Monkey & Bear chords by 
Joanna Newsom 
N/A•2 views•
Key: D minor•
Verse 1
Am
D
Down in the green hay
Am
E
Am
E
Where monkey and bear
D
E
usually lay (lay)
Am
F
Am
They woke from a stable- boy's cry
E
Am
A
Dm
E
Said someone come quick
A
G
The horses got loose,
D
E
got grass- sick
Am
F
Am
They'll founder, fain, they'll die
C
What is now known
Verse 2
E
by the
F
sorrel and the roan?
E
By the chestnut, and the bay,
and the gelding grey?
Am
D
It is, stay by the gate you are given
C
And remain in your place,
F
for your season
Am
C
And had the overfed dead but listened
D
E
A
To that high- fence, horse- sense, wisdom
Verse 3
A
Am
A
D
But Did you hear that, Bear? said
E
A
Am
G
Monkey, we'll get out of here,
D
F
fair and square
E
Am
F
Am
They left the gate open wide
Verse 4
Am
D
So, my bride,
Am
D
here is my hand Where is your paw?
Am
D
Am
Try and understand my plan, Ursula
D
My heart is a furnace
Am
D
Full of love that's just and earnest
Am
Now you know that we
D
must unlearn this
Am
D
Allegiance to a life of service
Am
D
And no longer answer to that heartless
Am
Hay- monger,
D
nor be his accomplice
Am
D
The charlatan, with artless hustling
Am
D
But Ursula, we've got to eat something
Am
And earn our keep,
D
while still within
Am
The borders of the land
D
that man has girded
Am
D
Am
All double- bolted and tightfisted
D
Until we reach the open country
Am
D
A- steeped in milk and honey
Am
D
Will you keep your fancy clothes on,
for me?
Am
Can you bare a little longer
D
to wear that leash?
E
My
Verse 5
Am
D
love, I swear by the air I breathe
Am
F
Dm
Am
Sooner or later, you'll bare your teeth
Verse 6
Am
D
But for now, just dance, darling
Am
E
C'mon, will you dance, my darling?
Am
C
Darling, there's a place for us
F
D
Can we go, before I turn to dust?
Am
C
F
Oh, my darling there's a place for us
Am
Verse 7
D
Am
Oh darling, c'mon will you
E
dance my darling?
Am
C
Though the hills are groaning with excess
F
D
Like a table ceaselessly being set
Am
C
Oh my darling,
F
we will get there yet
Interlude 1
F
Am
Verse 8
Am
A
D
E
They trooped past the guards
Past the coops,
A
G
and the fields
D
E
Am
And the farmyards, all night till finally
Verse 9
A
Dm
The space they gained grew
E
A
much farther than
G
D
F
The stone that Bear threw
E
Am
F
Am
To mark where they'd stop for tea
Verse 10
C
But Walk a little faster,
F
don't look backwards
E
Your feast is to the East,
Am
E
which lies a little past the pasture
Am
And the blackbirds hear tea
E
D
whistling they rise and clap
C
E
F
And their ap plause caws the kettle black
Am
E
F
And we can't have none of that
C
Am
D
E
Move along, Bear, there,
A
there, that's that
Verse 11
A
Am
A
Dm
Though cast in plaster
E
A
Am
D
F
Our Ursula's heart beat faster
E
Am
F
E
Am
Than monkey's ever will
Verse 12
D
Am
But still, they had got to
D
Am
pay the bills
D
Am
Hadn't they? That is what
D
the monkey'd say
Am
D
So, with the courage of a clown,
Am
or a cur
D
Am
Or a kite, jerking tight at its tether
D
In her dung- brown gown of fur
Am
And her jerkin of swan's
D
Am
down and leather
D
Bear would sway on her hind legs
Am
D
The organ would grind dregs of song
Am
For the pleasure of the chil
D
dren who'd shriek
Am
Throwing coins at her feet
D
Am
and recoiling in terror
Verse 13
D
E
Sing, Dance, darling
Am
E
C'mon, will you dance, my darling?
Am
C
Oh darling, there's a place for us
F
D
Can we go, before I turn to dust?
Am
C
Oh my darling there's
F
a place for us
Am
Verse 14
D
Am
Oh darling, c'mon, will you dance,
E
my darling?
Am
You keep your eyes fixed
C
on the highest hill
F
D
Where you'll ever- after eat your fill
Am
C
F
Oh my darling dear mine,
D
Am
if you dance
Dance darling,
C
F
and I'll love you still
Am
Verse 15
Deep in the night,
shone a weak and miserly light
Where the monkey shouldered
his lamp
Someone had told him the
Bear'd 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,
Ursula will be bursting with pride
Till I jump up saying,
You've been rolling in muck
Saying, You smell of garbage and grime
Verse 16
Am
But far out, far out, by now, by now
Far out, by now, Bear ploughed
'Cause she would not drown
Verse 17
Am
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
Lowered in a genteel curtsy
Am
Bear shed the mantle of her
diluvian shoulders
And, with a sigh she allowed the
burden of belly to drop
Verse 18
Like an apron full of boulders
Am
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,
Verse 19
suspending that baseness
Am
Now her coat drags
through the water
Bagging, with a life's-
worth of hunger
Verse 20
Limitless minnows
Am
In the magnetic embrace,
balletic and glacial
Of bear's insatiable shadow
Verse 21
Am
Left there, left there
Am
Am
When Bear left Bear
Verse 22
Am
Left there, left there
E
Am
When bear stepped clear of bear
Dm
E
Interlude 2
D
E
Am
F
Am
E
Am
Sooner or
Verse 23
F
Dm
later you'll bury
Am
your teeth
F
Dm
Am
Am
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Frequently asked questions
The original key of Monkey & Bear by Joanna Newsom is D minor.
The primary chords used in Monkey & Bear are Dm, G, A, Bb, D, Gm.
To play in the original key, place your capo on the 5 fret.
Yes, this version uses open chords like Dm, G, A, Bb, making it a great song for beginner guitarists.
The tempo of Monkey & Bear is approximately 122 beats per minute.
You can easily change the key of Monkey & Bear using our Transpose button located in the toolbar. This will automatically update all chord diagrams on the page to match your new key.
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