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Richard Thompson : Across A Crowded Room
1985

  1. When The Spell Is Broken
  2. You Don't Say
  3. I Ain't Going To Drag My Feet No More
  4. Love In A Faithless Country

  5. Fire In The Engine Room
  6. Walking Through A Wasted Land
  7. Little Blue Number
  8. She Twists The Knife Again
  9. Ghosts In The Wind

When The Spell Is Broken

D5
Gm
D5
Gm
D5
Gm
D5
When the spell is broken
D5
Gm
D5
When the spell is broken
F
Am
How you ever gonna keep her now
Am
Gm
You can't cry if you don't know how When the spell is broken When the spell is broken All the joy is gone from her face Welcome back to the human race
Am
How long can the flame
Bb
Of love remain?
C
Bb
When you curse and fight
C
Bb
And never see the like
C
Or hear like spoken
Dsus2
When the spell is broken When the spell is broken When the spell is broken All your magic and your ways and schemes All your lies come and tear at your dreams When the spell is broken When the spell is broken Now you're handing her that same old line It's just straws in the wind this time When love has died There's none starry-eyed No kiss, no tears No farewell souvenirs Not even a token When the spell is broken
Instrumental verse
Don't swear your heart From the very start Love letters you wrote Are pushed back down you throat And leave you choking When the spell is broken

You Don't Say

Em
C
G
C
G
I saw your old flame walking down the street
C
G
D
F#m
She's back in town again, she's looking out for you
C
G
C
G
She says you used her, and you were indiscreet
C
G
D
F#m
It really wounded her when you bid adieu
Em
Bm7
Do you mean she still cares? Do you mean she still cares? Do you mean she still cares? Do you mean she still cares?
F#m
Em
Oh you don't say...
Repeat chorus
She keeps half a ring, she says you've kept the other She says you broke your word when you pursue another She says, "You're getting love mixed up with sympathy Young man, do your duty, and come on back to me!" Do you mean she still cares? Do you mean she still cares? Do you mean she still cares? Do you mean she still cares? Do you mean she still cares? Oh you don't say...
Repeat chorus
F
Em
F
Em
Bb
Gm
Dm
Eb
Dm
Eb
Dm
Eb
Cm
Ab
Fm
Em
She says her heart aches like you had bought and sold her She took all her hopes and pinned them on your shoulder She sends you rosemary and by this gift forgiven Remember love heals and old wrongs forgiven Do you mean she still cares? Do you mean she still cares? Do you mean she still cares? Do you mean she still cares? Do you mean she still cares? Oh you don't say...

I Ain't Going To Drag My Feet No More

A
I've been gone so long, now ain't it a pity Bending my back in this hell-hole city
E
D
Turning my ear from my friends and betters
E
D
Bm
Up to my neck in unread letters and unwritten laws
A
D
G
Where I come from feeling is a crime
A
D
G
I thought I could take you in my own good time
A
D
G
Like a jumped-up fool, now down I climb
A
F#m
D
And I ain't going to drag my feet no more
A
F#m
D
I'm running to your side, gonna beat down the door
A
F#m
D
A
I ain't going to drag my feet no more, no more Well I can't live without you but I've been trying I've got a short-set fuse and two fists of iron I did everything a man might do To stop myself from pining after you but it don't seem to matter no more Penny's in my hand, now I'm going to spin it Heads you win, don't you think for one minute That I care for this bed with nobody in it And I ain't going to drag my feet no more I'm running to your side, gonna beat down the door I ain't going to drag my feet no more, no more
Em
Bm
D
Biding my time is driving me senseless You worked yourself right under my defences You got me in a grip that I can't shake All my feelings are about to break and love never rains, it pours I worked my hands till they couldn't spell your name I rolled and I roared till I couldn't see your face I leaned on the jukebox till I couldn't hear your voice Put my head in the sand, but that won't do it I swore I was above you, but that won't do it And I tried and I tried, but that won't do it And I ain't going to drag my feet no more I'm running to your side, gonna beat down the door I ain't going to drag my feet no more, no more

Love In A Faithless Country

Intro Verse Licks
|--4-----4-----4---| |----10----10----5----------------------------------|
|7-----7-----7-----| |--8-----------7------------------------------------|
|------------------| |---------------------------------------------------|
|------------------| |---------------------------------------------------|
|------------------| |---------------------------------------------------|
 Always move in pairs and travel light A loose friend is an end keep it tight Always leave a job the way you found it Look for trouble coming and move around it
F
Dm
That's the way we made love That's the way we made love That's the way we made love Always make your best moves late at night Always keep your tools well out of sight Never pays to work the same town twice It never hurts to be a little nice That's the way we made love That's the way we made love That's the way we made love
Solo
Learn the way to melt into a crowd Never catch an eye or dress too loud Got to be invisible my friend To find the joy on which we must depend That's the way we make love That's the way we make love That's the way we make love

Fire In The Engine Room

Em
D
Em
D
Em
Well Luke told Danny, Danny told Betsy
A
Betsy told me and I'm telling you
Em
You'd better stop doing the things you do
A
B
A
B
There's a fire in the engine room, fire in the engine room Damp it down or we're all going under Run them hoses, it's smouldering again Better line up in a human chain There's a fire in the engine room, fire in the engine room Fire, fire, my heart is busting You drive me crazy with the things you say Jealousy's got me and it won't go away There's a fire in the engine room fire in the engine room
B
E
F#
And I don't know how you come to reason
B
E
F#
That somehow treason isn't treason
B
E
F#
It must be the head-hunting season
G#m
E
F#
And there's room in the old trophy room She's making eyes at the fool with the shovel That son of a grease-gun must be insane I hose it down and he fans the flames There's a fire in the engine room, fire in the engine room And you know how uncertainty can linger With a rattlesnake wrapped around your finger One day it might wake up and sting you Here's a toast to the bride and the groom Oh, fire, fire, my heart is busting You drive me crazy with the things you say Jealousy's got me and it won't go away There's a fire in the engine room, fire in the engine room

Walking Through A Wasted Land

A
G
D
I'm walking through a wasted land
A
G
D
Of soft cell concrete and dust
A
G
D
Whatever happened to this country?
F#m
E
D
Where is the hand you can trust?
D
E
D
E
D
E
Walk down, walk down, walk down I remember when the farmer was ashamed If he never put his hand to a plough You can buy a lot of shame with your money He's riding in a limousine now Walk down, walk down, walk down
Solo
Now sweat is the name of this town It's an ugly old dirty old disgrace And now that the steel's shut down It's fear puts the sweat in a man's face Walk down, walk down, walk down Now I should have a break like you But somebody stepped off decks Heads are gonna roll someday If we ever get this yoke off our necks Walk down, walk down, walk down
Solo
Well I'm walking through a wasted land I'm walking through a wasted land Where is the future we planned? I'm walking through a wasted land Walk down, walk down, walk down

Little Blue Number

My oh my, but you do look the killer Never mind the duds, just look at that hat All that green chartreuse on the waistcoat How do you come by something like that? Where did you get that little blue number? How do you make those rhinestones shine? Do you go on the prowl while other folks slumber? Did you steal those things right off of the line? Hold your horses, that's something of mine That little blue number, little blue number Little blue number, little blue number Ice blue jacket, vent down the middle Sharkskin trimmings and all that jazz Real rabbit's foot on a two-tone tie pin Lots of good luck and razzmatazz Where did you get that little blue number? How do you squeeze into something like that? Is that the same one I was wearing last summer? I wish I was glad for you, but I'm sorry Did the whole thing fall off the back of a lorry? That little blue number, little blue number Little blue number, little blue number Tartan shirt with the button-down collar Velvet hat-band, crocodile shoes Diamond bracelets, hounds-tooth pockets Everybody saying, "Here comes good news" Where did you get that little blue number? Rings a bell in the back of my mind You better come clean if you don't want to lumber I told you three times, you don't seem to get it That's my idea, you're taking the credit That little blue number, little blue number Little blue number, little blue number

She Twists The Knife Again

Em
I keep my nose clean, I keep my speech plain
G
Am
Bm
I keep my promises, she twists the knife again
Em
I shut my memory, I close my eyes and then
G
Am
Bm
She takes another bite, she twists the knife again
C
D
C
D
She never leaves me my dignity
C
D
G
A
Makes a dunce of me in mixed company
C
D
C
D
No bygone can be a bygone
C
D
G
A
She throws the spanner in, she puts the screws on
Am
Dm
G
A
In the middle of a kiss, she twists the knife again
Dm
G
A
When I get up off my knees, she twists the knife again
Dm
G
When I think I'm off the hook she gets me
Am
Am
She twists the knife again, she twists the knife again I make my moves well, I let her tell me when I walk a fine line, she twists the knife again Just when the scar heals, just when the grip unbends Just when her mind reels, she twists the knife again She can give it out, she can't take it She smells something bad, she has to rake it I bring home my packet, my white-collar money I'm in a fist fight, she thinks she's Gene Tunney In the middle of a kiss, she twists the knife again When I get up off my knees, she twists the knife again When I think I'm off the hook she gets me She twists the knife again, she twists the knife again
Em
Eb
Dm
Db
Cm
B
Bbm
A
She never leaves me my dignity Makes a dunce of me in mixed company No bygone can be a bygone She throws the spanner in, she puts the screws on In the middle of a kiss, she twists the knife again When I get up off my knees, she twists the knife again When I think I'm off the hook she gets me
Am
A
She twists the knife again, she twists the knife again

Ghosts In The Wind

Tuning: DADGBE (Drop D)
[Show chord shapes]
Dm11 053022
Am(add9) x02410
F 33350x
G7 55300x
Dm11
Did you call my name? Did you call my name in the night? In the whispers and sighs In the whispers and sighs of the night
G7
Dm11
Ah ghosts in the wind
G7
Dm11
Ah ghosts in the wind Now this old house moves This old house moves and moans The tongues of the night The tongues of the night stir my bones Ah ghosts in the wind Oh ghosts in the wind
F
Am(add9)
G7
When will my sore heart ever mend? I'm empty and cold I'm empty and cold like a ruin The wind tears through me The wind tears through me like a ruin Ah ghosts in the wind Oh ghosts in the wind When will my sore heart ever mend?