Bm

G

Em

Her point of view was radical, more than just a change of plan

Bm

D

D

G

She sold me her proposal which I did not understand

A

D

D

G

She said the secret's in the road, I tried to decode the signs

Bm

A

And followed her for seven years, all eyes and ears

G

Em

F#

Bm

A

G

A

Our destinies entwined... our destinies entwined The new land lay like Eden underneath my hungry feet Its trees were tall, its people all so noble in defeat Men were digging, men were building, men were killing time I took a spade and volunteered, a pioneer Our destinies entwined... our destinies entwined I made a stand on principle but I had not grasped the facts One folly breeds another, I made all the wrong contacts I fell in with strange company for their armour it did shine I took the only path I knew, they took it too Our destinies entwined... our destinies entwined While all men shouted black is white, and swore that good is ill I saw three crosses pierce the sky above a distant hill The sky burned red as I turned my head and I left that scene behind I took another god to be my guide, the one inside Our destinies entwined... our destinies entwined I lay in bed and as I stumbled from the vale of sleep Across the theatre of my mind a passing thought did creep That love is all and all is love, love infinitely kind I woke and glimpsed through prison bars a billion stars Our destinies entwined... our destinies entwined

G

D

Her communique arrived with its expression of her feeling

G

D

I swear I had no idea she'd been holding and concealing

Em

Bm

Em

Bm

Such a storm of words unsaid, that absurd as it appears

A

Em

Had been blowing in her head for twenty-seven years I knew I had to face her so I grabbed my Davy Crocket Threw a scarf around my neck and twenty dollars in my pocket I found her in the same old place, pamphlet in her fist When I saw her windblown face she said "Well, look at who it is"

A

Em

Meet me on the mad parade

G

Bm

When the midnight bells are chiming

A

Em

Bm

We'll dress up as the harlequin and the clown

A

Em

Pile up all the wonders that we've made

G

Bm

In a tower too tall for climbing

Em

G

D

And we'll burn the damn thing down In the grey November light she was older, still alluring Her hair grey and longer than it ever had been during The days we loved and slept in her bed of faded wood In the little place she kept in a crumbling neighbourhood We walked along a while like we were old companions But I could feel the gulf between us yawning like a canyon She with her church and code, her extravagant beliefs Me a creature of the road, a child of dust and grief Meet me on the mad parade... She smoked a cigarette and blew smoke rings at the ceiling Said "If your problem is long-standing, then why don't you try kneeling?" Now your face I see you're still a sinner in the mist Setting up your little will as king in place of His I said "I've heard about sin down the long wheels of ages A cracked books of lies with a thousand twisted pages" Then I looked her in the eye and asked her clear and plain "If your religion was a lie then what would remain?" She said "I've got my beating heart and I've two loving hands to heal with And there's nothing in my day that I ain't got the strength to deal with" I said "Darling I confess, the same applies to me" And as for all the rest, we agreed to disagree Meet me on the mad parade...

$1 $2 $3

e|------------------| |-----------------| |------------------|

B|------------------| |-----------------| |------------------|

G|--7/9-7-----------| |--7/9-7----------| |--7/9-7-----------|

D|-------7b9r7------| |-------7b9r7--7--| |-------7b9r7--10--|

A|------------10-7--| |------------10---| |------------10----|

E|------------------| |-----------------| |------------------|

$1 $2 $3 $3 $1 $1

E

I'm still a freak, I never went straight

E

$2 I kept my appointment with fate

A

E

$3 And like every human being that was ever born, I'm unique

C

$3

A

$1

E

E

$1 Things disappear, but I'm still here, I'm still a freak I'm still a head and I'm doing fine I can hear your voice in my mind You ain't singing my praises now honey, do it when I'm dead I'm not bitter, but I'm no quitter, I'm still ahead I'm still awake, I knew all along If you ain't crazy there's something wrong And there's no such thing as a coincidence, or a mistake And all this confusion is all just illusion, I'm still awake $1 $3 $3 $1 $1 I'm still a freak, I ain't been gagged I'm still flying the flag The game's movin' so fast, who knows where it's gonna, be this time next week! Empires rise and fall, but through it all, I'm still a freak! $2 $3 $3 $1 $1

e|-----------------------------------------------------------|-------------------|

B|-----------------------------------------------------------|-------------------|

G|-----------------------------------------------------------|-------------------|

D|------8-11-8--------------8-11-8--------------8-11-8-------|------8-11-8-------|

A|-9-11-------11-9-11~-9-11-------11-9-11~-9-11-------11-9-9~|-9-11-------11-9-9~|

E|-----------------------------------------------------------|-------------------|

F#

G#m

B

I can see Elvis, skinny like he was

F#

Back in fifty-seven

F#

G#m

B

Razor-quiffed and leather-squeezed, sideburns flickering in the breeze

F#

(riff)

That blows across the vale of heaven I can see Elvis, throned like a king Astride a golden Harley Smoking a reefer he just rolled, full of Acapulco gold With Hendrix, Dean and Marley I can see Elvis, prowling like a cat Across a funky bandstand Keith Moon behind him banging drums, Charlie Parker all thumbs John Lennon doing handstands

F#

G#m

B

F#

G#m

e|------------------------------------------------------------------|

B|------------------9---------------------------------------------9~|

G|-----8~--8-11-8----11-8----11-8--8-------8----8-----8----8-11-8---|

D|-8-11-------------------11-----11----8-11-8-11--8-11-8-11---------|

A|------------------------------------------------------------------|

E|------------------------------------------------------------------|

G#m

B

F#

e|--------------------9r-------------------------------|

B|-11-9--9-11---11-9------11-9--9-11---9br-------------|

G|-----11-----------11--------11----8-----11-8---------|

D|--------------------------------------------11-8-----|

A|------------------------------------------------11-9-|

E|-----------------------------------------------------|

I can see Elvis, talking philosophy and law With Joan Of Arc and Plato Quizzing Shakespeare on his plays, showing Crazy Horse and Marvin Gaye How to dance the mashed potato I can see Elvis, high and low and high And low and high he's hunting Looking for a special prey, who only just arrived up here today Break out the bunting I can see Elvis, he's writin' something down In a little leather journal And here are all the words he wrote, "I am gonna slit the throat Of that skinflint, the Colonel!"

F#

G#m

(riff)

B

(riff)

F#

I can see Elvis, I can see Elvis, I can see Elvis

F#

G#m

(riff)

B

(riff)

F#

I can see Elvis, I can see Elvis, I can see Elvis, Elvis, Elvis

Bm

|----------|----------|

|----------|----------| x3

|----------|----------|

|------0-4-|----------|

|-2--2-----|-2--2-0---|

|----------|--------2-|

Bm

His head is filled with useless air

F#

Bm

His philosophy beyond repair

Bm

You'll pine and he won't care

F#

Get out before he crops your hair

Bm

D

G

You married the wrong guy, Rosalind

Em

G7

When are you gonna see? You married the wrong guy, Rosalind Pick up your skirts and flee His hands are full of drifting sand Soon he'll be making his demands And have you saying preposterous things Get out before he snaps your wings You married the wrong guy, Rosalind... His courtliness is just an act A sea of hubris lies behind his tact When you least expect it, he'll attack Get out with your self-worth intact You married the wrong guy, Rosalind...

F#

Down the misty avenue, through the city fog

Bm

I saw you promenading like the princess and the frog

Em

Some of us are volunteers, some were pressed

F#

But what are you doing in that cuckoo's nest? His eyes are full of illusion's lies His conscience long since compromised With all the grief that that implies Get out before your reason dies You married the wrong guy, Rosalind... You married the wrong guy, Rosalind... | | | | |

Bm

D

|

G

|

Em

|

G7

| You married the wrong guy

Bm

D

|

G

|

Em

|

G7

| You married the wrong guy

Bm

D

G

You married the wrong guy, wrong guy, wrong guy, wrong guy

Em

G7

Wrong guy, wrong guy, wrong guy

Bm

D

|

G

|

Em

|

G7

| You married the wrong guy

G

There used to be a cafe a few blocks away

C

D

G

C

D

Open seven days, called "The Brilliant Mistake"

G

Where a crow-haired girl with scarlet lips

C

D

G

C

D

And slender hips served up coffee and cake

Am

On a crackling stereo the ghosts of Sun Ra

Em

D

Dsus4

D

Dsus4

Charlie Parker, Miles and Coltrane blew

G

I'd kick back in my chair, that sweet honeyed jazz

C

D

In the air, the sun shining through

G

It was the nearest thing to hip

Am

It was the nearest thing to hip

C

D

G

In this shithole... and it's gone It was the nearest thing to hip It was the nearest thing to hip In this shithole... and it's gone Everywhere that I go I see streets that are low On distinction and high on the banal and the bland How did we get to this? We plumbed the abyss By the twisted grace of the law of supply and demand Well, there's no use crying and no use sighing over Stone, wood, wire, glass and cement But there's a little record store with a wooden floor That ain't there no more that I used to frequent It was the nearest thing to hip It was the nearest thing to hip In this shithole... and it's gone It was the nearest thing to hip It was the nearest thing to hip In this shithole... and it's gone

Em

D

C

G

Now I need to get out of this hullabaloo

Em

D

C

G

And I remember an old-fashioned bar that I once knew

Bb

Am

C

G

With an old-fashioned barman wearing old-fashioned clothes

Am

D

But when I get there, it's been bulldozed So I follow my nose down Comatose Lane Through the stripped back, ripped up wastes of Woe-Begone Square Till I find myself on Deadbeat Street My feet beginning to ache, despair in the air The only thing bright in this blighted town Are the billboard adverts everywhere displayed like mocking shades And the musty, dusty second-hand bookstore Is now a scum-encrusted amusement arcade It was the nearest thing to hip It was the nearest thing to hip In this shithole... and it's gone It was the nearest thing to hip It was the nearest thing to hip In this shithole... and it's gone

G

C

D

G

.. and it's gone

Am

C

I was longing to be wooed

F

Am

I was ready to be humbled

F

Am

By the words that you had written

G

F

By the syllables you mumbled Yeah, I was ready in my heart To have my heart invaded By the fervour of your passion Yes, I came to be persuaded But when I heard your ragged voice Something switched in my perception And I knew I was the victim Of a beautiful deception All my once exact beliefs Like tangled threads unravelled I walked out, stunned and liberated And so began my travels

F

C

Keep the river on your right

G

Am

And the highway at your shoulder

F

C

G

And the front line in your sights, pioneer

F

Am

Keep your eye on the road

G

Am

Remember what you told her

F

Dm

Am

This is all in code, my dear You better get yourself a coat Said the handsome taxi driver And he sighed like seven bridges Like a natural-born survivor As we drove into the night I could feel the forest jangling All the choices laid before me And their consequences dangling We came upon a stricken ship That must have once been splendid The captain as he died said "Boys, our revels now are ended" I heard a wild holy band Playing jazz that was outrageous That recalled the days of rapture When our love was still young and contagious Keep the river on your right... In a dim-lit motel room Two sad lovers were discoursing On the dignity of exile And the merits of divorcing She said "all certainty is gone" But he leapt up, still denying Cried "I won't believe the flame I lit Is dead or even dying" She left him drooling in the dust And with rucksack packed begun her Bitter journey to the border Which is where I wooed and won her She was Aphrodite, Helen, Thetis Eve among the satyrs She was Venus in a v-neck sweater She was all that ever mattered Keep the river on your right... Like Dean Moriarty's ghost I came in quest of secret knowledge In the winter of my journey To a crumbling Druid college There I read the books of lore And contemplated in seclusion But I took my leave embittered Still in love with my illusions In the drizzling Irish rain As a tender dawn was breaking In a doorway I stood spellbound by The ancient music they were making I took my breakfast with the Gods On a blushing summer morning Till a wind blew them all away I had misread every warning Keep the river on your right... Under cold electric light I watch the scenes mutating Like an old time frontier ballad Or a carousel rotating As if in a moment from a film With astonishing precision The camera zooms in close And a figure comes into vision I'm in Tokyo, it's dawn And it's raining hallelujahs Down the bright-lit neon canyons Along the sidewalks of Shibuya I'm trying to take a stance And rise above my contradictions But I'm just a bunch of words in pants And most of those are fiction Keep the river on your right...