A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers — Van der Graaf Generator
Chords and lyrics for A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers by Van der Graaf Generator (key of F).
Verse 1
Van der Graaf Generator - A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers
I just wrote out the sax line for The Clot Thickens,
play some power chords if you want, or feel free to complete it for me.
(Eyewitness)
[Dm]Still wait ing for my sav-iour, storms tear me limb from limb
[C]my fingers feel like seaweed. I'm so far out I'm too far [Dm]in.
[Dm]I am a lonely man, my solitude is true,
[C]my eyes have borne stark witness and now my nights are [Dm]numbered, too.
[C]I've seen the smiles on [Am]dead [Bm]hands,
[Em]the stars shine, but they're [C]not for [Am]me.
[Dm]I prophesy disaster and then I count the cost...
[C]I shine but, shining, dying, I know that I am [Dm]almost lost.
[Dm]On the table lies blank paper and my tower is built on stone;
[C]I only have blunt scissors, I only have the [Dm]bluntest home.
[C]I've been the witness and the [Am]seal of [Bm]death
[Em]lingers in the molten wax that [C]is my [Am]head.
[Dm]When you see the skeletons
[Bb]of sailing-ship spars sinking low
[Ab]You'll begin to wonder if the points of all the ancients myths
[G]are solemnly directed straight[Dm] at you...
[Dm]No time now for contrition, the time for that's long past,
[C]the walls are thin as tissue and if I talk I'll crack [Dm]the glass.
[C]So I only think on how it [Am]might have [Bm]been,
[Em]locked in silent monologue, in [C]silent [Am]scream.
[Dm]I am much too tired to speak
[Bb]and as the waves crash on the bleak
[Ab]stones of the tower I start to freak
[G]and find that I am [Dm]overcome....
(S.H.M.)
[G]"Unreal, unreal" ghost helmsmen scream and fall in through the sky,
[G]not breaking through my seagull shrieks - no breaks until I die.
[Am]The spectres scratch on window-slits,
[Bm]the hollowed faces and mindless grins
[C]are only intent on [Am/B]destroying what they've [Am][Ab]lost.[F#][G]
[G]I crawl the wall till steepness ends in the vertical fall;
[G]my pain has sailed into the sea -no joking hopes at dawn.
[Am]White bone shine in the iron-jaw mask,
[Bm]lost mastheads pierce the freezing dark
[C]and parallel my [Am/B]isolated [Am]tower...
no [G]paraffin [F]for the [Em]flame,
no [Dm]harbour [C]left to [Bm]gain.[Am]
(Presence of the night / Kosmos tours)
Am Fmaj7 (or Am/F or Am6 call it what you want)
Am [B G] Fmaj7 [E F A]
'Alone, alone' the ghosts all call,
Am [B G] Fmaj7 [E F A]
pinpoint me in the light.
Am [B G] Fmaj7 [E F A]
The only life I feel at all
Am [B G] Fmaj7 [E F A]
is the presence of the night.
Am [B G] Fmaj7 [E F A] repeated
[E F G] Am
[E F G] Am
n.C.
Would you cry if I died?
[G] [Em] [Dm] [Em] [Dm] [Am] [Am] [Em] [Am] [Em]
[G]Would [Em]you [Dm]catch the [Em]final [Dm]words of mine?
[G]Would [Em]you [Dm]catch [Em]my [Dm]words?
[Am]I [Am]know [Em]that there's [Am]no [Em]time,
[Am]I [Am]know [Em]that there's [Am]no [Em]rhyme,
false signs find me.
(You don't have to play it this way, I just thought it would be fun.)
[Am] [Em/B] [Am/C] [Em/D] [Am/E] [Em/F]
[Am] [Em] [Am]
[Am]I don't [Em]want to [Am]hate, I just [Em]want to grow;
[Am]why can't [Em]I let me [Am]live and be free?
...but I [Em]die very slowly [Am]alone.
[Am]I know [Em]no more [Am]ways, I am [Em]so afraid,
[Am]myself [Em]won't let me [Am]just be myself
[Em]and so I am completely [Am]alone.
[Am]The maelstrom of my memory
[Bm]is a vampire and it feeds on me;
[C]now, staggering [C/B]madly, over the brink I [Am]fall.
((Custard's) Last stand)
[C#] [F#] [F]
[C#]Lighthouses [F#]might house the[F] [Bb]key[Bb][C]
[C#]but can I [F#]reach the [F][C]door?[Eb][C#]
[Bb] [Bbdim] [A] [Ddim] [C7]
[C#]I want to [F#]walk on the [F]sea [Bb][Bb][C]
[C#]so that I [F#]may better find[F] a [C]shore;[Eb][C#]
[Bb]but how can [Bbdim]I ever [A]keep my feet [F]dry?
[E7]I [A]scan [A]the [A][G][F]horizon,
[E7]I [A]must [A]keep [A]my [G]eyes [F]on [Dm]all [Am/C]parts of [Bm]me.
[C#]Looking [F#]back on the [F]years [Bb][Bb][C]
[C#]it seems that I have[F#] lost[F] my [C]way:[Eb][C#]
[Bb]Like a dog in the[Bbdim] night I have run to a [A]manger,
now I am the [F]stranger I [E]stay in.
[C#] [D#] [E]Ah, well.
[C#]All of the [F#]grief I[F] have [Bb]seen[Bb][C]
[C#]leaves me [F#]chasing solitary [F][C]peace;[Eb][C#]
[Bb]But I hold [Bbdim]experience [A]in my [F]head.
[E7]I'm [A]too [A]close [A]to [G]the [F]light,.
[E7]I [A]don't [A]think [A]I [G]see [F]right,
[Dm]for I[Am/C] blind [Bm]me.
(The clot thickens)
[C]Where is the God that [B]guides [C]my [G]hand?
[C]How can the hands of [B][C]others [F]reach me?
[C]When will I find what [B]I [C]grope [G]for?
[C]Who is [B]going[C] to [F]teach me?
[C]I am me / [Bb]me are we / [C]we can't [Bb]see
[C]any [Bb]way [B]out of here.
[C]Crashing sea, [Bb]a trophied [C]history:
[Bb]chance [C]has [B]lost my Guinevere...
[A] [A] [A] [B] [A] [G#] [B] [A] [G#] [B] [A] [Eb]
[C] [C] [B] [C] [G] [C] [C] [B] [C] [F] [C] [C] [B] [C] [G] [C] [C] [B] [C] [F]
[C] [Bb] [C] [Bb] [C] [Bb] [B]
[C] [Bb] [C] [Bb] [C] [Bb] [B]
[A] [A] [A] [B] [A] [G#] [B] [A] [G#] [B] [A] [Eb]
I don't want to be one wave in the water
but sea will drag me deep:
one more haggard drowned man.
I can see the lemmings coming, but I know I'm just a man.
Do I join or do I founder? Which can is the best I may?
(Land's end (Sineline) / We go now)
[Eb] [Bb] [Gb] [Absus]
[Eb]Oceans drifting [Bb]sideways, I am [Gb]pulled into the [Ab]spell,
[Ab Bb] Bb [Bb C] C Ab7/C Bb7 Eb
I feel you around me, I know you well.
Stars slice [Bb]horizons where the [Gb]lines stand much [Ab]too stark;
[Ab Bb] Bb [Bb C] C Ab7/C Bb7 Eb
I feel I am drowning - hands stretch in the dark.
Bb Gb Ab [Ab Bb] Bb [Bb C] C
[C] [Bb7/D] [C7] [F]
[F]Camps of panoply [C]and majesty, what is[Eb] Freedom of[Bb] Choice?
[Bb C] C [C D] D Bb7/D C7 F
Where do I stand in the pageantry, whose is my voice?
It doesn't feel so very[C] bad now, [Eb]I think the end is the[Bb] start,
[Bb C] C [C D] D Bb7/D C7 F
begin to feel very glad now: All things are a part
[Bb7/D]All things [C7]are [F]apart
[Bb7/D]All things [C7]are a [F]part.
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