The Night Comes On

G

[Verse 1]
                   C             G
I went down to the place where I knew she lay waiting
C                        D
Under the marble and the snow
         G                         C               G
I said, "Mother I'm frightened the thunder and the lightning
     C                        D
I'll never come through this alone"
      C            F           C              F
She, "Said I'll be with you my shawl wrapped around you
   C            F             C
My hand on your head when you go"
        G                   Dm
And the night came on it was very calm
  Bb                     F
I wanted the night to go on and on
        C                              G
But she said, "Go back, go back to the world"


[Verse 2]
                    C               G
We were fighting in Egypt when they signed this agreement
            C           D
That nobody else had to die
               G                     C           G
There was this terrible sound and my father went down
       C                     D
With a terrible wound in his side
          C         F           C             F
He said, "Try to go on, take my books take my gun
      C         F            C
And remember my son how they lied"
        G             Dm
And the night comes on and it's very calm
    Bb                      F
I'd like to pretend that my father was wrong
        C                             G
But you don't want to lie, not to the young


[Verse 3]
                                 C          G
We were locked in this kitchen, I took to religion
    C                           D
And wondered how long she would stay
  G         C            G
I needed so much to have nothing to touch
                 C           D
I've always been greedy that way
       C          F                C          F
But my son and my daughter climbed out of the water
         C        F           C
Crying, "Papa you promised to play"
         G                   Dm
And they lead me away to the great surprise
       Bb                   F
It's, "Papa don't peek, Papa cover your eyes"
         C                      G
And they hide, they hide in the world


[Verse 4]
                   C           G
Now I look for her always, I'm lost in this calling
                C               D
I'm tied to the threads of some prayer
         G             C          G
Saying, "When will she summon me, when will she come to me
            C        D
What must I do to prepare?"
         C           F              C             F
When she bends to my longing like a willow like a fountain
    C             F        C
She stands in the luminous air
        G                   Dm
And the night comes on it's very calm
  Bb                        F
I lie in her arms, she says, "When I'm gone
        C                  G
I'll be yours, yours for a song"


[Verse 5]
                     C            G
Now the crickets are singing, the vesper bells ringing
    C                          D
The cat's curled asleep in his chair
        G              C          G
I'll go down to Bill's Bar, I can make it that far
         C                           D
And I'll see if my friends are still there
         C             F          C             F
Yes, and here's to the few who forgive what you do
        C         F          C
And the fewer who don't even care
        G                    Dm
And the night comes on, it's very calm
   Bb                   F
I want to cross over I want to go home
        C                              G
But she says, "Go back, go back to the world"