danny dill
Horace Eldred Dill (1924 – 2008) wrote this song in 1953, right after signing with Cedarwood; a lifelong affiliation. Jim Reeves recorded it in 1959, made it pretty good, followed by Eddie Arnold two months later. Danny himself taped it in 1963. He's kind of forgotten, though invoked into Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1975 - for 2 major reasons: writing "Long Black Veil" with Marijohn Wilkin and "Detroit City" with Mel Tills. He has signed or cowritten more than 100 songs. After retirement, he returned with the solo album "Quality Is Always in Style"(2006) at the age of 81! A solid craftsman, he was.
two partners went in search of gold as friendly as could be
one was young and one was old and the gay young fool was me
since neither one could write his name we swore upon our souls
to share the wealth and then shook hands
the hands that dug for gold
the summer days were gone at last and winter nights grew cold
the snow had trapped us in the pass when we finally found the gold
we took our fortune to the shack to wait the winter through
but the food ran low so I killed my friend
what else was there to do?
I threw his body just outside into the bitter cold
somehow I had to stay alive : I now had all the gold
but the howling wind just seemed to say «you have killed a man
and you'll never get to spend the gold
with blood upon your hands»
the cabin's covered now with snow and shelves of food are bare
Satan's waiting for me now but I'm too cold to care
is that the devil at the door comin' for my soul
or is it just the old man
that comes looking for his gold?
For the following CHORD section, fullscreen/horizontal mobile is recommended.
Chords in brackets may be omitted.
G D7 G Em7 G D7 G Em two partners went in search of gold as friendly as could be G D7 G Em7 G D7 G Em one was young and one was old and the gay young fool was me D7 G Am D7 since neither one could write his name we swore upon our souls G D7 Em7 C to share the wealth and then shook hands G D7 G the hands that dug for gold
