Only Skin.

^Fand there was a booming ^Amabove you that^G ni^Fght, black airplanes flew^Am over the sea ^Fand they were lowing and shifting l^Amike

beached whales

^Gshelled^F snails as you strained and you^Am squinted to see ^Gthe retr^Feat of their hairless and b^Amlind cavalry

^Gyou froz^Em7e in your sand^D shoal ^Cprayed for y^Bbour poor soul ^Fsky was a br^Cead roll,^Bb soaking in a^Dm milk-bowl an^Em7d when the brea^Dd broke^C, fell in bricks ^Bbof wet smoke ^Fmy sleeping heart w^Coke,^Bb and my waking h^Dmeart spoke

^Fthen there was a silence you took to mea^Amn something: mean, run,^G sing ^F for alive you will ^Amevermore be ^G ^Fand the plague of the greasy black engines^Am a-skulkin' has^G gone ^Feast while you're left^G to exp^Amlain them to me rel^Geased^F from their hairless and b^Amlind cavalry

^Gwith your h^Em7ands in your po^Dckets,^C stubbily^Bb running ^Fto where I'm^C unfresh^Bb, undressed a^Dmnd yawning well, what^Em7 is this craz^Diness?^C this cra^Bbzy talking? ^Fyou caught some^C small deat^Bbh when you we^Dmre sleepwalking

^Ait was a dark^Em dream, da^Drlin', it's^A over ^Fthe fire^Cbreather^Bb is beneath th^Dme clover ^Abeneath his b^Emreathing there is cold^D clay, for^Aever ^Fa toothless ^Chound-dog^Bb choking on a ^Dmfeather

^F#mbut I took my ^Afishingpole^Bm (fearing your ^Dfever) ^F#mdown to^A the swimminghole^Bm, where there grows^D a bitter herb ^F#mthat blooms but o^Ane day a year by the ^Bmriverside - I'd bring it he^Bbadd6re: ^F apply ^Cit gently ^Bbto the love you've^Dm lent me

^F while the river was twisting and braiding^Am, the bait bobbed and the ^Gstring ^Fsobbed, as it cut through the^Am hustling breeze ^G ^F and I watched how the water was kneading so^Am neatly gone tre^Gacly ^F nearly slowed to a ^Amstop in this heat - f^Grenzy^F coiling flush along the ^Ammuscles benea^Gth

^Ampress on ^Cme: we are^Em restless^G things ^Amwebs of ^Cseaweed are^Em swaddling ^G you ^Amcall upon the d^Cusk of the ^Emmusk of a^G squid ^Amshot full of ^Cink, until you^Em sink into your^G crib

^Dmrowing al^Fong, among the^Am reeds, among the ^Crushes ^DmI heard your ^Fsong, before my ^Cheart had time t^Am7o hush it! ^Dmsmell of a ^Fstone fruit being ^Amcut and being ^Copened ^Dmsmell of a ^Flow and of a ^Clazy cinde^Am7r smoking

and when^C the fire ^Gmoves a^Cway ^G/B ^Amfire moves ^Gaway,^F son ^Cwhy ^Gwould you ^Csay ^G/B ^AmI was the ^Glast one?^F

Fm7

^Amscrape your ^Cknee; it is^Em only^G skin ^Ammakes the ^Csound of^Em violins^G when I^Am cut your ^Chair, and leave the^Em birds all of the^G trimmings I'm the ^Amhappiest ^Cwoman among^Em all^G women!

and^Db the shallow ^Fmwater stretches as far as^Dbm7 I can ^Fmsee Db Eb/Db knee-deep, trudging along a seagull w^Dbeeps; &qu^Fmot;so long" ^Db h^Fmumming a threshing song unti^Fml the night is over hold on! hold on! ^Dbhold your horses back from the fickle dawn

I^Fm have got some business out at the edge of town ^Dbcandy weighing both of my pockets down 'til I c^Fman hardly stay afloat, from the weight of them (and^Db knowing how the common-folk condemn ^Fmwhat it is I do, to you, to keep you warm ^Dbbeing a woman, being a woman)

but^Bbm always up the mountainside you're clambering ^Db groping blindly, hungry for anything ^Bbmpicking through your pocket linings - well, what is this? ^Db scrap of sassa^Ebfras, eh Sisyphus?

I ^Fmsee the blossoms broke and wet after the rain ^Dblittle sister, he will be back again I^Fm have washed a thousand spiders down the drain ^Db spiders ghosts hang soaked and dangeling ^Bbmsilently from all the blooming cherry trees in^Db tiny nooses, safe from everyone ^Bbm- nothing but a nuisance; gone now, dead and done ^Dbbe a woman, ^Ebbe a woman!

though^Fm we felt the spray of the waves we decided to stay 'til the ^Bbmtide rose too far ^Ab ^Gmdim ^Fmwe weren't afraid, 'cause we ^Bbmknow what you are and you know that we know what you are ^Am ^Bmb ^Cmadd6

awful atoll Eb Dbm7add11 - o, incalculable indiscreetness and sorrow bawl, bellow:

Sibyl sea^Fm-cow, all done up in a bow ^Cmadd6 toddle and roll; teeth an impa^Eblpable bit of leather Dbm7add11 while yarrow, heather and hollyhock ^Fmawkwardly mol^Ebt along the^Fm shore

are you mine? ^Db my^Fm heart? ^Db

mine anymore? F Db stay with me for a while

that's an awfully real gun ^F I know life will lay you down ^Db as the lightning has lately done ^F

failing this, fai^Amling this, fo^Cllow me, my swe^Getest friend to s^Fee what you an^G/Fointed in pointing your ^Amgun there

^Clay it down! nice and slow! there is^G nowhere to go, save ^Fup up where the light, undiluted, is^Am weaving in a ^Gdrunk ^Fdream at the sight of my ^Ambaby, out back ^G ^F back on the patio watching^Am the bats bring^G night ^Fin while, elsewhere, estuari^Ames of wax-white ^G wend^F, endlessly, towards s^Ameashores unmapped ^G

last week ^Em7our picture ^Dwindow ^Cproduced a^Bb half-word ^Fheavy and ^Chollow,^Bb hit by a ^Dmbrown bird ^Em7we stood and ^Dwatched her^C gape like a^Bb rattlesnake ^Fand pant and ^Clabour^Bb over ever^Dmy intake

^AI said a s^Emort of prayer^D for some sort of r^Aare grace ^Fthen thought I ^Cought to^Bb take her to a ^Dmhigher place ^Asaid: "dog^Em nor vulture^D nor cat shall^A toy with you ^Fand though you ^Cdie, bird,^Bb you will have a ^Dmfine view"

^F#mthen in my ^Ahot hand ^Bmshe slumped her^D sick weight ^F#mwe tramped through^A the poison oak ^Bmheartbroke and ^Dinchoate

^F#mthe dogs were ^Asnapping ^Bmso you cuffed their ^Dcollars ^F#mwhile I climbed^A the tree-house ^Bmthen how I ^Dhollered! cause^F#m she'd lain, as s^Atill as a stone, in my p^Bmalm, for a lifetime or ^Bbadd6two

^F then, saw the ^Ctreetops^Bb, cocked her head and ^Dmup and flew away and ^F#mback in the ^Aworld that moves, often ac^Bbcording to the hoarding of these ^Bbadd6clues ^FM7dogs still run ro^Cughly around ^Bblittle tufts of finch^Dm-down)

^Fand the cities we passed were a flickering^Am wasteland bu^Gt his^F hand in my hand made them h^Amale and harmless ^G ^F while down in the lowlands the crops are all ^Amcoming we have every^Fthing life is thundering ^Amblissful towards death in a st^Gamp^Fede of his fumbling ^Amgreen gentlen^Gess

^Amyou stopped ^Cby, I was^Em all a^Glive ^Amin my do^Corway, we^Em shucked and j^Gived and when you ^Amwept, I was ^Cgone: see, I got^Em gone when I got w^Gise but I ca^Amn't with ^Ccertainty^Em say we sur^Gvived

^Dmthen down, and d^Fown and down, and do^Amwn and down, and de^Ceper ^Dmstoke without so^Fund the blameless fl^Cames you endless^Am7 sleeper

^Dmthrough fire be^Flow, and fire a^Ambove, and fire wit^Chin ^Dmsleeped through the ^Fthings that couldn't have ^Cbeen if you hadn't^Am7 have been

and when^C the fire^G moves ^Caway ^Amfire moves aw^Gay, s^Fon G C G G/B why would you say ^AmI was the l^Gast o^Fne?

^Amall my ^Cbones they ar^Eme gone, gone,^G gone ^Amtake my b^Cones, I^G don't need n^Dmone ^Amcold, cold ^Ccupboard, Lord^Em, nothing to chew ^Gon! ^Amsuck all d^Cay on ^Ga cherry s^Ftone

^Amdig a little h^Cole, not^Em three inches^G round ^Amspit your p^Cit in the ^Ghole in the g^Dmround ^Amweep upon the s^Cpot for the^Em starving of^G me! till ^Amup grow a ^Cfine yo^Gung cherry^F tree

well ^Amwhen the bough bre^Caks, what'll ^Emyou make for ^Gme? a l^Amittle willow ca^Cbin to rest^G on your k^Dmnee ^Amwhat'll I do^C with a tri^Emnket such as t^Ghis? ^Amthink of your ^Cwoman, who's g^Gone to the w^Fest

but I'm star^Amving and fre^Cezing in my ^Emmeasly old b^Ged! then I'll ^Amcrawl across the ^Csalt flats to s^Gtroke your sweet ^Dmhead ^Amcome across the ^Cdesert with ^Emno shoes ^Gon! ^AmI love you tr^Culy, or ^GI love no^F-one

Fm7 Am fire moves away

fire moves away, ^Fm7son why would you say I was the last on^Fm7e? ^AmLast one.. ^G

clear the room! there's a fire, a fire, a fire

get going, and I'm going to be ^Amright behind you ^G ^Fand if the love of a woman o^Amr two, dear, ^G couldn't m^Fove you to such heights, then al^Aml I can do is^G do^F, my darling, right^Am by you

Joanna Newsom - Only skin