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Theophany by Josh Ritter
Theophany
Tuning:E A D G B E
Capo:2nd fret
[Intro]
C
[Verse 1]
C Dm
I was new to the capital city so perhaps
F C
That's why I was chosen to be given the map
C Dm
Or perhaps it was because the place where I worked
F C
Meant that I wasn't just some other jerk
F Am
Either way though, there it was, one day after lunch
Dm C
A map in an envelope, there with a bunch
F Am
Of mail and other stuff there at my desk
Dm G7
With my name in old cursive, no return address
[Verse 2]
C Dm
The map of the capital city was clear
F C
And a dot marked the spot whеre it said 'You Are Herе'
C Dm
But an X marked another spot down a few blocks
F C
So I got out my notebook and I took a walk
F Am
Of course there was nothing for me to expect
Dm C
But I write for the paper so I go where I'm led
F Am
And this lead it'd led me to a boarded up space
Dm G7
'Tween a convenience store and a foot massage place
[Verse 3]
C Dm
With my pocketed notebook, my flashlight in my teeth
F C
I stooped to the ground and I crawled underneath
C Dm
And into the dark 'til it swallowed me up
F C
I crawled downwards and downwards towards I didn't know what
F Am
'Til after what felt like a mile, maybe more
Dm C
The ground opened up into a vast marble floor
F Am
And a vast marble ceiling arched high and away
Dm G7
Far up into shadow where the real world lay
[Verse 4]
C Dm
And there in the middle of the vast marble floor
F C
Was a thing unlike anything I'd seen before
C Dm
A rotating spiraling mist made of lights
F C
That had something like wings made of something like eyes
F Am
And it knew I was there because how could it not
Dm C
And as it read my mind I tasted its thoughts
F Am
And I felt every mask that I ever wore drop
Dm G7
And I knew in that moment I was looking at God
[Verse 5]
C Dm
But not the God I'd read about, or had been taught
F C
Not some almighty, vengeful, beneficent God
C Dm
This God had been humbled or diminished or both
F C
And whatever it once was now tied to a post
F Am
And as I read its mind or whatever it's called
Dm C
It told me of how they'd locked it in the vault
F Am
It had come from a place far over the waves
Dm G7
Before that, a place that did not have a name
[Verse 6]
C Dm
But like bread into body, water to wine
F C
There were those who could use it to turn wrong to right
C Dm
So they used it for all the things God is used for
F C
For Second Amendments and new holy wars
F Am
And helping the strong so that they'll feed the weak
Dm C
Protecting the mighty that they might shepherd the meek
F Am
And when people get shot and folks say they care
Dm G7
They need something to go through the thoughts and the prayers
[Verse 7]
C Dm
And so they had used it, again and again
F C
And with its moral authority each time they'd win
C Dm
And in fear of escapes and in hopes just to keep
F C
The God to themselves they had buried it deep
F Am
Still they feared it less than just some common ghost
Dm C
And whatever it once was now tied to a post
F Am
And then came the letter, and then I arrived
Dm G7
Looking down on the ground at the rope loosely tied
[Verse 8]
C Dm
Oh, to have been trapped here for hundreds of years
F C
Fed on requests and watered with tears
C Dm
When like all wild things it deserved to be free
F C
To live on its own, and maybe then so could we
F Am
So light burned my face as I worked out the knot
Dm C
And the wind from the howling of wings was so hot
F Am
That I thought I might die, 'til the rope fell away
Dm G7
And I fell to the ground, and that's where I stayed
[Interlude]
C Dm F C
C Dm F C
[Verse 9]
C Dm
When I awoke in the darkness, alive and alone
F C
The God once possessed 'neath the city had flown
C Dm
So I picked up my flashlight and left as I came
F C
Back out on the street, it had started to rain
[Outro]
C Dm Am G
C Dm Am G
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