Avalanche Chords

Album: Songs of Love and Hate (1971)
 
Capo 1
Advice: when passing from C/G to Em, play the open A string.
 
[Intro]
Em
 
[Verse 1]
Em                C/G       Em
I stepped into an avalanche,
         D/F#    Em
it covered up my soul;
                   C/G
When I am not this hunchback that you see,
Em        D/F#           Em
I sleep beneath a golden hill.
G               B7
You who wish to conquer pain,
         Em                    C/G     B7/F#
you must learn, learn to serve me well.
 
[Verse 2]
Em                    C/G      Em
You strike my side by accident
          D/F#          Em
As you go down for your gold.
                          C/G
The cripple here that you clothe and feed
Em         D/F#        Em
Is neither starved nor cold;
G                        B7
He does not ask for your company,
              Em                     C/G     B7/F#
Not at the centre, the centre of the world.
 
[Verse 3]
Em             C/G      Em
When I am on a pedestal,
           D/F#      Em
You did not raise me there.
                    C/G
Your laws do not compel me
Em       D/F#          Em
To kneel grotesque and bare.
G               B7
I myself am the pedestal
         Em                     C/G     B7/F#
For this ugly hump at which you stare.
 
[Verse 4]
Em              C/G          Em
You who wish to conquer pain,
         D/F#                Em
You must learn what makes me kind;
                            C/G
The crumbs of love that you offer me,
Em          D/F#               Em
They’re the crumbs I’ve left behind.
G                  B7
Your pain is no credential here,
              Em                   C/G     B7/F#
It’s just the shadow, shadow of my wound.
 
[Verse 5]
Em              C/G          Em
I have begun to long for you,
  D/F#        Em
I who have no greed;
                C/G
I have begun to ask for you,
Em    D/F#    Em
I who have no need.
G                    B7
You say you’ve gone away from me,
    Em                      C/G     B7/F#
But I can feel you when you breathe.
 
[Verse 6]
Em                    C/G          Em
Do not dress in those rags for me,
           D/F#    Em
I know you are not poor;
                           C/G
And don’t love me quite so fiercely now
Em       D/F#                  Em
When you know that you are not sure,
G                  B7
It is your turn, beloved,
          Em                C/G    B7/F#
And it is your flesh that I wear.
 
[Outro]
Em
X