...EPISTLE TO DERROLL... by Donovan
------------------------...........
*from 'A Gift from a Flower to a Garden' (1968)*
*CAPO 3rd FRET*
(Original Key: Eb)
(*N.B* The C and C/G chord are played in this rhythm):
C C/G
e|-----------|-----------|
B|-----1--1--|-----1--1--|
G|-----0--0--|-----0--0--|
D|-----2--2--|-----2--2--|
A|--3--3--3--|-----3--3--|
E|-----------|--3--3--3--|
Intro:
C C/G,
C C/G C C/G,
F C C/G C C/G
Verse 1:
C C/G C C/G
Come all ye starry star-fish,
F C C/G C C/G
Living in the deep blue sea.
C C/G
Crawl to me;
C C/G F C C/G C C/G
I have a propo-sition to make thee.
C C/G C C/G
Would you walk the North Sea floor,
F C C/G C C/G
To Belgium from Eng-land?
Chorus 1:
C C/G Am
Bring me word of a banjo man,
F C C/G C C/G
With a tattoo on his hand.
Verse 2:
C C/G C C/G
The spokesman of the star-fish,
F C C/G C C/G
Spoke as spokesman should.
C C/G C C/G
"If'n you met our fee then,
F C C/G C C/G
Certainly we would.
C C/G C C/G
If you cast a looking-glass,
F C C/G C C/G
U-pon the scallopped sand;
Chorus 2:
C C/G Am
You'll have word o' this banjo man,
F C C/G C C/G
With a tattoo on his hand".
Verse 3:
C C/G C C/G
Come all ye starry star-fish,
F C C/G C C/G
I know your ways are caped.
C C/G C
Maybe its be-cause you're,
C/G F C C/G C C/G
Astro-logically shaped.
C C/G C C/G
Converse with the herring shoals,
F C C/G C C/G
As I know you can,
Chorus 3:
C C/G Am
Bring me word o' the banjo man,
F C C/G C C/G
With a tattoo on his hand.
Verse 4:
C C/G C C/G
The eldest of the star-fish,
F C C/G C C/G
Spoke, after a sigh;
C C/G C C/G
"Youthfull as you are young man,
F C C/G C C/G
You have a 'Wisdom Eye';
C C/G C C/G
Surely you must know a looking-glass,
F C C/G C C/G
Is made from sand?
Chorus 4:
C C/G Am
These young-fish are fooling you,
F C C/G C C/G
A-bout this banjo man."
Verse 5:
C C/G C C/G
"Come then aged star-fish,
F C C/G C C/G
Riddle me no more.
C C/G C C/G
For news I am wea-ry,
F C C/G C C/G
And my heart is sore;
C C/G C C/G
All on the silent sea-shore,
F C C/G C C/G
Help me if you can,
[ Tab from: https://www.guitartabs.cc/tabs/d/donovan/epistle_to_derroll_crd_ver_2.html ]
Chorus 5:
C C/G Am
Tell to me, if you know,
F C C/G C C/G
Of this banjo man."
Verse 6:
C C/G C C/G
"All through the seven o-ceans,
F C C/G C C/G
I am a star most famed.
C C/G C C/G
Many 'leggys' have I lost,
F C C/G C C/G
And many have I gained.
C C/G C C/G
Strange to say, quite recent-ly,
F C C/G C C/G
I've been to Fleming Land,
Chorus 6:
C C/G Am
And if you are courteous,
F C C/G C C/G
I'll tell you all I can."
Verse 7:
C C/G C C/G
"You have my full at-ten-tion",
F C C/G C C/G
I answered him with glee,
C C/G C C/G
His brother stars were twink-ling,
F C C/G C C/G
In the sky above the sea.
C C/G C C/G
So I sat there with rapt,
F C C/G C C/G
At-tention, on the sand,
Chorus 7:
C C/G Am
Very anxious for to hear,
F C C/G C C/G
Of the banjo man.
Verse 8:
C C/G C C/G
"I have seen this tattooed hand,
F C C/G C C/G
Through a ship port-hole.
C C/G C C/G
Steaming on the watery main,
F C C/G C C/G
Through the waves so cold.
C C/G C
Heard his tinkling banjo,
C/G F C C/G C C/G
And his voice so grand.
Chorus 8:
C C/G Am
But you must come to Belgium,
F C C/G C C/G
To shake his tattooed hand."
Verse 9:
C C/G C
"Gladly would I come,
C/G F C C/G C C/G
Oh, gladly would I go.
C C/G C C/G
Had I not my work to do,
F C C/G C C/G
And my face to show.
C C/G C C/G
I re-joice to know he's well,
F C C/G C C/G
But I must go in-land,
Chorus 9:
C C/G Am
Thank you for the words you brought,
F C C/G C C/G
Of the banjo man."
Verse 10:
C C/G C C/G
I walked a-long the evening sand,
F C C/G C C/G
As charcoal clouds did shift.
C C/G C C C/G
Re-vealing the moon shi-ning,
F C C/G C C/G
On the pebble drift.
C C/G C C/G
Contem-plating every other word,
F C C/G C C/G
The starfish said;
Chorus 10:
C C/G Am
Whistly winds, they filled my dreams,
F C C/G C C/G
In my dreaming bed.
CHORD DIAGRAMS:
---------------
C C/G F Am
EADGBE EADGBE EADGBE EADGBE
x32010 332010 133211 x02210
Tabbed by Joel from cLuMsY, Bristol, England, 2006
(clumsyband@hotmail.com)
