Joanna Newsom – Only Skin chords
Chords:
Only Skin.F Amand there was a booming above youG F Amthat night, black airplanes flew over the seaF Amand they were lowing and shifting likebeached whalesG Fshelled snailsAmas you strained and you squinted to seeG F Amthe retreat of their hairless and blind cavalryG Em7 Dyou froze in your sand shoalC Bbprayed for your poor soulF C Bb Dmsky was a bread roll, soaking in a milk-bowlEm7 D C Bband when the bread broke, fell in bricks of wet smokeF C Bb Dmmy sleeping heart woke, and my waking heart spokeF Amthen there was a silence you took to mean something:G Fmean, run, singAm G for alive you will evermore beF Amand the plague of the greasy black engines a-skulkin'G Fhas gone eastG Amwhile you're left to explain them to meG F Amreleased from their hairless and blind cavalryG Em7 D C Bbwith your hands in your pockets, stubbily runningF C Bb Dmto where I'm unfresh, undressed and yawningEm7 D C Bbwell, what is this craziness? this crazy talking?F C Bb Dmyou caught some small death when you were sleepwalkingA Em D A it was a dark dream, darlin', it's overF C Bb Dmthe firebreather is beneath the cloverA Em D A beneath his breathing there is cold clay, foreverF C Bb Dma toothless hound-dog choking on a featherF#m A Bm Dbut I took my fishingpole (fearing your fever)F#m A Bm D down to the swimminghole, where there grows a bitter herbF#m A Bm Bbadd6that blooms but one day a year by the riverside - I'd bring it here:F C apply it gentlyBb Dmto the love you've lent meF Am while the river was twisting and braiding, the bait bobbedG F Am Gand the string sobbed, as it cut through the hustling breezeF Am and I watched how the water was kneading so neatlyG Fgone treaclyAm nearly slowed to a stop in this heatG F Am G- frenzy coiling flush along the muscles beneathAm C Em Gpress on me: we are restless thingsAm C Em Gwebs of seaweed are swaddlingAm Cyou call upon the duskEm Gof the musk of a squidAm C Em Gshot full of ink, until you sink into your cribDm F Am Crowing along, among the reeds, among the rushesDm F C Am7I heard your song, before my heart had time to hush it!Dm F Am Csmell of a stone fruit being cut and being openedDm F C Am7smell of a low and of a lazy cinder smokingC G C G/Band when the fire moves awayAm G Ffire moves away, sonC G C G/Bwhy would you sayAm G F I was the last one?Fm7Am C Em Gscrape your knee; it is only skinAm C Em Gmakes the sound of violinsAm C Em Gwhen I cut your hair, and leave the birds all of the trimmingsAm C Em GI'm the happiest woman among all women!Dband the shallowFmwaterDbm7 Fmstretches as far as I can seeDb Eb/Dbknee-deep, trudging alongDb Fma seagull weeps; "so long"Db Fm humming a threshing songFmuntil the night is overhold on! hold on!Dbhold your horses back from the fickle dawnFm I have got some business out at the edge of townDbcandy weighing both of my pockets downFm'til I can hardly stay afloat, from the weight of themDb(and knowing how the common-folk condemnFmwhat it is I do, to you, to keep you warmDbbeing a woman, being a woman)Bbmbut always up the mountainside you're clamberingDb groping blindly, hungry for anythingBbmpicking through your pocket linings - well, what is this?Db Eb scrap of sassafras, eh Sisyphus?FmI see the blossoms broke and wet after the rainDblittle sister, he will be back againFmI have washed a thousand spiders down the drainDb spiders ghosts hang soaked and dangelingBbmsilently from all the blooming cherry treesDbin tiny nooses, safe from everyoneBbm - nothing but a nuisance; gone now, dead and doneDb Ebbe a woman, be a woman!Fmthough we felt the spray of the wavesBbm Ab Gmdimwe decided to stay 'til the tide rose too farFm Bbmwe weren't afraid, 'cause we know what you areAm Bmb Cmadd6and you know that we know what you areawful atollEb Dbm7add11- o, incalculable indiscreetness and sorrowbawl, bellow:Fm Cmadd6Sibyl sea-cow, all done up in a bowtoddle and roll;Ebteeth an impalpable bit of leatherDbm7add11 while yarrow, heather and hollyhockFm Eb Fmawkwardly molt along the shoreDbare you mine?Fm Dbmy heart?mine anymore? F Db stay with me for a whileFthat's an awfully real gunDbI know life will lay you downFas the lightning has lately doneAmfailing this, failing this,C Gfollow me, my sweetest friendF G/F Amto see what you anointed in pointing your gun thereClay it down! nice and slow!G Fthere is nowhere to go, save upAm G Fup where the light, undiluted, is weaving in a drunk dreamAm G Fat the sight of my baby, out backAm G Fback on the patio watching the bats bring night inAm Gwhile, elsewhere, estuaries of wax-whiteF Am Gwend, endlessly, towards seashores unmappedEm7 D C Bb last week our picture window produced a half-wordF C Bb Dmheavy and hollow, hit by a brown birdEm7 D C Bb we stood and watched her gape like a rattlesnakeF C Bb Dmand pant and labour over every intakeA Em D AI said a sort of prayer for some sort of rare graceF C Bb Dmthen thought I ought to take her to a higher placeA Em D Asaid: "dog nor vulture nor cat shall toy with youF C Bb Dmand though you die, bird, you will have a fine view"F#m Athen in my hot handBm Dshe slumped her sick weightF#m Awe tramped through the poison oakBm Dheartbroke and inchoateF#m Athe dogs were snappingBm Dso you cuffed their collarsF#m Awhile I climbed the tree-houseBm Dthen how I hollered!F#m A Bm Bbadd6cause she'd lain, as still as a stone, in my palm, for a lifetime or twoF C Bb Dm then, saw the treetops, cocked her head and up and flew away andF#m A back in the world that moves, oftenBb Bbadd6according to the hoarding of these cluesFM7 Cdogs still run roughly aroundBb Dmlittle tufts of finch-down)F Amand the cities we passed were a flickering wastelandG F Am G Fbut his hand in my hand made them hale and harmlessAmwhile down in the lowlands the crops are all comingFwe have everythingAmlife is thundering blissful towards deathG F Am Gin a stampede of his fumbling green gentlenessAm C Em Gyou stopped by, I was all aliveAm C Em Gin my doorway, we shucked and jivedAm C and when you wept, I was gone:Em Gsee, I got gone when I got wiseAm C Em Gbut I can't with certainty say we survivedDm F then down, and downAm and down, and downCand down, and deeperDm Fstoke without soundCthe blameless flamesAm7you endless sleeperDm F Am Cthrough fire below, and fire above, and fire withinDm F C Am7sleeped through the things that couldn't have been if you hadn't have beenC G Cand when the fire moves awayAm G Ffire moves away, sonG C G G/Bwhy would you sayAm G FI was the last one?Am C Em Gall my bones they are gone, gone, goneAm C G Dmtake my bones, I don't need noneAm C Em Gcold, cold cupboard, Lord, nothing to chew on!Am C G Fsuck all day on a cherry stoneAm C Em Gdig a little hole, not three inches roundAm C G Dmspit your pit in the hole in the groundAm C Em Gweep upon the spot for the starving of me!Am C G Ftill up grow a fine young cherry treeAm C Em Gwell when the bough breaks, what'll you make for me?Am C G Dma little willow cabin to rest on your kneeAm C Em Gwhat'll I do with a trinket such as this?Am C G Fthink of your woman, who's gone to the westAm C Em Gbut I'm starving and freezing in my measly old bed!Am C G Dmthen I'll crawl across the salt flats to stroke your sweet headAm C Em Gcome across the desert with no shoes on!Am C G FI love you truly, or I love no-oneFm7 Am fire moves awayFm7fire moves away, sonwhy would you sayFm7I was the last one?Am GLast one..clear the room! there's a fire, a fire, a fireAm G get going, and I'm going to be right behind youF Am G and if the love of a woman or two, dear,F Am couldn't move you to such heights, then all I can doG F Amis do, my darling, right by you