Changing of the guards    (video)

 

    Em ~

 

                  Em

1. Sixteen years,

                  G             D                   Em

    sixteen banners united over the field,

                        C                      D                          Em

    where the good shepherd grieves desperate men.

                        G            D                                Em

    Desperate women divided, spreading their wings,

                C        D                     Em

    'neath falling leaves, fortune calls.

                     G                       D                              Em

    I stepped forth from the shadows to the marketplace,

                                C                           D                            Em

    merchants and thieves, hungry for power, my last deal gone down.

                                  G                  D                                    Em

    She's smelling sweet like the meadows where she was born

                                C      D         G                                      Em

    on midsummer's eve near the tower, the cold-blooded moon.

                          G                               D                            Em

    The captain waits above the celebration sending his thoughts

             C            D                          Em            G                    D

    to a beloved maid whose ebony face is beyond communication.

                             Em                                           C           D       G

    The captain is down but still believing that his love will be repaid.

 

+  Em ~ ~

 

                                 Em

3. They shaved her head,

                   G                                          D                             Em

    she was torn between Jupiter and Apollo, a messenger arrived

                 C                 D                                  Em

    with a black nightingale, I seen her on the stairs.

                G                       D                        Em

    And I couldn't help but follow, follow her down past the fountain

                       C  D         G

    where they lifted her veil.

                                Em

    I stumbled to my feet,

                              G                   D

    I rode past destruction in the ditches

                   Em                                               C                      D

    with the stitches still mending beneath a heart-shaped tattoo.

                        Em              G                           D

    Renegade priests and treacherous young witches

              Em                     G                      C            D

    were handing out the flowers that I'd given to you.

 

                            Em

4. The palace of mirrors,

                        G                    D

    where dog soldiers are reflected,

                         Em                 C              D

    the endless road and the wailing of chimes.

                        Em                        G                  D

    The empty rooms where her memory is protected,

                    Em                                             C            D         G

    where the angel's voices whisper to the souls of previous times.

                             Em

    She wakes him up,

                                G                         D

    forty-eight hours later the sun is breaking

                           Em                      C                        D

    near broken chains, mountain laurel and rolling rocks.

                                   Em             G                                   D

    She's begging to know what measures he now will be taking,

                               Em                                                 C       D       G

    he's pulling her down and she's clutching on to his long golden locks.

 

+  Em ~ ~

 

                             Em

5. Gentlemen, he said,

                  G                       D                                     Em

    I don't need your organization, I've shined your shoes,

                                  C                                         D

    I've moved your mountains and marked your cards.

                        Em                     G                                D

    But Eden is burning, either brace yourself for elimination

                          Em

    or else your hearts must have the courage

                   C          D         G

    for the changing of the guards.

                       Em

    Peace will come,

                     G                D                                  Em

    with tranquility and splendor on the wheels of fire,

                               C       D                                     Em

    but will bring us no reward when her false idols fall.

                        G          D                      Em

    And cruel death surrenders with its pale ghost retreating

                          C                      D             G

    between the King and the Queen of Swords.

 

+  G - D - C (6x) ….

 

 

    (Patti Smith)