
That bear's got a little pig
    F              C
and headed for the gate

[Chorus]
     G
He's bigger around the middle and
     C
he's broad across the rump
        G
Runnin' ninety miles an hour
       C
takin' forty feet jumps
      C
Ain't never been caught,
he ain't never been treat
    C
And some folks say he
        F        C
looks a lot like me

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[Instrumental]
G      G      C      C
G      G      C      C
C      C      C      C
C      C      F      C      C

[Verse 2]
       C
Well I got me some money
and I got me some bees
    C
And they started makin'
      F             C
honey way up in the trees
  C
I chopped down the trees
cause my honey's all gone
C                    F
Old Slew foot's done made
           C
himself at home

[Chorus]
     G
He's bigger around the middle
         C
and he's broad across the rump
        G
Runnin' ninety miles an hour
       C
takin' forty feet jumps
      C
Ain't never been caught,
he ain't never been treat
C
Some folks say he looks
  F        C
a lot like daddy

Feel free to use our free Chord Shape Generator to see every chord in this song on guitar, ukulele and piano.

[Instrumental]
G      G      C      C
G      G      C      C
C      C      C      C
C      C      F      C      C

[Verse 3]
C
Winter's comin' on and
it's forty below
    C
The river's frozen over
   F            C
so where can he go
    C
I'd get me a rifle boys
and run him in the well
       C
Then I shoot him in the
       F                C
bottom just to hear him yell

[Chorus]
     G
He's bigger around the middle
         C
and he's broad across the rump
        G
Runnin' ninety miles an
            C
hour takin' forty feet jumps
      C
Ain't never been caught,
he ain't never been treat
    C
And some folks say he
        F
looks a lot like my Johnny

[Outro]
C

How to play Ole Slew Foot: key, chords and progression

These are the chords for Ole Slew Foot by June Carter Cash on Piano, Ukulele, Guitar, and Keyboard

Ole Slew Foot by June Carter Cash keeps coming home to C major (no sharps or flats). You need 3 chords: C, F and G.

The backbone of the song is C – F – C – G (I – IV – I – V in C major). In solfa, that is doh – fah – doh – soh. Practise these 4 changes until they feel natural and you can play most of it.

Easier on guitar: put a capo on the 3rd fret and play the shapes A, D, E (100% of the chords become easy open shapes, against 67% without a capo). It sounds exactly the same.