A Louse Is Not a Home — Peter Hammill
Chords and lyrics for A Louse Is Not a Home by Peter Hammill (key of A#).
Verse 1
[A#][F]Sometimes [Gm]it's [D#]very [D]scary here; [A#][F]sometimes [Gm]it's [D#]very [D]sad;
[D#][Gm]sometimes [D#]I [F]think I'll [Gm]disappear; [D#][F]be_times [Gm]I [D#]think I [D]have.
[D#]There's a [F]line [Gm]snaking [D#]down my [D]mirror:
[D#]splintered [F]glass [Gm][D#]distorts my [D]face,
[D#]and [Gm]though [D#]the [F]light is strong and [Gm]strange
[D#]it [F]can't illuminate the [Gm]musty [D#]corners of this [D]place.
[D#]There is a [F]lofty, lonely, Lohengrenic castle in [Gm]the [D#][D]clouds -
[D#][yes and ]I [F]draw [Gm]my [D#]murky meanings [D]there,
[D#]but [Gm]seven years' [D#]dark [F]luck is just [Gm]around the corner
[D#]and in the [F]shadows lurks [Gm]the [D#]spectre of[D] Despair.
[Dm]A cracked mirror mid the drapes of the landing:
[C]split image, labored understanding -
[A#]I'm only trying to find a [A]place to hide my [Dm]home...
[trumpet-like:] Dm C Dm Dm C Dm Dm C D
[Bass-Drums:] G Am C Am, G Am C D Am [twice, with different timings] x 2
[G]I've [Am]lived in [C]houses composed [Am]of glass
[G]where [Am]every [C]movement[D] is [Am]charted,
[G]but [Am]now the [C]monitor screens [Am]are dark
[G]and [Am]I can't tell if [C]silent [D]eyes are [Am]there.
[G]My [Am]words are [C]spiders upon the [Am]page,
[G]they [Am]spin out [C]faith, [D]hope and [Am]reason
[G]but [Am]are they [C]meet and just, or only [D]dust [C]gathering [D]about my
chair?
[A#]Sometimes I get the [A]feeling that there's
someone else [Dm]there :
[Dm]The faceless watcher [he] makes me uneasy,
[C]I can feel him through the floorboards, and His presence is creepy
[A#]He informs me that [A]I shall be [Dm]expelled...
[Dm]What is that but out of and into :
[C][I] don't know the nature of the door that I'd go through,
[Am][I] don't know the nature of the nature that I am [A#]inside...
[G]I've [Am]lived in [C]houses of brick [Am]and lead
[G]where [Am]all [C]emotion is [D]sacred,[Am]
[G]and if[Am] you want[C] to devour the [Am]fruit
[G]you [Am]must first [C]sniff at[D] the [Am]fragrance
(same tune and chords, with more intermediate notes played)
[G]and [Am]lay your [C]body before the [Am]shrine
[G]with [Am]poems and [C]posies [D]and [Am]papers -
[G]or, if[Am] you [C]catch the ruse, [Am]you'll have to choose
[C]to stay, a [D]monk, or [C]leave, a [D]vagrant.
[A#]What is this place [A]you call home?
[Dm]Is it a sermon or a confession?
[C]Is it the chalice that you use for protection?
[A#]Is it really only [A]somewhere you can stay?
[Dm]Is it a rule-book or a lecture?
[C]Is it a beating at the hands of your Protector?
[A#]Does the idol have [A]feet of clay?
[Dm]Home is what you make it, so my friends all say,
[C]but dont't you know I rarely see their [Bm]homes in these dark days.
[Dm]Some of them are snails and carry houses on their backs;
[C]others live in monuments [Bm]which, one day, will be racks -
[Dm]I keep my [C]home in place with sellotape and [A#]tin-tacks,[A#)][A]
[A#]but I still feel there's[Am] some other Force [Dm]here:
F Em (4-0)
He who cracks the mirrors and moves the walls
[Dm]keeps staring through the eye-slits of the portraits in my hall;
F Em (4-0)
He ravages my library and taps the telephone -
[Dm]I've never actually seen Him,
but I know He's in my home
[D#]and if he [F]goes away,
[Gm]I can't [D#]stay here [D]either.
[D#]I [F]believe - er - [Gm]I [D#]think - well, I don't [D]know...[D#]
Here, I Only Catch Notes, Not The Chords
I only live in one room at a time,
but all of the walls are ears, [and] all the windows, eyes :
Everything else is foreign,
'Home' is my wordless chant:
mmmmmaah!
Give it a chance!
[G]I am [Am]surrounded[C] by flesh and [Am]bone,
[G]I am a[Am] temple[C] of [D]living,[Am]
[G]I am a[Am] hermit, [C]I am a [Am]drone,
[G]and I [Am]am [C]boning out a [D]place to[Am] be.
[G]With [Am]secret [C]garlands about my [Am]head
[G][Am]unearthly [C]silence [D]is [Am]broken:
[G]the [Am]room is [C]growing dark, and [Am]in the stark light
[C]I can [D]see a [C]face I [D]know -
[A#]could this be the [A]guy who never [Dm]shows
[Dm]the cracked mirror what he's feeling,
[C]merely mumbles prayers to the ground where he's kneeling :
[A#]"Home is home is home is home is home is
[A]house is house is house is] home is [Dm]me!"
[Dm]All you people looking for your houses,
[C]don't throw your weight around, you might break your glasses
[A#]and if you do, you [A]know you just can't [Dm]see
[Dm]and then how are you to find the dawning of the day?
[C] [Bm]
[Dm]and people are imaginary, nothing else exists
[C]except the room I'm sitting in,
and, of [Bm]course, the all-pervading mist -
[Dm]sometimes I [C]wonder if even that's[A#] real...[Dm][C)]
[D#][F]Maybe [Em]I [D#]should [D]de-louse this place;
[D#][F]Maybe [Em]I [D#]should de-place this [D]louse;
[D#][Gm]Maybe [D#]I'll [F]maybe my life [Gm]away
[D#]in the [F]confines [Gm]of this [D#]silent [D]house.
[D#][F]Sometimes[Gm] [D#]it's very [D]scary here; [D#][F]sometimes[Gm] [D#]it's [D]very sad;
[D#][Gm]sometimes [D#]I [F]think I'll [Gm]disappear; [D#][F]sometimes [Gm]I [D#]think...[D]
Credit to: Jose Javier Glaria at Hammill.ru
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