Wake Up John (Hanging Song) chords by Fairport Convention
Verse 1
G
Wake up,
John, it's time to go
Come along,
John, don't be slow
Wake up,
F
C
Eb
John, it's time to go
G
A priest joins procession
Eb
F
G
just to help me kneel
Am
Bm
With a warner at my elbow and
Em
Eb
a mother at my heel
G
Marching in the morning
Eb
F
G
down a path I've lately seen
Am
Bm
I was sleeping in his garden,
Em
Eb
I stood in my dream
G
The echo of my heartbeat is
Eb
F
the beating of a drum
G
Am
Bm
And all the earth is singing
Em
Eb
with life's sweet hum
G
We found in soft silence,
Eb
F
shuffled through a door
G
Am
Bm
The place where life is taken for
Em
Eb
the let ter of the law
G
Shake the holy water,
C
D
set my lamp to guard,
C
Bm
Dying's very easy,
G
Bb
A
waiting's very hard.
C
Em
C
A rope is hanging from the roofside, which covers me,
Em
A
I thought to give it and a card could make the girls dream.
D
But now all is revealed,
F
standing there is just the man,
Em
My feet are on the trapdoor with
A
a rope around my hand
Ab
G
And now the executioner is
F
shaking hands with me
G
Am
Bm
My duty I must carry out,
Em
Eb
you poor fellows says he
G
The strap is tied around my feet
F
G
and a bag upon my head
Am
Bm
And then the noose we separates
Em
Eb
the living from the dead
G
Shake the holy water,
C
D
summon up the dead
C
G
Bb
A
Dying's very easy, waiting's very hard
C
Em
Fairy whispers to me,
C
have you anything to say?
Em
My mouth is dry, my throat's tight,
A
I answer, drop away
D
Silence now surrounds me,
F
my heart is beating on
Em
A
Ab
G
The trap, the herd, the boot, all my life is still my own
Eb
F
G
Eb
F
G
Eb
F
G
Eb
F
G
Eb
F
G
Eb
F
G
Eb
F
G
Eb
F
G
They stand me in a corner with my
Eb
F
G
hands and feet still bound
Am
Bm
While the carpenters call for
Em
Eb
an explanation found
G
The rain has worked the timbers,
F
I hear the hangman say
G
Am
Bm
It's funny but it worked well,
Em
Eb
I tried it yesterday
Em
All is ended,
C
now they say it all goes nerdy over
Em
Your life's as good as ended
A
But I hear their voices waver
D
Once more the boat is shaken,
F
then again I hang in limbo
Em
With a gauntlet on the trapdoor
A
and my body stands on tiptoe
Ab
G
Shake the holy water,
C
D
summon up the guard
C
G
Dying's very easy,
Bb
A
waiting's very hard
G
They stand me in a corner with
Eb
F
my hands and feet still tied
G
Am
Bm
A warder holds onto the noose,
Em
Eb
the trapdoor opens wide
G
Is it magic or coincidence
F
that keeps me on the brink?
G
Am
Bm
It seems to work without me,
Em
Eb
would it kill me now I think?
Oh!
Em
Days I'm tired of living,
C
and I really want to die
Em
I was taken to the scaffold,
A
and I heard that my friend cry,
D
Leave, I'm truly sorry,
F
forgive these hands are fine
Em
Be true to both,
A
and I'll flood the job for the third and final time
Em
My life was spread that morning,
C
but it wasn't theirs to take
Em
To increase the votes that law requires
A
D
F
Em
A
A man should build a state
Ab
G
Shake the holy water
C
D
Summon up the gods
C
G
Dying's very easy
Bb
A
Waiting's very hard
Ab
G
Shake the holy water
C
D
Summon up the gods
C
G
Bb
A
Dine's very easy, waiting's very hard
A
Ab
G
C
Shake the holy water, summon up the
D
God
C
G
Dine's very easy,
Bb
A
waiting's very hard
A
Ab
G
C
Shake the holy water, summon up the
D
God
C
G
Dying's very easy,
Bb
A
waiting's very hard
you
Wake Up John (Hanging Song)
Fairport Convention
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