Ballad Of The Lights

C
A young man sits on the bridge
After nightfall
And looks across the Hudson River to New Jersey
He wonders about life
And he wonders if he'll ever get old
He sees the lights
He wonders if they are talking to each other
And he wonders if they are talking to him
And he asks if they are


[Arthur Russell]

C
My mind settles down
         F      G    C
On those lights from New Jersey
    F           C         F        G       C
Why I chose New Jersey to look at, I don't know

C
Well one thing's for sure
                      F
I'm here to see those lights
   G                             C
It doesn't matter, don't matter, no
                     F       C
Where I come from or where I go

C                 G
Well what does it mean
F
Those lights
  C                F            G                            C
I can't resist the thought that they are twinkling to each other

    F    C
Are they?
    F    C
Are they?


[Allen Ginsberg / continue repeating the chord progression from previous verse]

His leisure hours are spent in a way
That mystifies his younger years
Thinking hard, he has no say what's in his eyes
And meets his ears


[Arthur Russell]

C
Well one thing's for sure
                      F
I'm here to see those lights
   G                             C
It doesn't matter, don't matter, no
                     F       C
Where I come from or where I go

C                 G
Well what does it mean
F
Those lights
  C                F            G                            C
I can't resist the thought that they are twinkling to each other

    F    C
Are they?
    F    C
Are they?


PART 2

[Arthur Russell]

D          D/C#      D/B        D
Lights are shining brighter now
G                     D
But it's not home for me
                  G         D
Different lights across the river
G         D
Lights of industry

D
They are so beautiful

[Allen Ginsberg]

            G
Very, very, very beautiful

[Arthur Russell]

D      G   A     D
Please Mr. Mystery
G              D
If I'm sitting oh so still
G              D
All along it's only me
G                     Bm
All those lights have lost their meaning

G          A       D
Please oh Mr. Mystery

[Allen Ginsberg]

G            D                                      G
Suddenly the ice that was floating down the Hudson stops
             D
The flow has stopped
G
And so, dejected
           D
He wanders back
Into the city
G
Back to the bars
D
Back to where he first found happiness
G
But he didn't notice
D
On the brick warehouse wall
G                            D
The hulking, lurking shadow of a human form
G                 D
Mr. Mystery