C               Am           Em             Am      Dm
      Well a diamond fades quickly when matched to the face of Maria
                F                Dm         F             Dm          C
        All the harps they sound empty when she lifts her lips to the sky
            C            Am             Em          Am          Dm
      The brown of her skin makes her hair seem a soft golden rainfall
             F               Dm               F          G             C
      That spills from the mountains to the bottomless depths of her eyes

      Well, she stands all around me her hands slowly sifting the sunshine
      All the laughter that lingered down deep ?neath her smilin? is free
      Well, it spins and it twirls like a hummingbird lost in the mornin?
      And caresses the south wind and silently sails to the sea


      Ah, the sculptor stands stricken and the artist he throws away his brushes
      When her image comes dancin? the sun she turns sullen with shame
      And the birds they go silent the wind stops his sad mournful singin?
      When the trees of the forest start gently to whisperin? her name


      So as softly she wanders I?ll desperately follow her footsteps
      And I?ll chase after shadows that offer a trace of her sigh
      Ah, they promise eternally that she lies hidden within them
      But I find they?ve deceived me and sadly I bid them goodbye


      So the serpent slides slowly away with his moments of laughter
      And the old washer woman has finished her cleanin? and gone
      But the bamboo hangs heavy in the bondage of quicksilver daydreams
      And a lonely child longingly looks for a place to belong