Changes

By Phil Ochs

Capo 1st fret

Intro: G/A/D/Em/G/A/F#m/Bm/Em/A/D/Em/A/D 

G         A             D            Em
Sit by my side, come as close as the air,
G          A         F#m
Share in a memory of gray;
Bm               Em     A                  D
And wander in my words, dream about the pictures
        Em A    D  
That I play of changes.

Green leaves of summer turn red in the fall
To brown and to yellow they fade.
And then they have to die, trapped within
the circle time parade of changes.

Scenes of my young years were warm in my mind,
Visions of shadows that shine.
'Til one day I returned and found they were the
Victims of the vines of changes.

The world's spinning madly, it drifts in the dark
Swings through a hollow of haze,
A race around the stars, a journey through
The universe ablaze with changes.

Moments of magic will glow in the night
All fears of the forest are gone
But when the morning breaks they're swept away by
Golden drops of dawn, of changes.

Passions will part to a strange melody.
As fires will sometimes burn cold.
Like petals in the wind, we're puppets to the silver
strings of souls, of changes.

Your tears will be trembling, now we're somewhere else,
One last cup of wine we will pour
And I'll kiss you one more time, and leave you on
the rolling river shores of changes.

(repeat first verse)

Notes:

Chords according to tonmaas@xs4all.nl (Ton Maas): C/D/G/Am/C/D/Bm/Em/Am/D/G/Am/D/G// But Bruce A Denis says this ``should read G/A/D/Em/G/A/F#m/Bm/Em/A/D/Em/A/D. The slide from the barred F#m to the Bm would be impossible according to the chord scheme given'' James Barnett supplied chords which agree with Bruce so I have put them in the lyrics.

The night I saw Phil Ochs behind the Riverboat in Toronto was the night he wrote 'Changes.' Apparently it was written at the Riverboat between sets. --BGladst551@aol.com