Key: E
Introduction:
Bm G
Barren rocks and sand, our wooden sculpture hands,
Bm D G
held like a timber hitch, held candles to the sun
Bm G
Both faint and fading fast, we walked on, windward
Bm D G
kept time with a pocketmouse, mouths kept mostly shut
Bm G
Thought broke the silence like a bone
Bm
half-moaned: "you've worn me like an albatross,
D G
I've only slowed you down.
Bm G
You could've long traded in your braided crown
Bm D G
by now you could've found that Anabaptist girl you always used to go on about
Bm G
As we rode in circles on our bicycles
Bm D G
we walked on balance beams as the audience cheered for us
Bm G
We burned like fevers under carriage hats
Bm
hid behind Venetian masks
D G
In our human costumes
Bm G
We stood like statues once in shepherd's check
Bm
we'll both be decked in herringbone,
D G
wrapped border drab around already broken ironstone"
Bm
"But I've seen these cliffs before,
G Bm
St. Agnes brought her palm branch to the hospital
D G
looked upward lest the charm had fled
from my brother's breathing bed
Bm
He looked just like me
D G
climb on down and see
Bm G
they laid him on the rocks below
Bm
there'll be enough to fill your cup for days
D G
I'll stay up here and rest.
Bm G
We'll fly in straight lines as from carronades
Bm D G
we'll crash like tidal waves, decimate the islands
Bm G
As our hollowed lumber falls like water, ends where I start
Bm D G
In that tattered rag shop back in Asbury Park
Em Bm
Look how soon my hands won't move
but if you'll improve, we'll all improve