1. The Crane Wife 3
2. The Island: Come and See/The Landlord's Daughter/You'll Feel Not the Drowning
3. Yankee Bayonet (I Will Be Home Then)
4. O Valencia!
5. The Perfect Crime #2
6. When the War Came
7.Shankill Butchers
8.Summersong
9. The Crane Wife 1&2
10. Sons & Daughters
BONUS TRACKS
11. Culling of the Fold
12. After the Bombs
1. The Crane Wife 3
Tabbed originally by: Unregistered
INTRO
(D A G)x2
VERSE 1
D A G
And under the boughs unbound
D A G
All clothed in a snowy shroud
D A G
She had no heart so hardened
D A G
All under the boughs unbound
(D A G)x2
VERSE 2
D A G
Each feather it fell from skin
D A G
Till threadbare she grew thin
D A G
How where my eyes so blinded
D A G
Each feather it fell from skin
CHORUS
D A G
And I will hang my head hang my head low
D A G
And I will hang my head hang my head low
(D A G)x2
VERSE 3
D A G
The gray sky looked bitter stained
D A G
A rain cloud and crane on wing
D A G
All out beyond horizons oh
D A G
A gray sky a bitter stain
CHORUS
D A G
(And I will hang my head hang my head low)x7
OUTRO
(D A G)x4
2. The Island: Come and See/The Landlord's Daughter/You'll Feel Not the Drowning
INTRO
Em
VERSE 1
There's an island hidden in the sound
Lapping currents lay your boat aground
G
Affix your barb and bayonet
A Bb
The curlews carve their arabesques
Em
And sorrow fills the silence all around
Come and see
VERSE 2
There's a harbor lost within the reeds
A jetty caught in over-hanging trees
G
Among the bones of cormorants
A Bb
No boot-mark here nor fingerprint
Em
The rivers roll down to a soundless sea
Come and see
G G/F# Em
Come and see
CHORUS
D C
The tides all come and go witnessed by no waking eye
Em D C
The willows mark the wind
Em D C
And all we know for sure amidst this fading light
Em D C
We'll not go home again
B7 C
Come and see
B7 C D Em
Come and see
VERSE 3
In the lowlands, nestled in the heath
A briar-cradle rocks its babe to sleep
G
Its contents watched by Sycorax
A Bb
And Patagon in parallax
Em
A foretold rumbling sounds below the deep
Come and see
G G/F# Em
Come and see
CHORUS
D C
The tides all come and go witnessed by no waking eye
Em D C
The willows mark the wind
Em D C
And all we know for sure amidst this fading light
Em D C
We'll not go home again
B7 C
Come and see
B7 C D Am
Come and see
*The Landlords Daughter*
Am D Am D Am D Am D
Am D Am D
As I was a-ramble down by the water
Am D Am D Am D Am D
I spied in sable the landlord's daughter
Am D Am D
I produced my pistol, then my saber
Am D Am D
Said, "Make no whistle or thou will be murdered!"
Am D Am D Am D Am D Am D Am D Am D
La-Ha-Ha La-Ha
Am D Am D
She cursed, she shivered, she cried for mercy
Am D Am D
"My gold and silver if thou will release me!"
G Bb F G# Eb Bbm A
Dm Bb Dm Bb
I'll take no gold, miss. I'll take no silver.
Dm Bb Dm Bb
But I'll take those sweet lips and thou will deliver!
Am D Am D Am D Am D Am D Am D Am D
La-Ha-Ha La-Ha
Dm C F G Am
*You'll Feel Not the Drowning*
INTRO
Am Asus2
VERSE 1
Am C
I will dress your eyelids
Am C
With dimes upon your eyes
Am C
Lay you close to water
Am C
Green your grave will rise
CHORUS
G
Go to sleep now, little ugly
Am
Go to sleep now, you little fool
G
Forty winking in the belfry
F G
You'll not feel the drowning
F G G#+
You'll not feel the drowning
VERSE 2
Am C
Forget you once had sweethearts
Am C
They've forgotten you
Am C
Think you not on parents
Am C
They've forgotten too
CHORUS
G
Go to sleep now, little ugly
Am
Go to sleep now, you little fool
G
Forty winking in the belfry
F G
You'll not feel the drowning
F G G#+
You'll not feel the drowning
VERSE 3/OUTRO
Am C
Hear you now the captain
Am C
Heave his sorrowed cry
Am C
The weight upon your eyelids
Am C
Is dimes laid on your eyes
3. Yankee Bayonet (I Will Be Home Then)
Originally tabbed by: Warpstarkirby
INTRO
C Am C Am
VERSE 1
C Am
Heart-carved tree trunk, Yankee bayonet
C Am
A sweetheart left behind
C Am
Far from the hills of the sea-swelled Carolinas
C Am
That's where my true love lies
C Am C Am
Ah Ah Ah Ah Ah Ah Ah Ah Ah Ah Ah Ah Ah Ah Ah Ah Ah Ah
VERSE 2
C Am
Look for me when the sun-bright swallow
C Am
Sings upon the birch bough high
C Am
But you are in the ground with the voles and the weevils
C Am
All a'chew upon your bones so dry
C Am C Am
(Ah Ah Ah Ah Ah Ah Ah Ah Ah Ah Ah Ah Ah Ah Ah Ah Ah Ah)x2
CHORUS
A Cmaj7
But when the sun breaks
A Cmaj7 G
To no more bullets in Battle Creek
A Cmaj7
Then will you make a grave
A F
For I will be home then
G
I will be home then
F
I will be home then
G
I will be home then, then
C Am C Am
VERSE 3
C Am
When I was a girl how the hills of Oconee
C Am
Made a seam to hem me in
C Am
There at the fair when our eyes caught, careless
C Am
Got my heart right pierced by a pin
C Am C Am
Ah Ah Ah Ah Ah Ah Ah Ah Ah Ah Ah Ah Ah Ah Ah Ah Ah Ah
VERSE 4
C Am
But oh, did you see all the dead of Manassas
C Am
All the bellies and the bones and the bile
C Am
No, I lingered here with the blankets barren
C Am
And my own belly big with child
C Am C Am
(Ah Ah Ah Ah Ah Ah Ah Ah Ah Ah Ah Ah Ah Ah Ah Ah Ah Ah) x2
CHORUS
A Cmaj7
But when the sun breaks
A Cmaj7 G
To no more bullets in Battle Creek
A Cmaj7
Then will you make a grave
A F
For I will be home then
G
I will be home then
F
I will be home then
G
I will be home then
BRIDGE
F G
Stems and bones and stone walls too
G
Could keep me from you
F Em
Skein of skin is all too few
G
To keep me from you
C Am C Am
VERSE 5
C Am
But oh my love, though our bodies may be parted
C Am
Though our skin may not touch skin
C Am
Look for me with the sun-bright sparrow
C Am
I will come on the breath of the wind
C Am C Am
(Ah Ah Ah Ah Ah Ah Ah Ah Ah Ah Ah Ah Ah Ah Ah Ah Ah Ah) x2
4. O Valencia!
Originally tabbed by: jebeebus
INTRO
(C Cmaj7 G)x2
VERSE 1
C Cmaj7 G
You belong to the gang
C Cmaj7 G
And you say you can't break away
C Cmaj7 G C Cmaj7 G
But I'm here with my hands on my heart
C Cmaj7 G
Our families can't agree
C Cmaj7 G
I’m your brother's sworn enemy
C Cmaj7 G C Cmaj7 G
But I'll shout out my love to the stars
CHORUS
Am F Dm G
So wait for the stone on your window, your window
Am F Dm G
Wait by the car and we’ll go, we’ll go
(C Cmaj7 G)x2
VERSE 2
C Cmaj7 G
When first we laid eyes
C Cmaj7 G
I swore to no compromise
C Cmaj7 G C Cmaj7 G
'Til I felt my caress on your skin
C Cmaj7 G
Well, how soon we were betrayed
C Cmaj7 G
Your sister gave us away
C Cmaj7 G C Cmaj7 G
And your father came all unhinged
CHORUS
Am F Dm G
So wait for the stone on your window, your window
Am F Dm G
Wait by the car and we’ll go, we’ll go
C Em Am
But Oh, Valencia-ah-ah!
F C
With your blood still warm on the ground
Em Am
Valencia-ah-ah!
F
And I swear to the stars
Dm G
I’ll burn this whole city down, oh oh oh
(C Cmaj7 G)x4
C Cmaj7 G
All I heard was a shout
C Cmaj7 G
Of your brother calling me out
C Cmaj7 G C Cmaj7 G
And you ran like a fool to my side
C Cmaj7 G
Well the shot, it hit hard
C Cmaj7 G
And your frame went limp in my arms
C Cmaj7 G C Cmaj7 G
And the lull of love was your dying cry
CHORUS
Am F Dm G
So wait for the stone on your window, your window
Am F Dm G
Wait by the car and we’ll, go we’ll go
C Em Am
But Oh, Valencia-ah-ah!
F C
With your blood still warm on the ground
Em Am
Valencia-ah-ah!
F C
And I’ll burn this whole city down
OUTRO
Em Am
Valencia-ah-ah!
F C
With your blood gettin' cold on the ground
Em Am
Valencia-ah-ah!
F
And I swear to the stars
Dm G C
I’ll burn this whole city down, oh oh oh
5. The Perfect Crime #2
INTRO
Em
VERSE 1
Sing muse of the passion of the pistol
Sing muse of the warning by the whistle
A night so dark in the waning
A dawn obscured by a slate sky raining
VERSE 2
Five and twenty burglars by the reservoir
A teenage lookout on the signal tower
The mogul's daughter in hogties
The mogul fingers the wrong guy
CHORUS
C D
It was a perfect a perfect a perfect a perfect
C G Em
A perfect a perfect a perfect a perfect crime
C D
It was a perfect a perfect a perfect a perfect
C G Em
A perfect a perfect a perfect a perfect crime
It was the perfect crime
VERSE 3
The bagman's quaking in the fingers
The hand off lends a little lingers
A well dressed man in the cross hairs
A shot rings out from somewhere upstairs
CHORUS
C D
It was a perfect a perfect a perfect a perfect
C G Em
A perfect a perfect a perfect a perfect crime
C D
It was a perfect a perfect a perfect a perfect
C G Em
A perfect a perfect a perfect a perfect crime
It was the perfect crime
BRIDGE
C B
It was like a ticker-tape parade
C B
When the plastique on the safe was blown away
C B
We all gazed from eye to eye
C Em
As we mouthed our silent good-byes
VERSE 4
The valley sleeping with the bastard
It stinks of slumber and disaster
Two words I spoke on the tap-wire
The agent's ploy was a surefire backfire
CHORUS
C D
It was a perfect a perfect a perfect a perfect
C G Em
A perfect a perfect a perfect a perfect crime
C D
It was a perfect a perfect a perfect a perfect
C G Em
A perfect a perfect a perfect a perfect crime
C D
A perfect A perfect A perfect A perfect
C D
A perfect A perfect A perfect A perfect
C D
A perfect A perfect A perfect A perfect
C D
A perfect A perfect A perfect A perfect
C D
A perfect A perfect A perfect A perfect
C D
A perfect A perfect A perfect A perfect
C D
A perfect A perfect A perfect A perfect
C D Em
A perfect a perfect a perfect a perfect crime
6. When The War Came
INTRO
Bsus2
VERSE 1
With all the grain of Babylon
To cultivate, To make us strong
And hidden here behind the walls
Are shoulders wide and timber on
Asus2
Till the war came
Bsus2
Till the war came
VERSE 2
A terrible autonomy
Is grafted onto you and me
A trust put in the governments
Who told their lies as heaven sent
Asus2
Till the war came
Bsus2
Till the war came
CHORUS
G Asus2 Bsus2
And the war came with a curse and a caterwaul
G Asus2 Bsus2
And the war came with all the poise of a cannonball
G A Em G
And they're picking out our eyes by cold and candlelight
G
When the war came
Asus Bssu2
The war came hard
VERSE 3
We made our oaths to Avalon
We'd not betray the soul lain on
The acres of hysteracy
To our own pangs of starvation
When the war came
When the war came
CHORUS
G Asus2 Bsus2
And the war came with a curse and a caterwaul
G Asus2 Bsus2
And the war came with all the poise of a cannonball
G A Em G
And they're picking out our eyes by cold and candlelight
G
When the war came
Asus Bssu2
The war came hard
OUTRO
With all the grain of Babylon
With all the grain of Babylon
7. Shankill Butchers
Originally tabbed by: hojoseph99
CAPO 4
INTRO
[ Tab from: https://www.guitartabs.cc/tabs/d/decemberists/crane_wife_crd.html ]
(Am Am/B C Am/B) x2
VERSE 1
Am Am/E F
The shankill butchers run tonight
E
You better shut your windows tight
Am Am/E F
They're sharpening their cleavers and their knives
E
And taking all their whiskey by the pint
CHORUS
Am Am/E F
And everybody knows if you don't
G Am Am/E
Mind your mother's words
Am Am/E F F/C
A wicked wind will blow
G Am
Your ribbons from your curls
Am/E Am Am/E F
Everybody moan, everybody shake
E E/B (Am Am/B Am/B) x2
The Shankill butchers wanna catch you awake
VERSE 2
Am Am/E F
They used to be just like me and you
E
They used to be sweet little boys
Am Am/E F
But something went horribly askew
E
Now killing is their only source of joy
CHORUS
Am Am/E F
And everybody knows if you don't
G Am Am/E
Mind your mother's words
Am Am/E F F/C
A wicked wind will blow
G Am
Your ribbons from your curls
Am/E Am Am/E F
Everybody moan, everybody shake
E E/B (Am Am/B Am/B) x2
The Shankill butchers wanna catch you awake
BRIDGE
(Am Am/E F E)x2
VERSE 3
Am Am/E F
The shankill butchers on the rise
E
They're waiting until the dead of the night
Am Am/E F
They're picking at their fingers with their knives
E
And wiping off their cleavers on their thighs
CHORUS
Am Am/E F
And everybody knows if you don't
G Am Am/E
Mind your mother's words
Am Am/E F F/C
A wicked wind will blow
G Am
Your ribbons from your curls
Am/E Am Am/E F
Everybody moan, everybody shake
OUTRO
E
The shankill butchers wanna catch you
E
The shankill butchers wanna cut you
E
The shankill butchers wanna catch you
Am Am/B C Am/B
Awake
Am Am/B C Am/B
Awake
Am Am/B C Am/B
Awake
Am
Awake
8. Summersong
Originally tabbed by: tAKEAWAy
CAPO 4
INTRO
Am C Em G
VERSE 1
Am C
Ramblin' where to begin
Em G
I taste the summer on your peppery skin
Am C
Been saved the warmer the waves
Em G
I felt a slip into a watery grave
Am C Em G
Oh ahhh Ah ha haaaa
Am C Em G
A la di da di da Ahhhhhhh
PRE-CHORUS
Am C
My girl, linen and curls
Em G
Lips parting like a flag all unfurled
Am C
She's grand the bend of her hand
Em G
Digging deep into the sweep of the sand
Am C Em G
Oh ahhh Ah ha haaaa
Am C Em G
A la di da di da Ahhhhhhh
CHORUS
G Am Em Am
Summer arrives with a length of lights
Em Am F
Summer blows away
C G Am C Em G
And quietly gets swallowed by a wave
Am C Em G
It gets swallowed by a wave
VERSE 2
Am C
Waylay the din of the day
Em G
Boats bobbing in the blue of the bay
Am C
In deep far beneath
Em G
All the dead sailors slowly slipping to sleep
Am C Em G
Oh ahhh Ah ha haaaa
Am C Em G
A la di da di da Ahhhhhhh
PRE-CHORUS
Am C
My girl, linen and curls
Em G
Lips parting like a flag all unfurled
Am C
She's grand the bend of her hand
Em G
Digging deep into the sweep of the sand
Am C Em G
Oh ahhh Ah ha haaaa
Am C Em G
A la di da di da Ahhhhhhh
CHORUS
G Am Em Am
Summer arrives with a length of lights
Em Am F
Summer blows away
C G Am C Em G
And quietly gets swallowed by a wave
Am C Em G Am C Em G
It gets swallowed by a wave
Am C Em G Am C Em G
It gets swallowed by a wave
Am C Em G Am C Em G
It gets swallowed by a wave
9. The Crane Wife 1&2
Crane Wife 1 tabbed by: Stormx
Crane Wife 2 tabbed by: heymrrain
INTRO
G
VERSE 1
It was a cold night
Em
And the snow lay low
I pulled my coat tight
C
Against the falling down
And the sun was all
G Em
And the sun was all down
And the sun was all
C G
And the sun was all down
VERSE 2
I am a poor man
Em
I haven't wealth nor fame
I have my two hands
C
And a house to my name
And the winter's so
G Em
And the winter's so long
And the winter's so
C D
And the winter's so long
CHORUS
And all the stars were crashing 'round
G
As I laid eyes on what I'd found
VERSE 3
It was a white crane
Em
It was a helpless thing
Upon a red stain
C
With an arrow its wing
And it called and cried
G Em
And it called and cried so
And it called and cried
C D
And it called and cried so
CHORUS
And all the stars were crashing 'round
G
As I laid eyes on what I'd found
Em C
My crane wife, my crane wife
G
My crane wife, my crane wife
VERSE 4
Now I helped her
Em
And I dressed her wounds
And how I held her
C
Beneath the rising moon
And she stood to fly
G Em
And she stood to fly away
And she stood to fly
C D
She stood to fly away
CHORUS
And all the stars were crashing 'round
G
As I laid eyes on what I'd found
Em C
My crane wife, my crane wife
G
My crane wife, my crane wife
G Em C G
Da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da
G Em C G
Da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da
D Bm D G D Bm D G D Bm D G D Bb D G D Bm D G D Bb D G
*Crane Wife 2*
INTRO
D
VERSE 1
C G D
My crane wife arrived at my door in the moonlight
C G D
All star-bright and tongue tied I took her in
VERSE 2
D C G D
We were married and bells rang sweet for our wedding
C G D
And our bedding was ready when we fell in
CHORUS
Em A Em
Sound the keening bell and see it's painted red
A G
Soft as fontanel, the feathers in the thread
A C G
When all I ever meant to do was to keep you
D G D C D
My crane wife, my crane wife, my crane wife
VERSE 3
C G D
We were poorly, our fortunes fading hourly
C G D
And how she vowed me she could bring it back
VERSE 4
D C G D
But I was greedy I was vain and I forced her to weaving
C G D
On cold loom in closed room with down wove
CHORUS
Em A Em
Sound the keening bell and see it's painted red
A G
Soft as fontanel, the feathers in the thread
A C G
When all I ever meant to do was to keep you
D G D C D
My crane wife, my crane wife, my crane wife
OUTRO
Em F
There's a bend in the wind and it rakes at my heart
Em F
There is blood in the thread and it rakes at my heart
G C G C G C G C G C
Rakes at my heart, heart, heart, heart, heart
G C G C
G C G C G C G C
Heart, heart, heart, heart, heart, heart, heart, heart
D
My crane wife
10. Sons And Daughters
INTRO: D G D G
VERSE 1/CHORUS
D G
When we arrive, sons and daughters
D G
We'll make our homes on the water
D G
We'll build our walls aluminum
D G D G
We'll fill our mouths with cinnamon now
D G D G
VERSE 2
D G
These currents pull us 'cross the border
D G
Steady your boats, arms to shoulder
D G
'till tides are pulled, hold our grounds
D G D G
Making this cold harbor now home
D G
VERSE 3
D G
Take up your arms, sons and daughters
D G
We will arise from the bunkers
D G
By land, by sea, by dirigible
D G D G
We'll leave our tracks untraceable now
BRIDGE
D G D G D G D G D G
CHORUS
D G
When we arrive, sons and daughters
D G
We'll make our homes on the water
D G
We'll build our walls aluminum
D G D G
We'll fill our mouths with cinnamon now
D G
CHORUS
D G
When we arrive, sons and daughters
D G
We'll make our homes on the water
D G
We'll build our walls aluminum
D G D G
We'll fill our mouths with cinnamon now
D G D G
CHORUS
D G
When we arrive, sons and daughters
D G
We'll make our homes on the water
D G
We'll build our walls aluminum
D G D G
We'll fill our mouths with cinnamon now
D G D G
CHORUS
D G
When we arrive, sons and daughters
D G
We'll make our homes on the water
D G
We'll build our walls aluminum
D G D G
We'll fill our mouths with cinnamon now
D G D G D G D G
OUTRO
D G
(Here all the bombs fade away) X 20
BONUS TRACKS
11. Culling of the Fold
Originally tabbed by: Henner
VERSE 1
C Em
Cut him up boy
C Em
You've got to cut him up boy
C
He's a wicked disgrace
Em
And he said it to your face
C Em
You better cut him up boy
VERSE 2
Em
Take him by the teeth
Em
Get him down on his knees
F#°
With your hands all shaking
C
That'll teach him how to take it
Em C
Gotta cut him up boy
Em
And how
CHORUS
Am
Ply her heart with gold and silver
Em Am
And take your sweetheart down to the river
Em F#°
Dash her on the paving stones
C
It may break your heart
B
To break her bones
Am C B Em
But someones got to do, the culling of the fold
VERSE 3
C Em
Cut him up girl
C Em
Really cut him up girl
C Em
He lives by himself in a hole in a wall,
C Em
You've gotta cut him up girl
VERSE 4
Em
You can take him in a stitch
Em
Dump his body in a ditch
F#°
Leave his limbs all naked
C
That'll teach him how to take it
Em C
Better cut him up girl
Em
And how
CHORUS
Am
Ply her heart with gold and silver
Em Am
And take your sweetheart down to the river
Em F#dim
Dash her on the paving stones
C
It may break your heart
B
To break her bones
Am C B Em
But someones got to do, the culling of the fold
BRIDGE
C Em
Listen up boy
C Em
And listen up girl
C
It's a shallow little trench
Em
And it's giving off a stench
C Em
It's a shallow little world
Em
Feeling down in the face
Em
Could you use a little space
Dim
When the radio crackles
C
And the in-laws cackle
Em C
You better cut him up boy
Em
And cut him up girl
CHORUS
Am
Ply her heart with gold and silver
Em Am
And take your sweetheart down to the river
Em F#dim
Dash her on the paving stones
C
It may break your heart
B
To break her bones
Am C B Em
But someones got to do, the culling of the fold
12. After the Bombs
Originally tabbed by: Unregistered
INTRO
D B G
VERSE 1
D Bm G
After the bombs subside
D Bm
And this long, low campaign
G
Calls it good for the night
D Bb
We meet in the streets
Bm A G
Will we meet in a bar’s cold light?
D Bm
We grip at our hands
G
We hold just a little tight
Fm E
After the bombs
A D
After the bombs subside
VERSE 2
D Bm G
And after the rockets come
D Bm
And the glimmer of fire
G
Pretends an early dawn
D Bb
We pinch at our skin
Bm A G
While we wonder how we escaped harm
D Bm
We forget all our trials
G
All there in our baby’s arms
G Fm E
After the rockets
E A D
After the rockets come
CHORUS
D G D
Then we’ll go dancing
D G D
Won’t we go dancing?
D G Fm E
Yes, we’ll go dancing
A D
Until it all starts over again
D Bm G D Bm G D Bb Bm A G D Bm G Fm E A D
CHORUS
D G D
Then we’ll go dancing
D G D
Yes, we’ll go dancing
D G Fm E
Won't we go dancing
A D
Until it all starts over again
