Joanna Newsom - What We Have Known

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what we have known – joanna newsom
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tabbed by : C demmings
email : cdemmings@hotmail . com

tuning : standard

these lyrics are for the version found on the sprout and the bean single , the
better version , compared to the earlier version on yarn and glue .

C# G#m F# Cm G# A#m B
E | – 4 – – – 4 – – 2 – – – 4 – 4 – – 6 – – – 7 – |
B | – 6 – – – 4 – – 2 – – – 5 – 4 – – 6 – – – 7 – |
G | – 6 – – – 4 – – 3 – – – 6 – 5 – – 6 – – – 8 – |
D | – 6 – – – 6 – – 4 – – – 6 – 6 – – 8 – – – 9 – |
A | – 4 – – – 6 – – 4 – – – 4 – 6 – – 8 – – – 9 – |
E | – 4 – – – 4 – – 2 – – – 4 – 4 – – 6 – – – 7 – |

C# G#m
the tadpole buoyant as basalt
the seashorse horsing in the salt
the owlet in his greenery
the narwhal in his cup of sea
C#
they all believe
F#
they all believe

Cm F#

Cm F#
but collusion bleeds through back allies
from parapets that end in feet
when one is weak we discretely meet
we throw the bones into the street
as they progress
we retreat

G# A#m F#
and all the books our fathers wrote
are in the middle of the road
little by little we implode
history brittle , brown and broke
we can’t remember what was spoke
so we stare in wonder at the smoke
what it begets is born alone
we know not now what we have known

B G# F# C#
ladies breathe deep against your whale bones
when your children come back made of stone

C# G#m
and the terror seething seas away
is like the wheezing of the bay
in miniature agonies
that travel westward on the breeze
C# F#
and bring us all to our knees

Cm F#

and the dappled horse the sorrowed mare
with eyes that do not see but stare
beneath boots as black as malachite
he drives a nag into the night
into the night

and all the baby boys we’ve born
with eyes averted from the storm
sent off to die in perfect form
we know not now what we have known

satellite photos and rhetoric
see how the euphemisms stick
and when they come back broke and burned
those who return have not returned

ladies breathe deep against your whale bones
when your children come back made of stone