Phil Chevron
C A
This graveyard hides a million secrets,
C A
And the trees know more than they can tell.
C F
The ghosts of the saints and the scholars will haunt you,
G C
In heaven and in hell.
C A
Rattled by the glimmer man, the boogie man, the holy man,
C A
And livin’ in the shadows, in the shadows of a gunman.
C F
Rattled like the coppers in your greasy till,
G C
Rattled until time stood still.
C A
Look over your shoulder, hear the school bell ring,
C A
Another day of made-to-measure history.
C F
I don’t care if your heroes have wings,
G C
Your terrible beauty has been torn.
CHORUS
A F G C
Faithful departed, we fickle hearted,
F E D G
As you are now so once were we.
A F G C
Faithful departed, we the meek hearted,
F E D G
With graces imparting bring flowers to thee.
The girls in the kips proclaim their love for you
When you stumbled in they knew you had a shilling or two.
They cursed you on Sundays and holy days of abstinence,
When you all stayed away.
When you slept there a naked bulb hid your shame,
Your shadows on the wall, they took all the blame.
The Sacred Heart’s picture, compassion in his eyes,
Drowned out the river of sighs.
Let the grass grow green over the brewery tonight,
It’ll never come between the darkness and the light.
There is no pain that can’t be eased,
By the devil’s holy water and the rosary beads.
CHORUS
You’re a history book I never could write,
Poetry in paralysis, too deep to recite.
Dress yourself, bless yourself, you’ve won the fight,
We’re gonna celebrate the night.
We’ll even climb the pillar like you always meant to,
Watch the sun rise over the strand.
Close your eyes and we’ll pretend,
It could somehow be the same again.
I’ll bury you upright so the sun doesn’t blind you.
You won’t have to gaze at the rain and the stars.
Sleep and dream of chapels and bars,
And whiskey in the jar.
FINAL CHORUS
A F G C
Faithful departed, look what you’ve started;
F D D G
An underdog’s wounds aren’t so easy to mend.
A F G C
Faithful departed, there’s no broken hearted,
F E D G C
And no more tristesse in your world without end.
A classic song from Philip Chevron whom I first met when he was a schoolboy with a dream, a dream which he still follows. Another wonderful song to sing.It means different things all the time, such a litany of powerful images,it can be a soft ballad or a mad scream or both.