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Bone Of Song

Josh Ritter

Text File

-Bone of Song-
-Josh Ritter-
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Capo 7

G                   Cadd9                G  Cadd9
Just where it now lies I can no longer say
  G             Cadd9             G    Cadd9        
I found it on a cold and November day
       G                   Cadd9                       G  Cadd9 
In the roots of a Sycamore tree where it had hid so long
     G               Cadd9                     G  Cadd9
In a box made out of Myrtle lay the Bone of Song

The Bone of Song was a jawbone, old and bruised
Worn out in the service of the Muse
And along its sides and teeth were written words
I ran my palm along them and I heard

Em         G       D               C          G D C
"Lucky are you who finds me in the wilderness
  Amin7       Amin7/G       G/F                G      Cadd9 G Cadd9
I am the only unquiet ghost that does not seek rest"

The words on the bone of song were close and small
And though their toungues were dead I found I knew them all
In the hieroglyphs of quill and quatrain lines
Osiris, the fall of Troy, and Auld Lang Syne

Kathleen Mauvoreen, Magnificat, Your cheatin' heart
The chords of a covenant king singing for the Ark.

Then I saw on a white space that was left
A blessing written, older than the rest
And it said "leave me here I care not for wealth or fame
I'll remember your song but I'll forget your name"

The words that I sang blew off like leaves in the wind
First like birds on the branches before landing on the bone again, again

Then the bone was quiet it said no more to me
So I left it in the ribbons of the Sycamore tree
And as night had come so I turned around and headed home
With a lightness in my step and a song in my bones

"Lucky are you who finds me in the wilderness
I am the only unquiet ghost that does not seek rest"

Cadd9: x30033

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Bone Of Song

Josh Ritter