Nick Cave : No More Shall We Part

Indented verses differ only by the chords in the last line

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Am

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Am

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F

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F

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x4

Am

As I sat sadly by her side

F

At the window through the glass

Am

She stroked a kitten in her lap

F

And we watched the world as it fell past Softly she spoke these words to me With brand new eyes, open wide We pressed our faces to the glass

F

G

(

Am

) As I sat sadly by her side She said, father, mother, sister, brother Uncle, aunt, nephew, niece Soldier, sailor, physician, laborer Actor, scientist, mechanic, priest Earth and moon and sun and stars Planets and comets with tails blazing All are there forever falling Falling, lovely and amazing Then she smiled and turned to me And waited for me to reply Her hair was falling down her shoulders As I sat sadly by her side As I sat sadly by her side The kitten she did gently pass Over to me and again we pressed Our different faces to the glass That may be very well, I said But watch that one falling in the street See him gesture to his neighbors See him trampled beneath their feet All outward motion connects to nothing For each is concerned with their immediate need Witness the man reaching up from the gutter See the other one stumbling on who cannot see With trembling hand I turned toward her And pushed the hair out of her eyes The kitten jumped back to her lap As I sat sadly by her side Then she drew the curtains down And said, when will you ever learn That what happens there beyond the glass Is simply none of your concern? God has given you but one heart You are not a home for the hearts of your brothers And God does not care for your benevolence Anymore than he cares for the lack of it in others Nor does he care for those who sit at windows In judgement of the world He created While sorrows pile up around you Ugly, useless and over-inflated At which she turned her head away Great tears leaping from her eyes I could not wipe the smile from my face As I sat sadly by her side As I sat sadly by her side As I sat sadly by her side As I sat sadly by her side

Bb7

A7

Dm

And no more shall we part

Bb7

A7

Dm

It will no longer be necessary

F

Gm

C7

And no more will I say, dear heart

Bbmaj7

A7

Dm

I am alone, and she has left me And no more shall we part The contracts are drawn up, the ring is locked upon the finger And never again will my letters start Sadly here in the depths of winter And no more shall we part All the hatchets have been buried now And all of the birds will sing to your beautiful heart Upon the bough And no more shall we part Your chain of command has been silenced now And all of those birds would have sung to your beautiful heart Anyhow

F

C

Gm

C

Lord, stay by me, don't go down

F

C

Gm

C

I will never be free, if I'm not free now

F

C

Gm

C

Lord, stay by me, and don't go down

F

C

Gm

C

I never was free, what are you talking about?

Bb7

A7

Dm

For no more shall we part

Bb7

A7

Dm

And no more shall we part

Am

G

Am

On the first day of May I took to the road

G

I'd been staring out the window most of the morning

Am

I'd watched the rain claw at the glass

G

And a vicious wind blew hard and fast

Am

I should have taken it as a warning

G

As a warning

Am

A warning

G

As a warning I'd given my nurse the weekend off My meals were ill prepared My typewriter had turned mute as a tomb And my piano crouched in the corner of my room With all its teeth bared All its teeth bared All its teeth bared All its teeth bared

Am

G

Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Am

G

Hallelujah, Hallelujah

B

Gm

D*

D

B

Gm

D*

D

B

F

D#

D

I left my house without my coat Something my nurse would not have allowed I took the small roads out of town And I passed a cow and the cow was brown And my pyjamas clung to me like a shroud Like a shroud Like a shroud Like a shroud There rose before me a little house With all hope and dreams kept within A woman's voice close to my ear Said, why don't you come in here? You look soaked to the skin Soaked to the skin You look soaked to the skin Soaked to the skin Hallelujah, Hallelujah Hallelujah, Hallelujah I turned to the woman and the woman was young I extended a hearty salutation But I knew if my nurse had been here She would never in a thousand years Permit me to accept that invitation Invitation That invitation That invitation Now, you might think it wise to risk it all Throw caution to the reckless wind But with her hot cocoa and her medication My nurse had been my one salvation So I turned back home I turned back home I turned back home Singing my song Hallelujah, Hallelujah Hallelujah, Hallelujah (The tears are welling in my eyes again) (I need twenty big buckets to catch them in) (And twenty pretty girls to carry them down) (And twenty deep holes to bury them in)

D

G

x4

D

D/f#

G

I hold this letter in my hand

D

A plea, a petition, a kind of prayer

D/f#

G

I hope it does as I have planned Losing her again is more than I can bear I kiss the cold, white envelope I press my lips against her name Two hundred words, we live in hope The sky hangs heavy with rain

D

/f#

G

Love letter, love letter

D

/f#

G

Go get her, go get her

D

/f#

G

Love letter, love letter

D

/f#

A

Go tell her, go tell her A wicked wind whips up the hill A handful of hopeful words I love her and I always will The sky is ready to burst Said something I did not mean to say Said something I did not mean to say Said something I did not mean to say It all came out the wrong way Love letter, Love letter Go get her, go get her Love letter, love letter Go tell her, go tell her Rain your kisses down upon me Rain your kisses down in storms And for all who'll come before me In your slowly fading forms I'm going out of my mind Will leave me standing in the rain With a letter and a prayer Whispered in the wind

A

G

Come back to me

A

G

Come back to me

A

G

A

D

Oh, baby, please come back to me

C

F

Dm

G

C

We've laid the cables and the wires We've split the wood and stoked the fires

F

We've lit our town so there is no place for crime to hide

Dm

Our little church is painted white

G

And in the safety of the night We all go quiet as a mouse For the word is out

C

God is in the house

F

God is in the house

Dm

God is in the house

G

No cause for worry now

C

God is in the house Moral sneaks in the White House Computer geeks in the school house Drug freaks in the crack house We don't have that stuff here We have a tiny little Force But we need them of course For the kittens in the trees And at night we are on our knees As quiet as a mouse For God is in the house God is in the house God is in the house And no one's left in doubt God is in the house Homos roaming the streets in packs Queer bashers with tire-jacks Lesbian counter-attacks That stuff is for the big cities Our town is very pretty We have a pretty little square We have a woman for a mayor Our policy is firm but fair Now that God is in the house God is in the house God is in the house Any day now He'll come out God is in the house Well-meaning little therapists Goose-stepping twelve-stepping teetotalitarianists The tipsy, the reeling and the drop down pissed We got no time for that stuff here Zero crime and no fear We've bred all our kittens white So you can see them in the night And at night we're on our knees As quiet as a mouse Since the word got out From the North down to the South For no one's left in doubt There's no fear about If we all hold hands and very quietly shout Hallelujah God is in the house God is in the house Oh I wish He would come out God is in the house

Am

Where is Mona? She's long gone Where is Mary? She's taken her along But they haven't put their mittens on

G

Am

And there's fifteen feet of pure white snow Where is Michael, where is Mark? Where is Mathew, now it's getting dark? Where is John? They are all out back Under fifteen feet of pure white snow

G

Would you please put down that telephone

G

Am

We're under fifteen feet of pure white snow I waved to my neighbour, my neighbour waved to me But my neighbour is my enemy I kept waving my arms till I could not see Under fifteen feet of pure white snow Is anybody out there please? It's too quiet in here and I'm beginning to freeze I've got icicles hanging from my knees Under fifteen feet of pure white snow Is there anybody here who feels this low? Under fifteen feet of pure white snow

G

Raise your hands up to the sky Raise your hands up to the sky

G7

Raise your hands up to the sky Is it any wonder?

Am

F

Oh my Lord, oh my Lord!

Am

F

G

Am

Oh my Lord, oh my Lord! Doctor, Doctor, I'm going mad This is the worst day I've ever had I can't remember ever feeling this bad Under fifteen feet of pure white snow Where's my nurse, I need some healing I've been paralysed by a lack of feeling I can't even find anything worth stealing Under fifteen feet of pure white snow Is there anyone else here who doesn't know? We're under fifteen feet of pure white snow Raise your hands up to the sky Is it any wonder? Oh my Lord, oh my Lord Save yourself, help yourself!

Em

D

I thought I'd take a walk today, it's a mistake I sometimes make The kids lay asleep in bed, my wife lay wide-awake I kissed her softly on the brow, I tried not to make a sound But with stony eyes she looked at me and did gently squeeze my hand Call it a premonition, call it a crazy vision Call it intuition, something learned from mother But when she looked up at me, I could clearly see The Sword of Damocles hanging directly above her

Em

D

Em

D

Oh Lord, oh my Lord, oh Lord

G

G7

How have I offended thee?

C

Cm

Wrap your tender arms around me

G

D

Em

D

Oh Lord, oh Lord, oh my Lord They called at me through the fence, they were not making any sense They claimed that I had lost the plot, kept saying that I was not The man I used to be, they held their babes aloft Threw marshmallows at the security and said that I'd grown soft Call it intuition, call it a creeping suspicion But their words of derision meant they hardly knew me For even I could see in the way they looked at me The Spear of Destiny sticking right through me Oh Lord, oh my Lord, oh Lord How have I offended thee? Wrap your tender arms round me Oh Lord, oh Lord, oh my Lord Now I'm at the hairdressers, people watch me as they move past A guy wearing plastic antlers presses his bum against the glass Now I'm down on my hands and knees and it's so fucking hot Someone cries, "What are you looking for?" I scream, "The plot, the plot!" I grab my telephone, I call my wife at home She screams, "Leave us alone!" I say, "Hey, it's only me" The hairdresser with his scissors, he holds up the mirror I look back and shiver, I can't even believe what I can see Be mindful of the prayers you send, pray hard but pray with care For the tears that you are crying now are just your answered prayers The ladders of life, that we scale merrily, move mysteriously around So that when you think you're climbing up, man, in fact you're climbing down Into the hollows of glamour, where with spikes and hammer With telescopic camera, they chose to turn the screw Oh I hate them, Ma! Oh I hate them, Pa! Oh I hate them all for what they went and done to you Oh Lord, Oh my Lord, oh Lord How have I offended thee? Wrap your tender arms round me Oh Lord, oh Lord, oh my Lord

C

Come over here, babe, it ain't that bad

G

Am

I don't claim to understand the troubles that you've had

Am

C

But the dogs you say they fed you to, lay their muzzles in your lap

G

Am

And the lions that they led you to, lie down and take a nap

Am

C

The ones you fear are wind and air, and I love you without measure

G

Am

G

Am

It seems we can be happy now, better late than never

Am