SOFT AS CHALK
So the other tab of this one on this site wasn’t a COMPLETE waste of time… but
you’ll enjoy this far better:
D C
So, so long ago
G D
And so far away
D C
When time was just a line
G
That you fed me
D
When you wanted to stay
D C
We'd talk as soft as chalk
G D
Till morning came, as pale as a pearl
D C
No time, no, no time
G D
Now, I have got all the time in the world
D Bb
Say, honey, did you belong to me
Eb Dm F
Tell me, honey, was your heart at rest when, darling
C
All the mourning doves were howling us
Bb Dm C Dm F Dm
A song of love's oh god-awful lawlessness, law-less-ness!
D Bb
Say, honey, did you belong to me
Eb Dm
Tell me, honey, did I pass your test
F C
I lay, as still as death, until the dawn
Bb Dm C
Whereupon I wrested from your god-awful lawlessness,
Dm F Dm
Law-less-ness!
D C
I roam around the tidy grounds
G C
Of my dappled sanatorium
D C
Coatless, I sit amongst the moles, adrift
G D
And I dote upon my pinesap gum
D C
And the light, through the pines in brassy tines
G D
Lays over me, dim as rum
D C
And thick as molasses, and so time passes
G C
And so, my heart, tomorrow comes
D
I feel you, leaning
Bb
Out back with the crickets
Eb Dm
Loyal heart marking the soon-ness darkness
F C
Tonight, still the mourning doves
Bb
Will summon us their song
Dm C Dm F Dm
Of love's neverdoneing lawlessness, law-less-ness!
[ Tab from: https://www.guitartabs.cc/tabs/j/joanna_newsom/soft_as_chalk_crd.html ]
D
While, over and over
Bb
Rear up, stand down, lay round
Eb Dm
Trying to sound-out or guess the reasons
F C
To sleep like a soldier, without rest
Bb
But there is no treason
Dm C Dm F Dm
Where there is only lawlessness, law-less-ness!
Dm
MIDDLE SECTION:
Dm, Bb, Gm, C
Dm, Bb, Gm, C
faster
Dm, Bb, Gm, C
Dm, Bb, Gm, C
Eb
In the last week
Gm
Of the last year I was aware
C#
I took a blind shot, across the creek
G#
At the black bear
Eb
When he roused me in the night
C#
And left me cowering with my light
Calling out
G# Fm
Who is there
Cm
Who's there
Eb
Who is there
Bb, Fm, Am, C
Dm, Bb, Gm, C
Dm, Bb, Gm, C
Dm, Bb, Gm, C
Dm, Bb, Gm, C
Eb
I watched you sleep
Gm
Repeating my prayer
C#
Give love a little shove
G#
And it becomes terror
Eb
And now I am calling
In a sadness beyond anger
C#
And beyond fear
G# Fm
Who is there
Cm
Who's there
Eb
Who is there
Bb, Fm, Am, C, D
D, C, G, D
D, C, G, D
D
I glare and nod
C
Like the character, God
G D
Bearing down upon the houses and lawns
D
I knew a little bit,
C
But, darling, you were it
G C
And, darling, now it is long gone
D C
Sweetheart, in your clean, bright start
G D
Back there, behind a hill, and a dell
D C
And a state line or two, I'll be thinking of you
G D
Yes, I’ll be thinking and be wishing you well
D C G D
We land, I stand, but I wait for the sound of the bell
D C G C
I have to catch a cab and my bags are at the carousel
D C D
And then Lord, just then, time alone will only tell
You morning dove
