Em Bb F Em
We set to sail on a packet full of spice, rum and tea-leaves.
Em Bb F Em
We've emptied out all the bars and the Bowery hotels
Em F# G G/B G Em
Tell your daughters do not walk the streets alone tonight
Em F# G E F# G B7
Tell your daughters do not walk the streets alone tonight
B7 B7/A G Em
(La da dum dum)
Em Bb F Em
Tell the tale of the Jewess and the mandarin Chinese boy
Em Bb F Em
He led her down from her gilded canopy of cloth.
Em F# G G/B G Em
And through her blindfold she could make out the figures there before her
Em F# G E F# G B7
And how the air was thick with incense, cardamom and myrrh
B7 B7/A G
CHORUS
C/G Em Em F# G
So goodnight, boys, goodnight
C/G B7
Say goodnight, boys, goodnight
B7 B7/A G Em
La da dum dum
Em C G D B7
La da dum dum...
Em Bb F Em
We set to sail on a clipper that's bound for South Australia
Em Bb F Em
The weather's warm there, the natives are dark and nubile.
Em F# G G/B G Em
But if you listen, quiet, you can hear the footsteps on the cross-trees
Em F# G E F# G B7
The ghosts of sailors passed, their spectral bodies clinging to the shrouds.
B7 B7/A G
CHORUS
C/G Em Em F# G
So goodnight, boys, goodnight
C/G B7
Say goodnight, boys, goodnight
B7 B7/A G Em
La da dum dum
Em C G D B7 (x2) Em
La da dum dum...
G G/F# Em
Billy Liar's got his hands in his pockets
A Em
Staring over at his neighbor's, knickers down.
A Em A D
He's got his knickers down.
G G/F# Em
So the summer is eternity for you?
A Em
Sleeping in until your father's shaking you down
A Em A
He's shaking you down.
G
And the mail room shift gets a real short shrift
F#m Em
As you dole out the packages, no-one seems to want you around
A Em A
All skulking around.
D F#m Bm G
Let your legs loll on the lino
D F#m Bm G
'Til your sinews spoil
D F#m Bm G
Will you stay here for awhile, dear,
D F#m Bm Em
'Til the radio, plays something familiar?
A D
Plays something familiar.
(D) G G/F# Em
e--------------------------------------------------|
B---------------------------3---0-----0------------|
A Em
e--------------------------------------------------|
B-------------2-3---0-----0------------------------|
A Em
e----(5)--(3)--(2)--(0)----------------------------|
B--------------------------------------------------|
A D
e----(5)--(3)--(2)--(0)|
B----------------------|
D G G/F# Em
All a-drifting, he's the nogood boyo
A Em
Sent a-fishing for a whalebone corset frame
A Em A D
(The only catch all day)
D G G/F# Em
So he sits and lets the current take him
A Em
A gentle breeze will leave his pants in disarray
A Em
And at his ankles laid.
G
As he drifts to sleep with a moan and a weep
F#m Em
He is decked by a Japanese geisha with a garland of pearls
A Em
How she twists and twirls!
D F#m Bm G
Let your legs loll on the lino
D F#m Bm G
'Til your sinews spoil
D F#m Bm G
Will you stay here for awhile, dear,
D F#m Bm Em
'Til the radio plays something familiar
A
Plays something familiar
Em
Plays something familiar
A
Plays something familiar
OUTRO
Em A
e--3--3--2--2--0--0----0-----------------------------|
B--------------------3---3--2--2--3--3--4--4--5--5---|
Em
Bah bah bah bah bah bah bah-da-dah
A
Bah bah bah bah bah bah bah bah
C C C C Cadd2 C (x2)
VERSE 1
C Cadd2 C Cadd2 Am
There is a city by the sea, a gentle com - pa - ny,
Asus2 Em F F G G
I don't suppose you want to
C Cadd2 C Cadd2 Am
And as it tells its sorry tale, in harrowing detail
Asus2 Em F F G G
Its hollowness will haunt you
Dm Dmadd2 F Fadd2 Am Asus2
Its streets and boulevards, orphans and oligarchs it hears
F Fadd2 Dm Dmadd2
A plaintive melody, truncated symphony
F Fadd2 G
An ocean's garbled vomit on the shore,
F F G G C
Los Angeles, I'm yours
C C C C Cadd2 C (x4) F F G G
VERSE 2
C Cadd2 C Cadd2 Am
Oh ladies pleasant and demure, sallow-cheeked and sure
Asus2 Em F F G G
I can see your undies
C Cadd2 C Cadd2 Am
And all the boys you drag about, an empty fallow fount
Asus2 Em F F G G
From Saturdays to Mondays
Dm Dmadd2 F Fadd2 Am Asus2
You hill and valley crowd, hanging your trousers down at heel
F Fadd2 Dm Dmadd2
This is the realest thing, as ancient choirs sing
F Fadd2 G
A dozen blushing cherubs wheel above
F F G G C
Los Angeles my love
C C C C Cadd2 C (x2)
C C# Dmaj7 C#m Dmaj7 C#m C#m Eb E
D D Bm Bsus2 F#m G G A A
Oh what a rush of ripe elan, languor on divans, dalliant and dainty
D Dsus2 D Dsus2 Bm
But oh the smell of burnt cocaine, the dolor and decay
Bsus2 F#m G G A A
It only makes me cranky
Dm Dmadd2 F Fsus2 Am Asus2 Am
Oh great calamity, ditch of iniquity and tears
F Fsus2 Dm Dmadd2
How I abhor this place, its sweet and bitter taste
F Fsus2 G
Has left me wretched, retching on all fours
F F G G C
Los Angeles, I'm yours
F F G G C
Los Angeles, I'm yours
F F G G C
Los Angeles, I'm yours
F F G G C
F F G G C
C G
Through the tarlatan holes, you've been slipping, been slipping away (la dee dum da)
C G
And the weather will hold, its been ever so, ever so gray (la dee dum da)
Em G C Cm Em
And here as we're coming down, we're sounding out, it's a terrible, terrible tide
G C
As it lights upon your eye
Em G C Cm Em
But there on the motorway, reeks of marmalade, it's a chemical, chemical kind
G C Am C
As it lights upon your eye, lights upon your eye
C G
Through the tarlatan holes, you've been slipping, been slipping away (la dee dum da)
C G
And the weather will hold, its been ever so, ever so gray (la dee dum da)
Em G C Cm Em
And here as we're coming down, we're sounding out, it's a terrible, terrible tide
G C
As it lights upon your eye
Em G C Cm Em
But there on the motorway, reeks of marmalade, it's a chemical, chemical kind
G C Am C
As it lights upon your eye, lights upon your eye
Em G C (x2)
Em Em/F# G G/B C (x4)
A - pril marches on...
C
Em A
There's a wrinkle, in the water
D Cmaj7
Where we laid our, first daughter
Em A Cmaj7 B7
And I think the wind blows so sweetly there, over there
Em A
And the windows, and the cinders
D Cmaj7
And the willows, in the timbers
Em A Cmaj7 B7
The infernal rattling of the rain, still remains
Em B Em
But I, said the bachelor to the bride
B C
Am not waiting for tonight,
G A
No, I, I will box your ears
B7 Em
And leave you here stripped bare
Em A D Cmaj7
Stripped bare...
Em A
Hear the corncrakes, and the deer hooves
D Cmaj7
And the sleet rain on the slate roof
Em A Cmaj7 B7
A medallion locked inside her hands, in her hands
Em A
And his fingers, are they telling
D Cmaj7
Of the barren of her belly
Em A Cmaj7 B7
Do his calluses cure her furrowed brow, even now
Em B Em
But I, said the bachelor to the bride
B C
Am not waiting for tonight,
G A
No, I, I will box your ears
B7 Em
And leave you here stripped bare,
Em A D Cmaj7 Em A D Cmaj7
Stripped bare, stripped bare, stripped bare
Em B Em
But I, said the bachelor to the bride
B C
Am not waiting for tonight,
G A
No, I, I will box your ears
C
And take your tears
A C Em A D Cmaj7
And leave you, leave you here, stripped bare
Em A D Cmaj7 (x2) Em
D G D G
Myla Goldberg sets a steady hand upon her brow
D G D G
Myla Goldberg hangs a crooked foot all upside down
D G
It comes around, it comes around
D G
It comes around, it comes around
D G
It comes around, it comes around
D G
It comes around, it comes around
D G D G
Pretty hands do pretty things when pretty times arise
D G D G
Seraphim and seaweed swim where stick-limbed Myla lies
D G
It comes around, it comes around
D G
It comes around, it comes around
D G
It comes around, it comes around
D G
It comes around, it comes around
A G D A
Still know you're waiting to grow
Em G A
Inside you're old
G D
Sew wings to your pigeon toes
Em
Put paper to pen
G
To spell out "Eliza"
D G D G
We begin with sticky shins, make sticky then our shoes
D G D G
Shoes beget to clothes and hat until sticky's sticking too
D G
Finiculi finicula finiculi finicula
D G
Finiculi finicula finiculi finicula
D G
Finiculi finicula finiculi finicula
D G
Finiculi finicula finiculi finicula
D G D G
Listen in as shin-kicked Jim relates his story sad
D G D G
About a boy who kicked until his shins were all but rubber bands
But now
D G
I know New York, I need New York
D G
I know I need unique New York
D G
I know New York, I need New York
D G
I know I need unique New York
A G D A
Still know you're waiting to grow
Em G A
Inside you're old
G D
Sew wings to your pigeon toes
Em
Put paper to pen
G
To spell out "Eliza"
D
Eliza, Eliza, Eliza
It comes around, it comes around, it comes around
D C#
Ambling madly all over the town
D
The call to arms you likened to a whisper
C#
I likened to a radio.
D C#
You were a brickbat, a Bowery tough,
D
So rough they culled you from a cartoon.
C#
Pulled out of your pantaloons.
A Ab
But you, my brother in arms,
F#m E
I'd rather I'd lose my limbs than let you come to harm.
A Ab
But you, my bombazine doll
F#m E
The bullets may singe your skin and the mortars may fall.
A E
But I have never felt so much light
F#m D
Than tonight, huddled in the trenches,
A
Gazing on the battlefield.
E
Our rifles blaze away.
G D
We blaze away. Oh Oh Oh
D C#
Corporal Bradley of regiment five
D
In proud array, standing by the bathing
C#
Soldiers and the stevedores.
D C#
We laid on the mattress and tumbled to sleep
D
Our eyes aligned, swaddled in our civies
C#
Cradled in our dungarees.
A Ab
But you, my brother in arms,
F#m E
I'd rather I'd lose my limbs than let you come to harm.
A Ab
But you, my bombazine doll
F#m E
The bullets may singe your skin and the mortars may fall.
A E
But I have never felt so much light
F#m D
Than tonight, huddled in the trenches,
A
Gazing on the battlefield.
E
Our rifles blaze away.
G D
We blaze away. Oh Oh Oh
G D
We blaze away. Oh Oh Oh
A E
We blaze away. Oh Oh Oh Oh
G D
We blaze away. Oh Oh Oh
(D/F# G)x4
D/F# G
This is the story of your red right ankle,
D/F# G
And how it came to meet your leg
D/F# G
And how the muscle bone and sinews tangled,
D/F# G
And how the skin was softly shed
Em A
And how it whispered, oh, adhere to me,
Em A
For we are bound by symmetry
Em A
And whatever differences our lives have been,
D G G D/F#
We together make a limb
Em A D/F# G D/F# G
This is the story of your red right ankle
D/F# G
This is the story of your gypsy uncle,
D/F# G
You never knew 'cause he was dead
D/F# G
And how his face was carved and ripped with wrinkles,
D/F# G
In the picture in your head
Em A
And remember how you found the key,
Em A
To his hideout in the Pyrenees
Em A
But you wanted to keep his secret safe,
D G G D/F#
So you threw the key away
Em A D/F# G D/F# G
This is the story of your gypsy uncle
Em A Asus4 A Em A Asus4 A
D/F# G (x2)
VERSE 3
D/F# G
This is the story of the boys who loved you,
D/F# G
Who love you now and loved you then
D/F# G
And some were sweet and some were cold and snuffed you,
D/F# G
And some just laid around in bed
Em A
And had crumbled you straight to your knees,
Em A
Did it cruel did it tenderly
Em A
And some had crawled their way into your heart,
D G G D/F#
To rend your ventricles apart
Em A G/B G/B Asus4 G G D/F# Em
This is the story of the boys who loved you
Em A G
This is the story of your red right ankle
Em B7
I am a chimbley, a chimbley sweep
Am
No bed to lie, no shoes to hold my feet
Em B7
Upon the rooftops in dead of night
Am Em
You'll hear me cry, I'll shake you from your sleep
G
To hear me weep
D C
"Your day will come indeed
Em G C Am
For I am a poor and a wretched boy
Em B7 Em
A chimbley chimbley sweep."
Em B7
I am an orphan, an orphan boy
Am
I've known no love, I've seen no mother's joy
Em B7
A dirty doorstep my cradle laid
Am Em
My fortune's made: I'll shake you from your sleep
G
To hear me weep
D C
"Your day will come indeed.
Em G C Am
For I am a poor and a wretched boy
Em B7 Em
A chimbley, chimbley sweep."
Em B7
"O lonely urchin!" the widow cried
Am
"I've not been swept since the day my husband died."
Em B7
Her cheeks a blushing, her legs laid bare
Am Em
And shipwrecked there I'll shake you from your sleep
G
To hear me weep
D C
"Your day will come indeed.
Em G C Am
For I am a poor and a wretched boy
Em B7 Em
A chimbley chimbley sweep."
Em G C Am
For I am a poor and a wretched boy
Em B7 Em
A chimbley chimbley sweep."
C
I was meant for the stage,
F C
I was meant for the curtain.
C Cmaj9 Am Am7/G
I was meant to tread these boards,
F C
Of this much I am certain.
C
I was meant for the crowd,
F C
I was meant for the shouting.
C Cmaj9 Am Am7/G
I was meant to raise these hands
F C G
With quiet all about me. oh, oh.
C
Mother, please, be proud.
F C
Father, be forgiving.
C Cmaj9 Am Am7/G
Even though you told me 'Son,
F C G
You'll never make a living.' oh, oh.
G F
From the floorboards to the fly,
C
Here I was fated to reside.
G
And as I take my final bow,
C
Was there ever any doubt?
F
And as the spotlights fade away,
C
And you're escorted through the foyer,
G
You will resume your callow ways,
C
But I was meant for the stage.
C
The heaven's at my door.
F C
Intended my for stardom.
C Cmaj9 Am Am7/G
Rays of light shined down on me
F C
And all my sins were pardoned.
C
I was meant for applause.
F
I was meant for derision.
C Cmaj9 Am Am7/G
Nothing short of faded self has
F C G
Affected my decision. oh, oh.
G F
From the floorboards to the fly,
C
Here I was fated to reside.
G
And as I take my final bow,
C
Was there ever any doubt?
F
And as the spotlights fade away,
C
And you're escorted through the foyer,
G
You will resume your callow ways,
C
But I was meant for the stage.
D C
VERSE 1
G
I have come a few miles.
G
I got blisters on my slippered feet
D C
As I rise, as I ri-ise.
G
California's ok.
G
But I think I might stay in the shade
D C
For a while, for a whi-ile.
G D C
VERSE 3
G
Ladybug, ladybird
G
You're the prettiest song I heard
D C
In a while, in a whi-ile.
G D C
La di dah, la dah, la di dah dah dah la dah, la la la, la dah dah-ah
G D C G
