Vertebrae Tabulatur von Christine Fellows (für Baryton)

F#    Db                       Ab
  A photo essay of a family in mourning
           Bbm
Perforated ever-so-slightly 
   F#                         Db   
to better let the light seep through

Ab Bbm

F#      Db
 Sunday traffic clears a path
           Ab             Bbm
We float inches above the road
                         F#     Db
Close our eyes and drive so slow
                      Ab      Bbm
Like we never need to get home

F#             Db          
  To clear the doorstep of flowers
Ab                Bbm
 Throw open the blinds in his empty room
   F#         Db
Avert our eyes from his fingerprints
   Ab                             Bbm
Is there something I'm forgetting?

F#          Db                            Ab
 Fall to my knees in the hospital parking lot
              Bbm
On the way in arms full of branches
    F#      Db           Ab Bbm
I am dead fall, dead fall

F#           Db
 Last time I came here to visit him
Ab                         Bbm
I ran sunburnt through the halls
                F#
My arms full of tiger-lilies
          Db
I don't remember this
      Ab  Bbm      F#  
I was told   to go home

          Db                Ab
Clear the doorstep of flowers
               Bbm
Throw open the blinds in his empty room
F#         Db
  Avert my eyes from his fingerprints
   Ab                             Bbm
Is there something I'm forgetting?

F# Db                         Ab
Why, when you know you should go, 
         Bbm           
is it so hard to leave?

F#  Db                          Ab
  Why, when you know you should go, 
         Bbm           
is it so hard to leave?

F#  Db                          Ab    Bbm F# Db Ab Bbm
  Why, when you know you should go....

F#             Db                     Ab
  Came this far to say goodbye to set things right
          Bbm                                   F#
Instead I fiddle with his blankets fetching coffee
                 Db
No one will drink
                 Ab Bbm
I am not prepared

F#                         Db                      
  Through the hush of debts and the roar of engines
Ab                     Bbm
  We'll struggle to recall
                   F#
This is how it ended
Db                    Ab Bbm
  This is how it ends

F#
Home, 
             Db                   
turn the key in the door and pause
Ab                          Bbm                        
  For what seems like an awfully long time
F#                    Db
There's something I'm both remembering and forgetting
Ab                  Bbm
  A name on the tip of my tongue

F#   Db                         Ab
  Why, when you know you should go,
                 Bbm 
is it so hard to leave?

F#   Db                         Ab
  Why, when you know you should go, 
                 Bbm
is it so hard to leave?

F#   Db                         Ab
  Why, when you know you should go, 
                 Bbm
is it so hard to leave?

F#   Db                         Ab    Bbm
  Why, when you know you should go....

F# Db Ab Bbm