Occident

OCCIDENT

Am     Em     F        C   
Mercy me, the night is long.
Am   F  Eb         Bb            C   
Take my pen, to write you this song.
Dm           G      Bb      C
Lord: is it harder to carry on,

Bb           C
or to know when you are done?

Am    Em          F       C
All my life, I've felt as though
Am  F Eb   Bb      C   Dm      
I'm inside a beautiful memory,
    G
Replaying
         Bb    C      Bb   F
with the sound turned down low.

C    F    G           C
Long-life, show your face.
Em   Am     Bb        C
Slow-heart, curb your taste.
C        F          G      C
Smoke me out of my hiding place.
Em   Am      Bb       C
Long-life, state your case.

Am          Em          F        C
What in the world are we waiting for—
Am   F   Eb      Bb                C      
building glowing cities along the shore,
Dm            G
where the wind batters in,
Bb         C   Bb      Bb
baiting my kin like a matador?

Am       Em    F      C
So much value, placed upon
Am   F    Eb   Bb          C
what lies just beyond our plans:
Dm        G
waving my handkerchief,
Bb       C    Bb              C
running along, till the end of the sand.

C    F     G           C
Long-life, speak your name.
Em  Am      Bb               C
I'm so tired of the guessing game.
C              F
But, something is moving,
G              C
just out of frame:
Em    Am
Slow-heart,
Bb        C
brace and aim.

Am        Em       F         C
Breaching slowly, across the sea,
Am  F
one mast—
  Eb             Bb            C
a flash, like the stinger of a bee—
Dm         G
to take you away,
  Bb         C    Bb           C
a swarming fleet is gonna take you
from me.

 Am      Em       F      C
The universe is getting loose:
Am  F    Eb
sodden spread,
Bb             C
from some leaden disuse,
Dm         G
rushing, unhinged,
       Bb            C
toward diminishing lights,
Bb                C
like a headless caboose.

C            F
I'll wait for you,
G            C
alongside the ocean,
Em      Am
and make do
    Bb      C
with my no-skin.
   C         F
But then, Long-life,
      G          C
will you let me in?
    Em         Am
And then, Slow-heart,
        Bb         C
are you gonna know him?
C      F       G        C
Long-life, speak your name.
Em           Am  Bb         C
I wait, while I decry the wait.
C          F       G     C
And when I die, may I relate:
Em   Am     Bb    C
Slow heart, congregate.

Am, Em, F, C
Am, F, Eb, Bb, C
Dm, G, Bb, C
Bb C

   Am          Em             F  C
To leave your home, and your family,
Am  F    Eb   Bb         C 
for some distortion of property?
     Dm             G
Well, darling, I can't go.
   Bb         C
But you may stay
Bb      C
here, with me.

Am