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