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Colleen by Joanna Newsom
Colleen
Tuning:E A D G B E
Key:Em
Capo:no capo
[Intro]
Em with improvisation into D chord notes
[Verse 1]
Em D Em
I tell it as I best know how
Em D Em
And that's the way it was told to me
Em G
Must have once been a thief or a whore
G F Eb B7
Then surely was thrown overboard
B7
Where, they say
Em D Em D
I came their way from the deep blue sea
Em D Em
It picked me up and tossed me round
Em D Em
I lost my shoes and tore my gown
Em
I forgot my name
G
And drowned
G F Eb B7
Then woke up with the surf a-pounding;
B7 Em D Em D
It seemed I had been run aground
Em D
Well they took me in and shod my feet
A C Bb
And taught me prayers for chastity
F C Bb
And said my name would be Colleen, and
Dm G A B7
I was blessed among all women
B7 Em D Em
To have forgotten everything
Em Em Em D Em
Em Em Em D Em
[Verse 2]
Em D Em
And as the weeks and months ensued
Em D Em
I tried to make myself of use
Em G
I tilled and planted, but could not produce--
G F Eb B7
Not root, nor leaf, nor flower, nor bean; Lord!
Em D Em
It seemed I overwatered everything
Em D
And I hate the sight of that empty air
A C Bb
Like stepping for a missing stair
F C Bb
And falling forth forever blindly:
Dm G A B7
Cannot grab hold of anything! No
Em D Em
Not I, most blessed among Colleens
Em Em Em D Em
Em Em Em D Em
[Verse 3]
Em D Em
I dream some nights of a funny sea
Em D Em
As soft as a newly born baby
Em G
It cries for me so pitifully!
G F Eb B7
And I dive for my child with a wildness in me
Em D Em
And am so sweetly there received
Em D
But last night came a different dream:
A C Bb
A gray and sloping-shouldered thing
F C Bb
Said "What's cinched 'round your waist, Colleen?
Dm G A B7
Is that my very own baleen?
B7 Em D Em
No! Have you forgotten everything?"
Em Em Em D Em
Em Em Em D Em
[Verse 4]
Em D Em
This morning, 'round the cape at dawn
Em D Em
Some travellers sailed into town
Em G
With scraps for sale and the saddest songs
G F Eb B7
And a book of pictures, leather-bound, that
Em D Em
Showed a whale with a tusk a metre long
Em D
I asked the man who showed it me
A C Bb
"What is the name of that strange beast?"
F C Bb
He said its name translated roughly to
Dm G A B7 Em D Em
He-Who-Easily-Can-Curve-Himself-Against-The-Sky
D
And I am without words
A C Bb
He said "My lady looks perturbed
F C Bb
(the light is in your eyes, Colleen)."
Dm G A B7
I said, "Whatever can you mean?"
B7
He 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 Em
He said, "My lady is mistaken
Em G
I would not speak your name in this place;
G F Eb B7
For if I were to try then the wind--I swear--
Em D Em
Would rise, to tear you clean from me without a trace."
Em D
"Have you come, then, to rescue me?"
A C Bb
He laughed and said, "From what, 'colleen'?
F C Bb
You dried and dressed most willingly
Dm G A B7
You corseted, and caught the dread disease
Em D Em
By which one comes to know such peace."
Em D
Well, it's true that I came to know such things as
A C Bb
The laws that govern property
F C Bb
And the herbs to feed the babes that wean
Dm G A B7
The welting weight for every season;
B7
But still
Em D Em
I don't know any goddamned "Colleen"
Em Em Em D Em
Em Em Em D Em
[Verse 6]
Em D
Then dive down there with the lights to lead
A C Bb
That seem to shine from everything--
F C Bb
Down to the bottom of the deep blue sea;
Dm G A B7
Down where your heart beats so slow
Em D Em
And you never in your life have felt so free
D
Will you come down there with me?
A C Bb
Down where our bodies start to seem like
F C Bb
Artifacts of some strange dream
Dm G A B7
Which afterwards you can't decipher
Em
And so, soon, have forgotten
D Em
Everything
[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
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