Remove Ads[Intro]
Em with improvisation into D chord
notes
[Verse 1]
Em D EmI tell it as I best know how
Em D EmAnd that's the way it was told to me
Em GMust have once been a thief or a
whore
G F Eb B7Then surely was thrown overboard
B7Where, they say
Em DI came their way from the deep blue
Em Dsea
Em D EmIt picked me up and tossed me round
Em D EmI lost my shoes and tore my gown
EmI forgot my name
GAnd drowned
G F EbThen woke up with the surf
B7a-pounding;
B7 Em D EmIt seemed I had been run aground
D
Em DWell they took me in and shod my
feet
A C BbAnd taught me prayers for chastity
F C BbAnd said my name would be Colleen,
and
Dm G A B7I was blessed among all women
B7 Em D EmTo have forgotten everything
Em Em Em D Em
Em Em Em D Em
[Verse 2]
Em D EmAnd as the weeks and months ensued
Em D EmI tried to make myself of use
Em GI tilled and planted, but could not
produce--
G F EbNot root, nor leaf, nor flower, nor
B7bean; Lord!
Em D EmIt seemed I overwatered everything
Em DAnd I hate the sight of that empty
air
A C BbLike stepping for a missing stair
F C BbAnd falling forth forever blindly:
Dm G A B7Cannot grab hold of anything! No
Em D EmNot I, most blessed among Colleens
Em Em Em D Em
Em Em Em D Em
[Verse 3]
Em D EmI dream some nights of a funny sea
Em D EmAs soft as a newly born baby
Em GIt cries for me so pitifully!
G FAnd I dive for my child with a
Eb B7wildness in me
Em D Em
And Am so sweetly there received
Em DBut last night came a different
dream:
A C BbA gray and sloping-shouldered thing
F CSaid "What's cinched 'round your
Bbwaist, Colleen?
Dm G A B7Is that my very own baleen?
B7 Em D EmNo! Have you forgotten everything?"
Em Em Em D Em
Em Em Em D Em
[Verse 4]
Em DThis morning, 'round the cape at
Emdawn
Em D EmSome travellers sailed into town
Em GWith scraps for sale and the saddest
songs
G FAnd a book of pictures,
Eb B7leather-bound, that
Em DShowed a whale with a tusk a metre
Emlong
Em DI asked the man who showed it me
A C"What is the name of that strange
Bbbeast?"
F C BbHe said its name translated roughly
to
Dm G A B7 Em DHe-Who-Easily-Can-Curve-Himself-Agai
Emnst-The-Sky
DAnd I Am without words
A C BbHe said "My lady looks perturbed
F C Bb(the light is in your eyes,
Colleen)."
Dm G A B7I said, "Whatever can you mean?"
B7He leaned in and said
Em D Em"You ain't forgotten everything."
Em Em Em D Em
Em Em Em D Em
[Verse 5]
Em Em D Em
Em Em D Em
Em D Em"You dare to speak a lady's name?"
Em D EmHe said, "My lady is mistaken
Em GI would not speak your name in this
place;
G FFor if I were to try then the
Eb B7wind--I swear--
EmWould rise, to tear you clean from
D Emme without a trace."
Em D"Have you come, then, to rescue me?"
A CHe laughed and said, "From what,
Bb'colleen'?
F C BbYou dried and dressed most willingly
Dm G A B7You corseted, and caught the dread
disease
Em DBy which one comes to know such
Empeace."
Em DWell, it's true that I came to know
such things as
A C BbThe laws that govern property
F C BbAnd the herbs to feed the babes that
wean
Dm G A B7The welting weight for every season;
B7But still
Em D EmI don't know any goddamned "Colleen"
Em Em Em D Em
Em Em Em D Em
[Verse 6]
Em DThen dive down there with the lights
to lead
A C BbThat seem to shine from everything--
F C BbDown to the bottom of the deep blue
sea;
Dm G A B7Down where your heart beats so slow
Em DAnd you never in your life have felt
Em so free
DWill you come down there with me?
A C BbDown where our bodies start to seem
like
F C BbArtifacts of some strange dream
Dm G A B7Which afterwards you can't decipher
EmAnd so, soon, have forgotten
D EmEverything
[Outro from "...thing"]
Em D A C Bb
F C Bb
Dm G Am B7
Em D A C Bb
F C Bb
Dm G Am B7
Em D A C Bb D
Video
Add a video
