Ship of Stone

© 1981 Don Simpson. All rights reserved

Lyrics [pdf] [txt] [cho]

	Am
	Once there was a Ship of Stone

	G6
That orbitted a mi	ghty star

	Am	G	Am	Em	Am
And fr	om	it fl	ew the first sh	ip's cr	ew

	Em	Am
Whose children we	all	are;

	C
And no m	atter how long

	G6
We've dr	awn our track,

	Am	Em
Still	over our shoulder, l	ooking back

	Am
Through the h	ydrogen's hiss

	G6	Esus4
And the meth	ane's m	oan,

	D5	G	C
Past the p	olym	er cl	ouds

	G	C	G6	F
	Of the d	ead st	ars' shr	ouds,

	C	G	Am	Em	Am
All our r	oads r	un b	ack to the Ship	of St	one.

	Am
Th	ere the first crew all were made

	G6
And wakened from unkn	owing sleep

	Am	G	Am	Em	Am
By the b	oundl	ess s	ight of Heav	en's h	eight

	Em	Am
And the fires on th	e d	eep;

	C
And no m	atter how strange

	G6
the f	orms we wear,

	Am	Em
How w	arped and wild, how r	ich and rare,

	Am	G6	Esus4
How ch	anged we've made the seed w	e've s	own;

	D5	G	C	G	C	G6	F
We are bl	ood	of th	ose wh	o s	ing	ing r	ose

	C	G	Am	Em	Am
From the b	od	y	of the Ship	of St	one.

	Am
Th	ere our own ships' frames were formed

	G6
To grow blue glowing w	ings,

	Am	G	Am	Em	Am
And spr	ead th	em w	ide to the farth	est t	ide

	Em	Am
Where the last, lone beac	on s	ings;

	C	G6
And no m	atter how tight the n	et they knot

	Am	Em
Of our w	eb where the wheel of l	ight is caught,

	Am
How str	ange and lost,

	G6	Esus4
How grand th	ey've gr	own,

	D5	G	C	G	C	G6	F
They t	oo d	es	ire	all H	eav	en's f	ire:

	C	G	Am	Em	Am
Our comp	an	ions s	ince the Ship	of St	one.

one verse instrumental

	Am
	Once there was a Ship of Stone,

	C	Am	G6
Clear-d	omed, broad-h	ulled, and cl	ean,

	C	G	Am
Where the	air sh	one bl	ue,

	Em	Am
Through whose holds b	irds fl	ew,

	G6	Em	Am
Whose decks w	ere gr	owing gr	een;

	C
And no m	atter how odd

	G6
These th	ings may seem,

	Am	Em
As m	adly mazed as sh	ards of dream,

no drum on these two lines

	Am	G6	Esus4
They are n	ot a dream that you dr	eam al	one--

	D5	G	C	G	C	G6	F
All sh	ips,	all m	en	are	of	one k	in;

	C	G	Am	Em	Am
We shall n	ot f	org	et the Ship	of St	one.

If any of the songs we filkers are writing and singing now deserves to be remembered a thousand years from now, this is it. My all-time favorite.