REMEMBER THE ALAMO - chords and comments


Jane Gardner Riley Bowers was an internationally recognized songwriter who withdrew from publicity and trade, conflicting the music industry. 35 titles are registered with BMI, many of them recorded by the Kingston Trio. But this one was first cut by Tex Ritter in 1955, *then* made famous by the trio. Else, little information about her is available, except for her birthday (29th of May 1921) and dying day (18th of June 2000), and that her settlement in Texas was lifelong.
The scene is the Battle of the Alamo, where more than 200 texians were massacred in the Texas Revolution(1835-1836) climax, which is described in THIS article, and the songtitle is a slogan that arose immediately after the battle was over.
The song is regarded as one of the best western songs ever written, and I remember it from my childhood. Why I didn't capture it until 2019, the heck I know ...
G              D7           Em            C        G  ...D7...G...D7
a hundred and eighty were challenged by Travis to die
      G             D7            Em            C          G  ...D7...G...G7
by a line that he drew with his sword when the battle was nigh
     C                          Bm               E7
the man who would fight to the death would cross over
    Am              C           G ...D7
but him that would live better fly
    G         D7             Em          C       G  ...G7
and over the line stepped a hundred and seventy nine

     C                                            Bm ...B7
high up Santa Anna  we're killing your soldiers below
         Am      C         G ...E7
for the rest of Texas to know
     Am          G    ...D7...G...D7...G
and remember the Alamo
Harlan Howard once said that the success formula for a country song was "3 chords + the truth". Well, this song sure tells the truth, at least a part of it, but deserves more than 3 chords. Johnny Cash played it that way, but he always did: if a song needed more, he shuffled the guitar onto his back and left it to his band.
The introduction to this site states that the harmonies are the way *I* play it. In this case, I've applied the E7, B7, Em and Am to make it more exciting.
G major
G
G seventh
G7
D seventh
D7
C major
C
A minor
Am
B minor
Bm
B seventh
B7
E minor
Em
E seventh
E7