Birdland chords by Patti Smith

Verse 1:

B                             A                      B
His father died and left him a little farm in New England
                                          A
All the long black funeral cars left the scene
                                     B
And the boy was just standing there alone
B
Looking at the shiny red tractor
A                              B
Him and his daddy used to sit inside
                                          A
And circle the blue fields and grease the night
                      B                                           A
It was if someone had spread butter on all the fine points of the stars
                      B                  A
'Cause when he looked up they started to slip

               B              A
Then he put his head in the crux of his arm
                   B       A           B          A
And he started to drift, drift to the belly of a ship
        B          A            B              A
Let the ship slide open, and he went inside of it
             B               A             B                   A
And saw his daddy 'hind the control board streamin' beads of light
            B                 A
He saw his daddy 'hind the control board
                 B           A
And he was very different tonight
             B    A     B    A    B          A     B    A
'Cause he was not human
he was not human

B                                        A
Little boy's face lit up with such naked joy
                B                           A
That the sun burned around his lids and his eyes were like two suns
 B                                                A
White lids, white opals, seeing everything just a little bit too clearly
                                            B
And he looked around and there was no black ship in sight
                       A                  B
No black funeral cars, nothing except for him, the raven
                                         A
And fell on his knees and looked up and cried out
B      A                  B      A
No, daddy, don't leave me here alone
        B       A          B             A
Take me up, daddy, to the belly of your ship
        B           A            B            A
Let the ship slide open and I'll go inside of it
       B         A      B   A    B           A    B    A
Where you're not human
you are not human

       B             A      B      A
But nobody heard the boy's cry of alarm
B                          A
Nobody there 'cept for the birds around the New England farm
         B                                            A
And they gathered in all directions, like roses they scattered
                            B                                        A
And they were like compass grass coming together into the head of a shaman bouquet
            B                              A
Slit in his nose and all the others went shooting
                          B                          A
And he saw the lights of traffic beckoning like the hands of Blake
                B
Grabbing at his cheeks, taking out his neck
         A                                   B
All his limbs, everything was twisted and he said

                                      A
I won't give up, won't give up, don't let me give up
             B                            A
I won't give up, come here, let me go up fast
                          B   A        B           A
Take me up quick, take me up, up to the belly of a ship
        B           A          B            A        B         A     B    A
And the ship slides open and I go inside of it, where I am not human

         B                          A
I am helium raven and this movie is mine
             B                        A
So he cried out as he stretched the sky
                                  B                             A
Pushing it all out like latex cartoon, am I all alone in this generation?
                B                   A
We'll just be dreaming of animation night and day
    B                                A
And won't let up, won't let up and I see them coming in
                B                       A
Oh, I couldn't hear them before, but I hear 'em now
         B                         A      B              A
It's a radar scope in all silver and all platinum lights
       B                               A
Moving in like black ships, they were moving in, streams of them
           B                                A
And he put up his hands and he said, "It's me, it's me
                  B                        A
I'll give you my eyes, take me up, oh now please take me up

     B                              A
I'm helium raven waitin' for you, please take me up
        B                            A
Don't leave me here!"  The sun, the sign, the cross
                    B                                   A
Like the shape of a tortured woman, the true shape of a tortured woman,
                            B                                        A
The mother standing in the doorway letting her sons  No longer presidents but
        B
prophets
                                    A
They're all dreaming they're gonna bear the prophet
       B                                          A
He's gonna run through the fields dreaming in animation
                 B              A
It's all gonna split his skull
            B                    A
It's gonna come out like a black bouquet shining

        B                 A
Like a fist that's gonna shoot them up
       B                    A
Like light, like Mohamed Boxer
           B           A
Take them up up up up up up
              B              A
Oh, let's go up, up, take me up, I'll go up
          B              A
I'm going up, I'm going up
                      B                     A
Take me up, I'm going up, I'll go up there
   B            A           B          A
Go up go up go up go up up up up up up up
              B            A
Up, up to the belly of a ship
         B                            A
Let the ship slide open and we'll go inside of it
      B          A      B         A     B    A
Where we are not human, we're not human


Verse 2:

        B                          A
Well, there was sand, there were tiles
             B                      A
The sun had melted the sand and it coagulated
       B                A
Like a river of glass
        B                             A
When it hardened he looked at the surface
            B                           A                        B
He saw his face   And where there were eyes were just two white opals, two white
  A
opals
                  B                              A
Where there were eyes there were just two white opals
              B                 A
And he looked up and the rays shot

        B                    A
And he saw, raven comin' in
         B             A          B     A
And he crawled on his back and he went up
B           A
Up up up up up up

B      A   B    A    B   A   B    B      A   B  A    B    A   B  A
Sha da do wop, da shaman do way, sha da do wop, da shaman do way
B      A   B    A    B   A   B    B      A   B  A    B    A   B  A
Sha da do wop, da shaman do way, sha da do wop, da shaman do way
B      A   B    A    B   A   B
Sha da do wop, da shaman do way
B        A    B
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