Key: E major•
Verse 1
E
Esus4
E
B
E
Esus4
E
A
B
Of
E
B
E
all of Kiri Ito's joys,
B
C#m
A
the thing she loved the best
E
B
C#m
Was to play her prized piano
F#m
A
when the sun had gone to rest
E
B
E
I used to hear the notes drift down
B
C#m
A
along the silent water
E
B
C#m
F#
As Kiri played the notes and scales for
A
Esus4
her dear sons and daughters
E
A
B
E
B
Now me I played piano though
C#m
F#m
A
not as good as Kiri
E
B
C#m
She went in for that long haired
F#
F#m
A
stuff but my she played it pretty
E
B
E
The old piano had a tone
B
C#m
A
would set my heart to aching
E
B
C#m
E
It always sounded sweetest though when
F#
A
E
A
Bsus4
B
E
A
B
it was Kiri playing
E
B
E
In December when the seventh fleet
C#m
A
was turned to smoke and ashes
E
B
C#m
The order came to confiscate
B
F#
A
their fishing boats and caches
E
B
E
And Kiri's husband forced to go
B
C#m
A
and work in labour camps
E
B
C#m
B
C#m
And Kiri left alone to fend and
F#
A
hold the fort as best she can
B
E
B
C#m
But the music did not drift as often
E
B
C#m
B
And when it did it sounded haunted
F#
A
played with worry played with doubt
E
B
E
B
For Kiri knew that soon she too would
C#m
A
be compelled to leave
E
B
C#m
B
And the old upright would stay behind
C#m
F#
A
B
E
A
B
and Kiri she would grieve
E
B
I loaded Kiri on the bus
C#m
A
E
with stoic internees
B
C#m
The crime that they were guilty of
B
F#
A
was that they were not like me
E
B
E
And if I was ashamed I did
B
C#m
A
n't know it at the time
E
B
C#m
They were flotsam on the wave of
B
C#m
F#
A
war they were no friends of mine
B
E
B
C#m
I went up to Kiri'shouse to
A
E
tag all their belongings
B
C#m
And set them out for auc tioneers
F#
A
who'd claim them in the morning
E
B
E
One piece that I thought I'd keep
B
C#m
A
and hold back for myself
E
B
C#m
B
C#m
Was that haunting ivory upright that Kiri
F#
A
B
E
A
B
played so well
E
B
E
B
C#m
But Kiri had not left it there
F#m
A
for me to take as plunder
E
B
C#m
She'd rolled it down onto the
B
F#
F#m
A
dock and on into the harbor
B
E
That old upright in strangers' hands
C#m
A
was a thought she couldn't bear
E
B
C#m
So she consigned it to the sea
B
C#m
F#
A
to settle the affair
B
E
So many years have come and
B
C#m
A
gone since Kiri's relocation
E
B
C#m
B
I look back now upon that time
C#m
F#
A
with shame and resignation
B
E
B
For Kiri knew what I did not that
C#m
A
if we must be free
E
B
C#m
Then sometimes we must sacri
B
C#m
F#
A
fice to gain our dignity
E
B
E
B
Yes Kiri knew what I did not that
C#m
A
if we must be free
E
B
C#m
Then sometimes we must sacri
B
C#m
F#
fice to gain our dignity
Outro 1
A
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TunerE A D G B E
ChordsE Esus4 B A C#m...
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