
Ballad In Plain
Bob Dylan
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Tom : D
D Bm G D
I once loved a girl, her skin it was bronze
Bm C G
With the innocence of a lamb, she was gentle like a fawn
D Bm G D
I courted her proudly, but now she is gone
A A7 D A A6 A7
Gone as the season she's ta--ken.
D Bm G D
In a young summer's youth, I stole her away
Bm C G
From her mother and sister, though close did they stay
D Bm G D
Each one of them suffering from the failures of their day
A D
With strings of guilt they tried hard to guide us.
D Bm G D
Of the two sisters, I loved the young
Bm C G
With sensitive instincts, she was the creative one
D Bm G D
The constant scrapegoat, she was easily undone
A D
By the jealousy of others around her.
D Bm G D
For her parasite sister, I had no respect
Bm C G
Bound by her boredom, her pride to protect
D Bm G D
Countless visions of the other she'd reflect
A D
As a crutch for her scenes and her society.
D Bm G D
Myself, for what I did, I cannot be excused
Bm C G
The changes I was going through can't even be used
D Bm G D
For the lies that I told her in hopes not to lose
A D
The could-be dream-lover of my lifetime.
D Bm G D
With unseen consciousness, I possessed in my grip
Bm C G
A magnificent mantelpiece, though its heart being chipped
D Bm G D
Noticing not that I'd already slipped
A A7 D
To a sin of love's false security.
D Bm G D
From silhouetted anger to manufactured peace
Bm C G
Answers of emptiness, voice vacancies
D Bm G D
Till the tombstones of damage read me no question but, "Please
A A7 D
What's wrong and what's exactly the matter?"
D Bm G D
And so it did happen, like it could have been foreseen
Bm C G
The timeless explosion of fantasy's dream
D Bm G D
At the peak of the night, the king and the queen
A D
Tumbled all down into pieces.
D Bm G D
"The tragic figure" her sister did shout
D Bm C G
"Leave her alone, God damn you, get out"
D Bm G D
And I in my armour, turning about
A
And nailing her in the ruins of her pettiness.
D Bm G D
Beneath a bare light bulb the plaster did pound
Bm C G
Her sister and I in a screaming battleground
D Bm G D
And she in between, the victim of sound
A D
Soon shattered as a child to the shadows.
D Bm G D
All is gone, all is gone, admit it, take flight
Bm C G
I gagged in contradiction, tears blinding my sight
D Bm G D
My mind it was mangled, I ran into the night
A D
Leaving all of love's ashes behind me.
D Bm G D
The wind knocks my window, the room it is wet
Bm C G
The words to say I'm sorry, I haven't found yet
D Bm G D
I think of her often and hope whoever she's met
A D
Will be fully aware of how precious she is.
D Bm G D
Ah, my friends from the prison, they ask unto me
Bm C G
"How good, how good does it feel to be free"?
D Bm G D
And I answer them most mysteriously
A A7 D
"Are birds free from the chains of the skyway"?
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Progression and practice
Detected progression: D → Bm → G → D → Bm → C → G → D
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