Monkey & Bear Joanna Newsom
Monkey & Bear by Joanna Newsom
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- Chords interpreted by CM -
- Transposed down 2 half-steps -
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[Cm]Down in the gree[C#]n hay
Where mo[C]nkey and[G] bear usual[F]ly lay
They wok[Cm]e from a[Ab] stable-boy's cr[Cm]y
He said;[Cm] someone come qu[C#]ick!
The hors[C]es got l[G]oose, got [F]grass-sick!
They'll [Cm]flounder, [Ab]feign, they'll[Cm] die
[Fm]What is now known by the[G] sorrel and the roan?
By the c[Dm]hestnut, and the bay, and the ge[G]lding grey?
It is: s[Cm]tay by the [G]gate you are [F]given
And rema[Cm]in in your [G]place, for your [Ab]season
And had the[Eb] overfed [Bb]dead but lis[Eb]tened
To that [Cm]high-fence, [G]horse-sense,[F] wisdom...
[Cm]Did you hear tha[C#]t, Bear?
Said Mon[C]key, We'[G]ll get out [F]of here, fair and square
They lef[Cm]t the ga[Ab]te open wide[Cm]
[Cm]So, my b[F]ride
[Cm]Here is my hand, where i[F]s your paw?
[Cm]Try and understand my pl[F]an, Ursala
[Cm]My heart is a fu[F]rnace
[Cm]Full of love that's just[F], and earnest
[Cm]Now; you know that we must unlea[F]rn this
[Cm]Allegiance to a life of [F]service
[Cm]And no longer answer to that hea[F]rtless
[Cm]Hay-monger, nor be his a[F]ccomplice
[Cm](that charlatan, with artless hu[F]stling!)
[Cm]But; Ursala, we've got to eat so[F]mething
[Cm]And earn our keep, while still w[F]ithin
[Cm]The borders of the land that man has gir[F]ded
(all dou[Cm]ble-bolted and tight-fis[F]ted!)
[Cm]Until we reach the open [F]country
[Cm]A-steeped in milk and ho[F]ney
[Cm]Will you keep your fancy clothes[F] on, for me?
[Cm]Can you bear a little longer to [F]wear that leash?
[Cm]My love, I swear by the [F]air I breathe:
[Ab]Sooner or later, you'll [Cm]bare your teeth
[Cm]But for now, just [F]dance, darling
[Cm]C'mon, will you dance, my [G]darling?
[Cm]Darling, there's a [Eb]place for us
Can we g[Ab]o, before I turn to[Fm] dust?
[Cm]Oh my da[Eb]rling,
There's a[Ab] place for[Cm] us
Oh darling
C'mon will you dance, my darling?
Oh, the hills are groaning with excess
Like a table ceaselessly being set
Oh my darling, we will get there yet
[Cm]They trooped past the gu[C#]ards,
[C]Past the coops, and the [G]fields, and the [F]farmyards
[Cm]All night, till [Ab]finally:[Cm]
The space they gained grew
Much farther than the stone that bear threw
To mark where they'd stop for tea
But[Fm] walk a little faster and don[G]'t look backwards
Your fea[Dm]st is to the East, which lies a [G]little past the pasture
When the [Cm]blackbirds hear tea whi[G]stling, they ris[F]e and clap
And their [Cm]applause caws the[G] kettle black[Ab]
[Eb]And we won't have [Bb]none of [Eb]that!
[Cm]Move along, Bear; [G]there, there; [F]that's that
[Cm]Though cast in p[C#]laster
[Cm]Our Ursala's hea[G]rt beat [F]faster
[Cm]Than monkey's ev[Ab]er will[Cm]
But stil[F]l;
[Cm]They have got to[F] pay the bills
[Cm]Hadn't t[F]hey?
[Cm]That is what the[F] monkey'd say
[Cm]So, with the cou[F]rage of a clown, or a cur
[Cm]Or a kite, jerki[F]ng tight at its tether
[Cm]In her dung-brow[F]n gown of fur
[Cm]And her jerkin' of swans[F]down and leather
Bear would sway on her hind legs;
The organ would grind dregs of song, for the pleasure
Of the children, who'd shriek
Throwing coins at her feet
Then recoiling in terror
[Cm]But for now, just [F]dance, darling
[Cm]C'mon, will you dance, my [G]darling?
[Cm]Darling, there's a [Eb]place for us
Can we g[Ab]o, before I turn to[Fm] dust?
[Cm]Oh my da[Eb]rling,
There's a[Ab] place for[Cm] us
Oh darling
C'mon, will you dance, my darling?
You keep your eyes fixed on the highest hill
Where you'll ever-after eat your fill
Oh my darling, dear, mine
If you dance
Dance, darling, and I love you still
***(The rest of this sounds like it's just dancing around the C
chord in first and second inversions. So, you could just play
different inversions of Cm Cm Cm Bb repeatedly at this part - or
you could play this suggestion below)***
[Cm/C]Deep in the [Bb/C]night shone a [Gm/C]weak and [Bb/C]miserly light
[Fm/C]Where the [Cm/C]monkey s[Ab/C]houldered his [Eb/C]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
Till 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 apron full 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!
[Cm]Sooner or later you'll b[Ab]ury your[Cm] teeth
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