Joanna Newsom - No Provenance

“no provenance” by joanna newsom
from “have one on me”
chords interpreted by Cm

Cm G A# G#
allelu , allelu :
Cm G7 A# G#
i have died happy , and lived to tell the tale to you .
Cm G7 A#
i have slept for forty years , and woke to find me gone .
D# C7 G#
i woke safe and warm in your arms .
D# A#m/C# Cm D# Gm/D
in your arms , your arms , in your arms

Cm G7 A# G#
not informed of the natural law ,
squatting , lordly , on a stool , in a stall , we spun gold clear out of straw .
and , when our bales of bullion were stored , you burned me like a barn .
i burned safe and warm in your arms .
D# A#m/C#
in your arms , your arms

D# C# Cm F
i’m afraid of the big return .
Dm Gm A D
there’s a certain conversation lost , and that loss incurred
Dm G
with nobody remaining to register

D# C# Cm F
who had passed this way in the night , in the middle of the
Dm Gm A D
night , negating their grace and their sight ,
Dm Gm
till only i remember , or mark ,
Cm G A# G#
how we had our talk : we took our ride ,

Cm G7 A# G#
so that there was no – one home ,
and the lights of rome flickered and died .
and , what’s more , i believe that you knew it , too;
i think you saw their flares , and kept me safely unawares , in your arms .
D# A#m/C# Cm D# Gm/D
in your arms , your arms , in your arms

Cm G7 A# G#
the grass was tall , and strung with burrs ,
i essayed that high sashay which ,
in my mind , was my way; you hung behind , in yours .
anyhow , she did not neigh .
i do not know what drew our eyes to hers;
that little black mare did not stir ,
D# A#m/C#
till i lay down in your arms .

( D# C# Cm F Dm G A D Dm G )
poor old dirty little dog – size horse! – –
swaying and wheezing ,
as a matter of course;
swaying and wheezing ,
as a matter of pride .
that poor old nag , not four palms wide ,
had waited a long time ,
coated in salt ,
buckled like a ship run foul of the fence .
in the middle of the night ,
she’d sprung up ,
no provenance ,
bearing the whites of her eyes .
and you , with your
’arrangement’ with fate ,
nodded sadly at her lame assault
on that steady old gate , her faultlessly etiolated

Cm G7 A# G#
fishbelly – face; the muzzle of a ghost .
and , pretty johnny appleseed , via satellite feed ,
tell us , who was it that you then loved the most?
pretty johnny appleseed , leave a trail that leads
straight back down to the farm .
Gm6/C
lay me down safe and warm in your arms .