A5 CAPELLA ( A5 ) Wake up John, it's time to go Come along John and don't be slow Come along John, don't be slow Wake up John, it's time to go Wake up John, it's time to go INTRO D5 A5 x 7 G5 D5 F5 VERSE 1 A5 F5 G5 A5 A priest joins the procession just to help me kneel B5 C#5 D5 D5 With a warder at my elbow and another at my heel A5 F5 G5 A5 Marching in the morning down a path I've lately seen B5 C#5 D5 D5 I was sleeping in this garden, am I still within my dream? A5 F5 G5 A5 The echo of my heartbeat is the beating of a drum B5 C#5 D5 D5 And all the earth is singing with life's sweet hum A5 F5 G5 A5 We filed in solemn silence, shuffled through a door B5 C#5 G5 A5 The place where life is taken for the letter of the law CHORUS A5 D5 E5 Shake the holy water, summon up the guard B5 A5 G5 F#5 Dying's very easy, waiting's very hard VERSE 2 F#5 B5 A rope was hanging from the roof, a sight which puzzles me F#5 B5 I thought a gibbet and a guard would make a gallows tree E5 G5 But now all is revealed, stamped there is the command A5 B5 My feet are on the trapdoor with a rope around my hand A5 F5 G5 A5 And now the executioner is shaking hands with me B5 C#5 D5 D5 "My duty I must carry out, you poor fellow," says he A5 F5 G5 A5 A rope is tied around my feet and a bag upon my head B5 C#5 D5 D5 And then the noose which separates the living from the dead CHORUS VERSE 3 F#5 B5 There he whispers to me "Have you anything to say?" F#5 B5 My mouth is dry, my throat is tight, I answer "Drop away" E5 G5 Silence now surrounds me, my heart is beating on A5 B5 The trapdoor hardly moves at all, my life is still my own VIOLIN SOLO A5 F5 G5 A5 x8 A5 F5 G5 A5 They stand me in a corner with my hands and feet still bound B5 C#5 D5 D5 While a carpenter is called for and an explanation found A5 F5 G5 A5 "The rain has warped the timbers," I hear the hangman say B5 C#5 D5 D5 "It's funny but it worked well, I tried it yesterday" F#5 B5 "All is mended now," they say, "your ordeal's nearly over F#5 B5 Your life's as good as ended," but I hear their voices waver E5 G5 Once more the bolt is shaken and again I hang in limbo A5 B5 While the guards jump on the trapdoor and my body stands on tip-toe CHORUS VERSE 4 A5 F5 G5 A5 They stand me in a corner with my hands and feet still tied B5 C#5 D5 D5 A warder holds onto the noose, the trapdoor opens wide A5 F5 G5 A5 Is it magic or coincidence that keeps me on the brink? B5 C#5 D5 D5 It seems to work without me, "Will it kill me now?" I think F#5 B5 "Please, I'm tired of living and I really want to die" F#5 B5 I was taken to the scaffold and I heard the hangman cry E5 G5 "Lee, I'm truly sorry, forgive these hands of mine" A5 B5 He three\w the bolt and I felt the jolt the third and final time F#5 B5 My life was spared that morning 'cos it wasn't theirs to take F#5 B5 Three's the most the law requires, a man to feel the stake CHORUS x2
