Come Back Christmas chords by
Allen Ginsberg
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Key: C major

Verse 1
C C 
 
B B 
 
This is Christmas 1971,
C C 
 
going to St. Mark's Poetry Project
F F 
 
for the mass Christmas reading
C C 
 
that all the poets partook of.
In the church I wrote a blues song
to show the other poets what I could
do with song form, new music.
Come back, Christmas.
Christmas, come back,
B B 
 
Eb Eb 
 
New York City died last year.
F F 
 
New Year, come back,
C C 
 
B B 
 
big city died last year.
F# F# 
 
Dead on her big stone feet,
B B 
 
C C 
 
no light bulb shed one tear.
B B 
 
Oh, Mr. Santa Claus,
how come you're still comin' round?
F F 
 
Historic reindeer flyin' the
B B 
 
same old ground
F# F# 
 
Anyway, you North Pole people
B B 
 
sure make a pretty sound
C C 
 
Bring me a big mass transport
B B 
 
Garbage disposal system, too
F F 
 
Clean my po lice force so my
Boyfriends won't sniff so much glue
B B 
 
F# F# 
 
And I'll start giving presents
B B 
 
And thank you for coming in blue
Last year I thought I'll never leave
Manhattan alive
F F 
 
Year be fore brought up my vomit
B B 
 
on Riverside Drive
F# F# 
 
Next year if I'm here,
B B 
 
I think I'll bring my beehive
C C 
 
B B 
 
Honey, oh honey, I know I'm makin' no sense,
no, not at all
F F 
 
Sweet molasses,
B B 
 
forgive my anti -war grunts
Sugar, baby,
F# F# 
 
Eb Eb 
 
B B 
 
this city stole my poetry pants
Merry Christmas,
don't take too much heart dope
F F 
 
Yes, Happy New Year,
B B 
 
don't hang yourself with a rope
Manhattan reborn,
F# F# 
 
B B 
 
C C 
 
B B 
 
after I gave up all hope
Radiator cockroach,
Eb Eb 
 
B B 
 
F F 
 
B B 
 
waving your horns at the wall
F# F# 
 
Go tell Mr. Bedbug
B B 
 
C C 
 
F F 
 
he'd better stay out there in the hall.
And then I went out after that
G G 
 
F F 
 
with my guitar -playing boyfriend
G G 
 
to McDougal Street
F F 
 
F# F# 
 
B B 
 
to taste the scene there
and hear what the loc
Eb Eb 
 
al young guitarists were doing,
F F 
 
Eb Eb 
 
and went to Feen John's
downstairs
in the basement on MacDougall Street,
and they asked us if we
wanted to do a set
among the amateur musicians
Eb Eb 
 
that were coming up and playing for free on
Eb Eb 
 
their loudspeaker sys tem
in the stone room basement downstairs.
So I said yeah,
Eb Eb 
 
and while we were waiting to go on and do a turn,
Eb Eb 
 
Gb Gb 
 
me and Gary, I wrote the next words.
Ab Ab 
 
A A 
 
G# G# 
 
Db Db 
 
B B 
 
Gb Gb 
 
Ab Ab 
 
Eb Eb 
 
Ab Ab 
 
Ab Ab 
 
Eb Eb 
 
B B 
 
wanted to be a minstrel man
Ab Ab 
 
B B 
 
Db Db 
 
Dic tated epics in books
Gb Gb 
 
Db Db 
 
Ab Ab 
 
Inside a Volkswagen van
Eb Eb 
 
Gray hair on my head
Ab Ab 
 
I'm singin' the best that I can
Ab Ab 
 
Oh, Mr. Garbage Man
Don't take me away, no
Ab Ab 
 
Db Db 
 
Not yet, no  Mr. Garbageman,
B B 
 
don't dump truck me
Db Db 
 
like an old cigarette
Ab Ab 
 
Eb Eb 
 
Not till I pick out a song
Ab Ab 
 
you'll never forget
Ab Ab 
 
I   tried singing mantras,
G# G# 
 
I tried singing out William Blake
C# C# 
 
B B 
 
I tried mantra chanting,
C# C# 
 
B B 
 
D# D# 
 
G# G# 
 
I tried tuning out old Holy Blake
D# D# 
 
Now I'll sing him the blues
G# G# 
 
if good God gives me a break
Back in the basement,
D# D# 
 
G# G# 
 
guitars ringing all around
C# C# 
 
Screaming in the basement,
Bm Bm 
 
D D 
 
G# G# 
 
guitars ring me all around
G# G# 
 
D# D# 
 
I   can only play three chords,
I can still will sing my way
G# G# 
 
underground
Listen here children
I'm an old creep full of desire
B B 
 
D D 
 
I got a big mouth
C# C# 
 
B B 
 
Ab Ab 
 
It's because my heart is on fire
Ab Ab 
 
Eb Eb 
 
If  I can get hot,
you could sing like an angel choir.
That was January 1972.

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TunerE A D G B E

ChordsC B F Eb F#...

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Come Back Christmas chords by Allen Ginsberg PrintSave