Lock-keeper chords by Stan Rogers

Chords with lyrics

LOCK-KEEPER
Stan Rogers
Album: From Fresh Water (1984)

E MajorE
You say, "Well-met again, Lock-keeper!
    C# minorC#m     BB       A augmentedA
We're laden even deeper that the time before
  F# minorF#m       BB           E MajorE
Oriental oils and tea brought down from Singapore."
E MajorE
As we wait for my lock to cycle
      C# minorC#m      BB     A augmentedA
I say, "My wife has just given me a son."
F# minorF#m          BB          E MajorE
"A son!" you cry, "Is that all that you've done?"

She wears bougainvillea blossoms
You pluck 'em from her hair and toss 'em in the tide,
Sweep her in your arms and carry her inside.
Her sighs catch on your shoulder
Her moonlit eyes grow bold and wiser through her tears
And I say, "How could you stand to leave her for a year?"

chorus:
    A augmentedA                  F# minorF#m
"Then come with me" you say, "to where the Southern Cross
    BB       E MajorE
Rides high upon your shoulder."
 C# minorC#m         BB
"Come with me!" you cry,
    A augmentedA         F# minorF#m         BB
"Each day you tend this lock, you're one day older
      C# minorC#m  BB  A augmentedA  BB
While your blood grows colder."
     E MajorE
But that anchor chain's a fetter
  C# minorC#m        BB        A augmentedA
And with it you are tethered to the foam
    F# minorF#m         BB          E MajorE
And I wouldn't trade your life for one hour of home.

Sure I'm stuck here on the Seaway
While you compensate for leeway through the Trades;
And you shoot the stars to see the miles you've made.
And you laugh at hearts you've riven,
But which of these has given us more love or life,
You, your tropic maids, or me, my wife.

chorus
Ah your anchor chain's a fetter
And with it you are tethered to the foam,
And I wouldn't trade your whole life for one hour of home.

enjoy!

Chords are easier transposed to D, capo 2, dropped D MajorD tuning optional.
All songs from Stan's first four albums are tabbed in "Songs from Fogarty's Cove",
but do not include anything from subsequent posthumous albums.