Changing Of The Guards

Em
Sixteen years
        G       D               Em
Sixteen banners united over the field
          C             D
Where the good shepherd grieves
          Em             G     D
Desperate men, desperate women divided
                Em           C       D
Spreading their wings 'neath falling leaves


   [Verse 2]
        Em
Fortune calls
          G              D                    Em
I stepped forth from the shadows to the marketplace
              C                   D                        Em
Merchants and thieves, hungry for power, my last deal gone down
               G              D                     Em
She's smelling sweet like the meadows where she was born
               C   D        G
On midsummer's eve near the tower


   [Verse 3]
                 Em
The cold-blooded moon
            G               D
The captain waits above the celebration
            Em            C       D
Sending his thoughts to a beloved maid
            Em      G             D
Whose ebony face is beyond communication
               Em                                C         D    G
The captain is down but still believing that his love will be repaid


   [Bridge]
Em


   [Verse 4]
Em
They shaved her head
        G                        D
She was torn between Jupiter and Apollo
            Em             C            D
A messenger arrived with a black nightingale
                  Em           G                 D
I seen her on the stairs and I couldn't help but follow
           Em                                C      D   G
Follow her down past the fountain where they lifted her veil


   [Verse 5]
                 Em
I stumbled to my feet
            G                  D
I rode past destruction in the ditches
         Em                               C            D
With the stitches still mending beneath a heart-shaped tattoo
         Em          G                 D
Renegade priests and treacherous young witches
     Em                               C        D
Were handing out the flowers that I'd given to you


   [Verse 6]
              Em
The palace of mirrors
          G            D
Where dog soldiers are reflected
            Em           C          D
The endless road and the wailing of chimes
          Em              G         D
The empty rooms where her memory is protected
          Em                            C     D           G
Where the angel's voices whisper to the souls of previous times


   [Verse 7]
              Em
She wakes him up
                  G                D
Forty-eight hours later the sun is breaking
            Em               C                  D
Near broken chains, mountain laurel and rolling rocks
                 Em        G                       D
She's begging to know what measures he now will be taking
                 Em                                 C     D     G
He's pulling her down and she's clutching on to his long golden locks


   [Bridge]
Em


   [Verse 8]
Em
Gentlemen, he said
G                 D
I don't need your organization,
                 Em                     C                         D
I've shined your shoes, I've moved your mountains and marked your cards
            Em                   G            D
But Eden is burning either brace yourself for elimination
             Em                                   C        D      G
Or else your hearts must have the courage for the changing of the guards


   [Verse 9]
           Em
Peace will come
     G                D                         Em
With tranquillity and splendor on the wheels of fire
                  C  D                           Em
But will bring us no reward when her false idols fall
          G      D
And cruel death surrenders with its
Em                                C            D        G
Pale ghost retreating,Between the King and the Queen of Swords


   [Outro]
G   D   C
            Fade Out