The Band - Northern Lights - Southern Cross Chords & Tabs

 

Northern Lights - Southern Cross Chords & Tabs

The Band Chords & Tabs

Version: 1 Type: Chords

Northern Lights - Southern Cross Chords

   
The Band
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Album: Northern Lights - Southern Cross
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Tracks

1. Forbidden Fruit
2. Hobo Jungle
3. Ophelia  (166K)
4. Acadian Driftwood
5. Ring Your Bell
6. It Makes No Difference
7. Jupiter Hollow
8. Rags And Bones
9.* Twilight
10.* Christmas Must Be Tonight
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Track 1.Forbidden Fruit
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 A           A7           D        A
   High and lonesome out on Times Square
                 A7           D    A
   Haven't got a dime, ain't got a prayer
               A7              D      A
   Deliver us, Lord, from this golden calf
               A7             D      A
   People only want what they cannot have

             D#o7
   Forbidden fruit
              D                E          A          D
   That's the fruit that you'd better not taste
A            D#o7
   Forbidden fruit
                  D               E          A       D
   You've got one life that you'd better not waste

A            A7             D        A
   How can I walk with this ball and chain?
             A7           D     A
   How can I land in this hurricane?
              A7            D    A
   Or is this part of man's evolution
         A7           D             A
   To be torn between truth and illusion?
             D#o7
   Forbidden fruit
              D                E          A        D
   That's the route that you'd better not take
A             D#o7
   Forbidden fruit
              D           E           A
   Just watch out for the sign of the snake


 Little brother got caught in the web
 He ran off to join the living dead
 Been through the mill, seen the cross on the hill
 He sold his soul just for a thrill
 Forbidden fruit
 In hot pursuit out on a limb
 Forbidden fruit
 Your whole world is closing in

 You got the picture but missed the drift
 About me workin' the graveyard shift
 I never went in for no burglary
  But there's a stranger inside of me
 Forbidden fruit
 Don't you shoot the whole works away
 Forbidden fruit
 It's too high of a price to pay

 How can you hear with a bad connection?
You can't see when there's no reception
Keep your distance, don't fool with taboo
 'Cause it'll overtake and undertake you
 Forbidden fruit
 That's the fruit that you'd better not taste
 Forbidden fruit
 You've got one life that you'd better not waste
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Track 2. Hobo Jungle
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by J.R.Robertson. Album: Northern Lights - Southern Cross
© 1975, 1976 Medicine Hat Music
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C               G               F          Fm6
    There was a chill that night in the hobo jungle
Am           Em7      Ebm7   Dm7            G7
    Over the train yard lay a smooth coat of frost
C                G                  F                   Fm6
    And although nobody here really knows where they're goin'
Am  Em7         Dm7        F   G7       C
    At the very same time    nobody's lost


C             G/C         F                    Fm6/Ab
    Then the fire went out  and the night grew still
Am              Em    Em7 Ebm7 Dm7
        G7
    This old man lay frozen     on the cold, cold ground
C               G/C     F                       Fm6/Ab
    He was a stray bird   and the road was his callin'
Am   Em7          Dm7
    Ridin' the rods
G7           F         C
    Sleepin' under the stars
Am  Em7           Dm7  F        G7      C
    Playin' the odds     from a rollin' box car


C             G/C         F                    Fm6/Ab
    She attended the fun'ral in the hobo jungle
Am              Em    Em7 Ebm7 Dm7
        G7
    Long were they lovers     though never could they wed
C               G/C        F                  Fm6/Ab
    Drifters and rounders       and distant friends
Am         Em7          Dm7
    Here I lie without anger or regret
F          G7       C
    I'm in no one's debt

D               A/D
    Man goes nowhere
           G              Gm6/Bb
    Ev'rything comes like tomorrow
Bm                    F#m      F#m7 Fm7 Em7
           A7
    But she took that last ride           there by his side
D                A/D        G                Gm6/Bb
    He spent his whole life   pursuing the horizon
Bm  F#m7         Em7
    Ridin' the rods
A7           G            D
    Sleepin' under the stars
Bm  F#m7        Em7   G          A7      D
    Playin' the odds      from a rollin' box car
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Track 3.Ophelia
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by J.R.Robertson. Album: Northern Lights - Southern Cross
© 1975, 1976 Medicine Hat Music
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C
  Boards on the window
E7
  Mail by the door
A7                           D7
  What would anybody leave so quickly for?
     F
  Ophelia
G7               C     A7   D7    G7
  Where have you gone?


  The old neighborhood just ain't the same
  Nobody knows just what became of
  Ophelia
  Tell me, what went wrong

F                           C
  Was it somethin' that somebody said?
G7                          C
  Mama, I know we broke the rules
F                    C
  Was somebody up against the law?
G7                            G7+5
  Honey, you know I'd die for you

C
  Ashes of laughter
E7
  The ghost is clear
A7                             D7
  Why do the best things always disappear
         F
  Like Ophelia
G7                 C     A7    D7   G7
  Please darken my door

Was it somethin' that somebody said?
Honey, you know we broke the rules
Wu somebody up against the law?
Honey, you know I'd die for you

They got your number
Scared and runnin'
But I'm still waitin' for the second comin'
Of Ophelia
Come back home
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Track 4. Acadian Driftwood
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by J.R. Robertson. Album: Northern Lights - Southern Cross
© 1975, 1976 Medicine Hat Music

For more about this song, see Peter Viney's article.
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F                           C9
   The war was over and the spirit was broken
Dm9                Ebmaj9          Gm7
   The hills were smokin' as the men withdrew
F
   We stood on the cliffs
    C/G             A9
   Oh, and watched the ships
Bb                         Gm7
   Slowly sinking to their rendezvous
F                               C9
   They signed a treaty and our   homes were taken
Dm9           Ebmaj9
   Loved ones forsaken
               Gm7
   They didn't give a damn
F
   Try'n' to raise a family
C/G       A9
   End up the enemy
Bb                                      Gm7
   Over what went down on the plains of Abraham (*)


F        Bb
  Acadian driftwood
Gm7      C7
  Gypsy tail wind
Bb/D          F/C   Bb            Gm7
  They call my home   the land of snow
F           Bb        Gm7       C7
  Canadian cold front    movin' in
Bb/D       F/C
  What a way to ride
Bb  Dm7/A      Gm7   C7   F
    Oh, what a way   to   go

 Then some returned to the motherland
 The high command had them cast away
  And some stayed on to finish what they started
 They never parted
 They're just built that way
 We had kin livin' south of the border
 They're a little older and they've been around
 They wrote a letter life is a whole lot better
 So pull up your stakes, children and come on down

 Fifteen under zero when the day became a threat
 My clothes were wet and I was drenched to the bone
 Been out ice fishing, too much repetition
 Make a man wanna leave the only home he's known
 Sailing out of the gulf headin' for Saint Pierre
 Nothin' to declare
 All we had was gone
 Broke down along the coast
 But what hurt the most
 When the people there said
 "You better keep movin' on"

 Everlasting summer filled with ill-content
 This government had us walkin' in chains
 This isn't my turf
 This ain't my season
 Can't think of one good reason to remain
 I've worked in the sugar fields up from New Orleans
 It was ever green up until the floods
 You could call it an omen
 Points ya where you're goin'
 Set my compass north
 I got winter in my blood

 Acadian driftwood
 Gypsy tail wind
 They call my home the land of snow
 Canadian cold front movin' in
 What a way to ride
 Ah, what a way to go

F          C7sus4  C7  Bb/D      Gm7
   Sais tu, A-ca-di-e   j'ai le mal du pays
   [You know, Acadia, I long for the country (I am homesick)]
F           C7sus4 C7  Bb/D      Gm7
   Ta neige, Acadie,    fait des larmes au soleil
   [Your snow, Acadia, makes tears in the sun (or for the sun)]
F       C7sus4  C7  Bb/D         Gm7
   J'arrive Acadie,   teedle um, teedle um, teedle ooh
   [I am arriving Acadia (or I am coming Acadia)]

(*): "The Plains of Abraham" refer to farm land owned by Abraham Martin just west of the
Citadel in Quebec City and the site of the battle between the French and the English.
is now a park (also overlooks the St.Lawrence) and is a wonderful place to visit if you 
get the chance.
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Track 5. Ring Your Bell
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by J.R.Robertson. Album: Northern Lights - Southern Cross
© 1975, 1976 Medicine Hat Music
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F#-5  F         C/E
      Ring your bell
Ebm   Dm          C
      Change your number
F#-5  F        C/E
      Run like hell
Ebm       Dm         C
      You can't hide from thunder

      Oh, no
F#-5  F         C/E
      Ring your bell
Ebm   Dm         C
      Get in the wind
F#-5  F          C/E    Ebo7  Dm7     C
      You and me gonna make some medicine

[ Tab from: https://www.guitartabs.cc/tabs/t/the_band/northern_lights_southern_cross_crd.html ]
C7/Bb          F/A       C/G
      Run that rebel across the tracks
 C7/E                   Dm7    C
      With the Mounties on his trail
  Eb6         Dm7
      He was taught:
      C                                      F
      Don't get caught at the mercy of the man
               G
      Land in jail
  C7/Bb        F/A           C/G
      Meet me, madam, on the high road
  C7/E         Dm7          C
      We gonna blow the man down
 Eb6            Dm7      C
      I've been totin' a heavy load
                           F
      And I'm rarin' to clown
             G
      Mess around

 Ring your bell
 Shake your tower
 Pump your well
 Turn on your power
 I'm gonna ring your bell
 Glide on in
 You and me gonna make some medicine

 Smoky bars and souped-up cars
  Where we drowned all sorrow
 Renegade woman
 Love me like there's no tomorrow
 Left to borrow
 Bloodhounds comb the back streets
 With the ramrod close behind
  Asphalt justice you gonna find
  My ass across
 That border line

 Ring your bell
  Sound the chime
 Open up your shell
 Get on the line
 Come on, ring your bell
Gimme some skin
You and me gonna make some medicine
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Track 6. It Makes No Difference
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by J.R.Robertson. Album: Northern Lights - Southern Cross
© 1975, 1976 Medicine Hat Music
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intro

/  /   |   Bb   Gm   |   Eb   F  |  Bb
 |  Bb    |


Eb                                     Dm
   It makes no diff'rence where I turn
Gm            Gm7/F              Cm7
   I can't get over you and the flame still burns
Eb                                      Dm
   It makes no diff'rence,   night or day
Gm                 Gm7/F                    Eb
     F
   The shadow never seems to fade away

                 Bb  Gm             Eb    F      Bb   Eb    Bb
  And the sun           don't shine          anymore
                  Bb   Gm             Eb  F
   Bb   Eb   Bb
   And the rains                fall down on my door


    Bb
    Now there's no love
  Fm7
    As true as the love
Eb                    C7
    That dies untold
                  Bb    Gm                                Eb
 F
    Bb    Eb   Bb
    But the clouds            never hung so low                before


Eb                               Dm
It makes no diff'rence how far I go
Gm    Gm7/F                       Cm7
Like a scar         the hurt will always show
Eb                               Dm
It makes no diff'rence who I meet
Gm       Gm7/F
They're just a face in the crowd
Cm7                               F
On a dead-end street
               Bb    Gm            Eb     F
Bb   Eb   Bb
And the sun             don't shine        anymore
                Bb    Gm        Eb   F            Bb Eb   Bb
And the rains            fall down on my door

Bb
These old love letters
Fm7
Well, I just can't keep
Eb
'Cause like the gambler says
C7
Read 'em and weep
                Bb   Gm                          Eb
           Bb
Eb  Bb
And the dawn           don't rescue me           no more


F                                 Dm
   Without your love   I'm nothing at all
Eb                             Cm 7
   Like an empty hall  it's a lonely fall
F                                  Dm
   Since you've gone   it's a losing battle
Eb
   Stampeding cattle
            Cm7                    F
  They rattle the walls

                Bb     Gm            Eb   F         Bb Eb   Bb
And the sun              don't shine     anymore
                Bb     Gm       Eb    F
    Bb   Eb   Bb
And the rains            fall down         on my door

Bb
Well, I love you so much
Fm7
It's all I can do
Eb                                      C7
Just to keep myself from telling you

          Bb   Gm                     Eb   F
 Bb   Eb   Bb
That I never             felt so alone        before


| Eb  |  Dm   |  Gm    Gm7/F  |  Cm7

| Eb  |  Dm   |  Gm   Gm7/F   |
  F

| Bb   Gm     |   Eb   F      |  Bb
 |  Bb   |

   Bb  Gm     |   Eb   F      |  Bb
 |  Bb   |

   Bb         |  Fm7          |   Eb     |  C7   |

   Bb   Gm    |   Eb   F      |   Bb
|   Eb   Bb....
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Track 7. Jupiter Hollow
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by J.R.Robertson. Album: Northern Lights - Southern Cross
© 1975, 1976 Medicine Hat Music

See Peter Viney's article on "Jupiter Hollow" for more about this song.
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          G
  Jupiter Hollow
  C        G
  Northern Lights
         C                 G/D             G
  Cast a glow through the window late last night
  Gsus4        G               C     G
  I went to follow through the sycamore
         C                 C/D
  When I found myself in a place
                   G
  I'd never been before
              C             G/B
  There was a unicorn and a dragon queen
      D                   G
  Beneath the burgundy sky
               C                 G/B
  I saw an old soldier singin' a love song
             C/D
  He had the distance in his eye

  G
  Livin' in another world
  C         C/D     G
  Livin' in another time
C        G
  Like a comet I was hurled
  C    C/D              G
  Oh, livin' in another world

 Jupiter Hollow
 So far, so near
 Like a time machine take you out to a different year
 Phoebus Apollo played on his lyre
  While we danced to the music of the sphere
 And as the moon went down and the sun came up
 With the mercury risin' too
 'Twas then the prophet said the secret of the dead
  I'll whisper it to you

 Livin' in another world
 Livin' in another time
 Like a comet I was hurled
 Oh, livin' in another world

 Jupiter Hollow
 In the midnight sun
 Well, no man of dreams was ever more outdone
 Where the swallows circle over head
 And muses gather by the river of the tears we shed
 Just like a pioneer in the new frontier
 I don't know where to begin
 Because nobody cares when a man goes mad
 And tries to free the ghost within

 Livin' in another world
 Livin' in another time
 Like a comet I was hurled
 Oh, livin' in another world
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Track 8.  Rags And Bones
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by J.R.Robertson. Album: Northern Lights - Southern Cross
© 1975, 1976 Medicine Hat Music
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        F#m
Catch a taxi to the fountainhead
         C#sus4/G#
Blinking neon penny arcade
          A
A young Caruso on the fire escape
Bm          Bm/C#     D     D/E
Painted face ladies on parade
    F#m
The newsboy on the corner
C#sus4/G#
Singing out headlines
      A
And a fiddler selling pencils
    Bm          Bm/C#       D
The sign reads: Help the blind


F#m    F#m/E     Dmaj7
Comin' up the lane callin'
Bm7    C#m7       F#m
Workin' while the rain's fallin'
Dmaj7 C#     A/E         D#m7-5
Ragman, your song of the street
Dmaj7             E7sus4
Keeps haunting my memory
F#m  F#m/E      Dmaj7
Music in the air
Bm7    C#m7    F#m
I hear it ev'rywhere
Dmaj7  C#       A/E        D#m7-5
Rags, bones and old city songs
 Dmaj7              E7sus4   A
Hear them, how they talk to me

Trolley car rings out the morning
Whistle blows at noon
A cat fight breaks open the night
While watch dogs bay at the moon
A preacher on an orange crate
With a Salvation Army Band
And clicking along the cobbled stones
That's the sound of the ice-cream man

Comin' up the lane callin'
Workin' while the rain's fallin'
Ragman, your song of the street
Keeps haunting my memory
Music in the air
I hear it ev'rywhere
Rags, bones and old city songs
Hear them, how they talk to me

The organ grinder and his monkey
Still walkin' the same old beat
The shoe-shine boy slappin' leather
He puts the rhythm in your feet
Strollin' by the churchyard
List'nin' to the Sunday choir
With voices rising to the heavens
Like sirens screaming to a fire

Comin' up to the lane callin'
Workin' while the rain's fallin'
Ragman, your song of the street
Keeps haunting my memory
Music in the air
I hear it ev'rywhere
Rags, bones and old city songs
Play them one more time for me
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Track 9. * Twilight
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by J.R.Robertson. Album: The Best of The Band
© 1976 Medicine Hat Music
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F            Bb    F
Over by the wildwood
Dm
 Hot summer night
Gm
 We lay in the tall grass
C
 til the mornin' light

If I had my way I'd never
get the urge to roam
A young man serves his country
and an old man guards the home

Never gave a second thought
Never crossed my mind
What's right and what's not
I'm not the judgin' kind
I could take the darkness oh
Storms in the skies
But we all got certain trials
burnin' up inside

Don't send me no distant salutations
or silly souvenirs from far away
Don't leave me alone in the twilight
Twilight is the loneliest time a day

     F              Bb            F
Don't put me in a frame upon the mantel
   F                 Bb    C       Gm
'Fore memories turn dusty old and grey
        C                            C7
Don't leave me alone in the twilight
                  Bb-C            F
Twilight is the loneliest time a day

Bb C Gm Dm
Bb C Gm F
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Track 10. * Christmas Must Be Tonight
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by J.R.Robertson. Album: Islands
© 1977 Medicine Hat Music

See Peter Viney's article for more about this song.
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G  Em  G  Em
                    G                      Am
Come down to the manger, see the little stranger
  D                     D                     G
Wrapped in swaddling clothes, the prince of peace
                G                     Am
Wheels start turning, torches start burning
         D                             G
And the old wise men journey from the East

CHORUS:
        Em         Am             D             G
How a little baby boy bring the people so much joy
            Am     Am/B   C                Am
   C
Son of a carpenter,       Mary carried the light
             Am               D    G
This must be Christmas, must be tonight

A shepherd on a hillside, while over my flock I bide
Oh a cold winter night a band of angels sing
In a dream I heard a voice saying "fear not, come rejoice
It's the end of the beginning, praise the new born king"
CHORUS

I saw it with my own eyes, written up in the skies
But why a simple herdsmen such as I
And then it came to pass, he was born at last
Right below the star that shines on high
CHORUS
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