All songs
copyrighted
by David Rood
except as noted.
Passing Joys
Story
Imagine if things didn't have to go away. It doesn't take long to realize there would be more problems than good if everything lasted forever; but it's still a yearning.It took more than a year to work this out, because it went through a number of moods--satirical, comical, wistful, narrative. All that revision and aging lets the song grow into its most suitable, if imperfect, form. Thanks to Erica Neely for a helpful review of the lyrics in progress.
Lyrics
I [C] checked out a [Fmaj7] Rosetta book from [dmin7] Alexandria [G]
[dmin] Dined at [G] court with royal [C] Hapshepsut [E]
[amin-maj7] Atop the Sphinx I [D] smell the fragrance [C/G] of the Hanging [amin] Gardens
We're [dmin7] watching o'er the [dmin] workers on the [dmin7] tower of Babylon [G]
[C/G] Earhardt [G] takes off every morning
She lands [F] safely every night [C]
[G] Titanic sails toward where
The [C] Star of Bethlehem [E] shines
[F6] The friends we never [G/F] lost will meet
[C] Tonight in the same old [F] places
[dmin] Sometimes I wish the [dmin7] world would let
Our [dmin] passing joys remain [Gsus4]
In the marketplace of Athens they sell vases by the Ming
Tour the Labyrinth on Crete; buy Minoan string
And catch the Argo sailing from the gates of Ilium
There's priceless statuary in old Herculaneum
The bison thunder on the plains
The Anasazi dream
Dinosaurs still roam the land
And trilobites the seas
The friends we never lost will meet
Tonight in the same old places
Sometimes I wish the world would let
Our passing joys remain
All my news comes from a rolled-up vellum manuscript
Illuminated by a monk who lives inside a crypt
Imagination more than heart brings out the strongest feelings
I dream of maidens in their distant tow'rs of ivory
(break)
Why [F] write another [G/F] symphony when [C] Beethoven still [amin] hears?
Why [Bb] go to space when [gmin] hunger is the [dmin] sum of all our [G] fears?
[amin] The spirit [bdim] wearies and [C/G] soon must leave this [amin] world
[dmin7] Saplings in the shade will never [Gsus4] grow [G]
After all this talk I haven't done a useful thing
The past has lost its comfort and it fades into a dream
Somewhere on the line I should have learned to let it go
Wishes fade to ashes when you look at where they go
Earhardt takes off every morning
She lands safely every night
Olympia sails toward where
The Star of Bethlehem shines
The friends we never lost will meet
Tonight in the same old places
Sometimes I wish the world would let
Our passing joys remain
Sometimes I wish the world would let
Our passing joys remain
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