Voice Chords

Lyrics & chords

[Verse 1]
I don't [Am]know how far I'm going to have to
go to see my own self
or hear my own voice.
I tuned in on the radio
for hours
and never heard it. Then I went to the
movie picture show
and I never heard it there.
[G]I put han[Am]dfuls of [F]coins in the
[Am]machines
and watched [Em]records turn,
[F]but the voice [Am]there was
no voice of mine.
[C]I mean, [Am]it w[F]as not my voice,
not the [Am]words that I hear in my own ears
when [Dm]I walk along and [Am]look at faces.
[Dm][Am][Dm]
[Am][Em][Am]
I sit here in a Jewish del[Dm]icatessen
[C]and I order a hot pas[Am]trami
[C]sandwich on rye bread
and [G]I hear the lady [C]ask me,
[Dm]would [Am]you [Dm]like [Am]to have a portion
[Dm]of coleslaw [Am]on t[F]he side?
[Am]And I know when I hear her speak
that [Dm]she h[F]as[Am] my voice.
And I tell her I would like my coleslaw on a side dish,
please.
And I'd like to [C]have a glass [Am]of tea with lemon,
please.
And she knows that
I'm speaking her
And a fellow sat across the table
near my wall.
And he spoke as he ate [C]his salami
and [Dm]drank [Am]his beer.
And somehow I had the feeling
as I heard him speak.
And he spoke a long time.
[Dm]not one [Am]word was my personal language.
But [C]I could [Dm]tell by [G]the deep [Am]sound,
[F]the full ton[Am]e of his voice,
that he [C]spoke my [G]language.[Em]
[C]And I s[Am]uppose you may wonder
just how [C]he [Am]could speak in a dialect
that I [Dm]could not [C]savvy or [Am]understand,
and yet I under[Dm]stood every
[Am]sound that [C]he made.[G][C]
[Am]I learned to do this a
[F]long [Am]time [C]ago,[F]
[Am]walking up and down [C]the side[F] roads
and [Am]the main stems [F]of this [Am]land [G]here.[F]
[Am]I learned to listen th[C]is way
when I [F]washed dishes [Am]on ships,
and I had [F]to learn how [Am]to I knew it when I walked ashore i[F]n Af[Am]rica, an[Dm] d i[Am]n Scotland, and Ireland, Brita[F]in,
and London, [Am]and Britain, a[Dm]n d London, Glasgow, an[Am]d Liverpool, and Gl[Dm]asgow, and Scots, an[G] d Scotst[C]own,
[Am]and Anglo's farms,
and Irish [Em]canals, [G]and[F] railroad bri[C]dges,
[F]and Highlan[Am]ders' cows, and h[C]orses.
[F]here, I [Am]knew the speech was
the same [C]as [F]mine,
But it was [Am]the dialect a[C]gain.[Am]
Nasal, nasal, [C]throaty, and [F]deep, [Am]and and chesty,
chesty from the stomach, from the lungs,
[C]from [F]high, up in the [Am]head,
from pitch up, [Dm]pitch [C]up and[Am] down.
And here I had to [C]learn
[F]again [Am]to s[F]ay,[Am][C]
[G]thi[Am]s is my lan[C]guage.[F][Am]
[C]This is [Dm]part of my voice
[Am]Oh,[C][Dm][C][Am][C][Am]
[C][Am][Dm][Bb][Am][G][C]
[F]
[Am]but I have not even heard this voice
[F]These voices on [Am]the stages
and screens
And on radi[F]os and records
[Am]and jukeboxes [Dm]and magazines,[Am]
or in newspapers,
[C]seldom in [Am]courtrooms,[C]
[Am]and more seldom when s[Em]tudents and po[F]licemen are study
[Am]ing the [Em]faces behind t[F]he voices.[Am][Dm][Em][F]
[Am]And I thought as I saw a drunk
[Em]en street [F]-walking man
[Am]mutter and spit and [C]curse into [F]the wind
outside [Am]of t[F]he cafe's plate glass
that may[Am]be i[F]f I look close[C]r[Am]
I might hear some [F]more[Am]
[C]of [Am]my vo[F]ice
[Am]And I ate as quiet as I could
[F]so as to keep my eyes and my [Am]ears
[F]and my [C]feelings wide [F]open[Am][Em][C][F]
[Am]And I did hear, I [Dm]heard [Am]all that I came
to hear [C]here in Coney Island's [Am]Jewish air.
I heard reflection[G]s, [Am]recollections,
seen [C]faces in [Am]memory.
I heard voices untangle
their words before me.
And I knew by the feeling that I felt
[Dm]that here [Dm]was [Am]my voice.[Em][C][F][Am]
[Am]
[Dm][Am][F][Am][F][G]
[Am][Am][Am][Am][Bb]
[Bb][Am]
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