Joanna Newsom – Monkey Bear (Ukulele)
Key
-
Versions
(2)
Guitar
Ukulele
Auto-scroll
Speed:
1.0x
Chords
I recommend alternating between strumming and picking.
[Verse]
Dm C Bb down in the green hay D C G where monkey and bear usually lay Dm Bb Dm they woke from a stable-boy's cry Dm C Bb he said; someone come quick! D C G the horses got loose, got grass-sick! Dm Eb Dm they'll founder! fain, they'll die Gm A What is now known by the sorrel and the roan? Em A By the chestnut, and the bay, and the gelding grey? Dm A G It is: stay by the gate you are given Dm A Bb And remain in your place, for your season F C F And had the overfed dead but listened Dm A G To that high-fence, horse-sense, wisdom... Dm C Bb D "did you hear that, Bear?" said monkey C G we'll get out of here, fair and square Dm Bb Dm they've left the gate open wide!
[Verse Contd.]
Dm so; G my bride Dm G here is my hand, where is your paw? Dm G try and understand my plan, Ursala Dm G my heart is a furnace Dm G full of love that's just, and earnest Dm G now; you know that we must unlearn this Dm G allegiance to a life of service Dm G and no longer answer to that heartless Dm G hay-monger, nor be his accomplice Dm G (that charlatan, with artless hustling!) Dm G but; Ursala, we've got to eat something Dm G and earn our keep, while still within Dm G the borders of the land that man has girded Dm G (all double-bolted and tightfisted!) Dm G until we reach the open country Dm G a-steeped in milk and honey Dm G will you keep your fancy clothes on, for me? Dm G can you bear a little longer to wear that leash? Dm G my love, I swear by the air I breathe: Dm F Bb Dm sooner or later, you'll bare your teeth
[Chorus]
Dm G but for now, just dance, darling Dm A c'mon, will you dance, my darling? Dm F darling, there's a place for us Bb G can we go, before I turn to dust? Dm F Bb Dm oh my darling, there's a place for us Dm G oh darling Dm A c'mon will you dance, my darling? Dm F oh, the hills are groaning with excess Bb G like a table ceaselessly being set Dm F Bb Dm oh my darling, we will get there yet
[Verse]
Dm C Bb they trooped past the guards, D C G past the coops, and the fields, and the farmyards Dm Bb Dm all night, till finally: Dm C Bb the space they gained grew D C G much farther than the stone that bear threw Dm Eb Dm to mark where they'd stop for tea Gm A But walk a little faster and don't look backwards Em A Your feast is to the East, which lies a little past the pasture Dm A G When the blackbirds hear tea whistling, they rise and clap Dm A Bb And their applause caws the kettle black F C F And we won't have none of that! Dm A G Move along, Bear; there, there; that's that Dm C Bb (though cast in plaster D C G our Ursala's heart beat faster Dm Eb Dm than monkey's ever will)
[Verse Contd.]
Dm G but still; Dm G they have got to pay the bills Dm G hadn't they? Dm G that is what the monkey'd say Dm G Dm so, with the courage of a clown, or a cur G Dm or a kite, jerking tight at its tether G Dm in her dun-brown gown of fur G Dm and her jerkin of swan's down and leather G Dm Bear would sway on her hind legs; G Dm the organ would grind dregs of song, for the pleasure G of the children, who'd shriek Dm throwing coins at her feet G Dm then recoiling in terror
[Chorus]
G sing, dance, darling Dm A c'mon, will you dance, my darling? Dm F oh darling, there's a place for us Bb G can we go, before I turn to dust? Dm F Bb Dm oh my darling, there's a place for us Dm G oh darling Dm A c'mon, will you dance, my darling? Dm F you keep your eyes fixed on the highest hill Bb G where you'll ever-after eat your fill Dm F Bb G oh my darling, dear, mine Dm if you dance F Bb Dm dance, darling, and i love you still
[Verse]
Dm deep in the night G shone a weak and miserly light
where the monkey shouldered his lamp
someone had told him
the bear had been wandering
a fair piece away from where they were camped
someone had told him
the bear'd been sneaking away
to the seaside caverns, to bathe
and the thought troubled the monkey
for he was afraid of spelunking down in those caves
also afraid what the village people would say
if they saw the bear in that state;
lolling and splashing obscenely
well, it seemed irrational, really; washing that face
washing that matted and flea-bit pelt
in some sea-spit-shine, old kelp dripping with brine
but monkey just laughed, and he muttered;
when she comes back, Ursala will be bursting with pride
'til I jump up!
saying: you've been rolling in muck!
saying: you smell of garbage and grime!
but far out
far out
by now
by now
far out, by now, Bear ploughed
'cause she would not drown:
first the outside-legs of the bear
up and fell down, in the water, like knobby garters
then the outside-arms of the bear
fell off, as easy as if sloughed from boiled tomatoes
low'red in a genteel curtsy
bear shed the mantle of her diluvian shoulders;
and, with a sigh, she allowed the burden of belly
to drop like an apronfull of boulders
if you could hold up her threadbare coat to the light
where it's worn translucent in places
you'd see spots where almost every night of the year
Bear had been mending suspending that baseness
now her coat drags through the water
bagging, with a life's-worth of hunger, limitless minnows
in the magnetic embrace
balletic and glacial of Bear's insatiable shadow
left there!
left there!
when Bear left Bear
left there!
left there!
when Bear stepped clear of Bear
[Outro]
Dm C Bb
D C G
Dm Eb D
Dm F Bb Dm (sooner or later, you'll bare your teeth...)