17_basement/sign_on_the_cross.htm

   1 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
   2 <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN"
   3 "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd">
   4 <html lang="en" xml:lang="en" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
   5
   6 <head>
   7 <title>Sign on the Cross</title>
   8 <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="../css/general.css" />
   9 </head>
  10
  11 <body>
  12
  13 <h1 class="songtitle">Sign on the Cross</h1>
  14
  15
  16 <p>Words and music Bob Dylan<br />
  17 Recorded during the Basement sessions (summer 1967)<br />
  18 Tabbed by Eyolf &Oslash;strem</p>
  19
  20 <p>Bob's at the piano, so it's a black key. Robbie plays some licks high
  21 up on the neck, and he uses the following shapes:</p>
  22
  23 <p>Eb: x-x-13-12-11-11<br />
  24 Ab: x-11-10-8-9-8<br />
  25 Bb7: 6-8-8-7-9-6</p>
  26
  27 <p>Since the greatness of this song lies in Dylan's vocal and Garth's
  28 organ, and you won't be able to reproduce that anyway :-), you might
  29 as well put on a capo somewhere to get simpler chords, or drop all the
  30 b's and play E, A and B.</p>
  31
  32 <hr />
  33
  34 <pre class="verse">
  35        Eb
  36 Now, I try, oh so awf'ly strong
  37       Ab          Eb
  38 And I just try to be.
  39          Eb
  40 And now, oh it's [an isle]*)
  41          Bb7
  42 But it's free.
  43            Eb         (Eb7)
  44 Yes, but I know in my head
  45            Ab        Eb
  46 That we're all so misled,
  47               Eb              Bb
  48 And it's that ol' sign on the cross
  49              Eb
  50 That worries me.
  51
  52 Now, when I was just a bawlin' lad,
  53 I saw what I wanted to be,
  54 And it's all for the sake
  55 Of that I should see.
  56 But I was lost on the land
  57 As I heard that front door slam,
  58 And that old sign on the cross
  59 worried me.
  60
  61 Ab   Eb
  62 </pre>
  63
  64 <pre class="refrain">
  65                 Ab
  66 Well, it's that old sign on the cross,
  67                 Eb
  68 Well, it's that old key to the kingdom,
  69                 Ab
  70 Well, it's that old sign on the cross
  71             Bb
  72 Like you used to be.
  73           Eb        Eb7
  74 But, when I hold my head so high
  75      Ab                    Eb
  76 As I see my ol' friends go by,
  77          Eb                     Bb
  78 And it's still that sign on the cross
  79              Eb    Ab    Eb
  80 That worries me.
  81 </pre>
  82
  83 <pre class="verse">
  84 Well, it seems to be the sign on the cross. Ev'ry day,
  85       Ab
  86 ev'ry night, see the sign on the cross just layin' up
  87               Eb
  88 on top of the hill. Yes, we thought it might have
  89
  90 disappeared long ago, but I'm here to tell you, friends,
  91                Bb
  92 that I'm afraid it's lyin' there still. Yes, just a
  93 Eb
  94 little time is all you need, you might say, but I don't
  95 Eb7                                                 Ab
  96 know 'bout that any more, because later on you might find
  97
  98 the door, you might want to enter it, but, of course, the door might
  99    Eb
 100 be closed. And I just would like to tell you one time,
 101                               Bb
 102 if I don't see you again, that the thing is, that the sign
 103                                    Ab                    Eb
 104 on the cross is the thing you might need the most.
 105 </pre>
 106
 107 <pre class="refrain">
 108          Ab
 109 Yes, the sign on the cross
 110           Eb
 111 Is just a sign [of cotton barkin' too]
 112             Ab
 113 Well, there is some in any prison
 114              Bb
 115 And there is some in the penitentiary too.
 116                          Eb
 117 Oh, when your, when your days are numbered
 118 Eb7
 119 And your nights are long,
 120 Ab
 121  You might think you're weak
 122                                  Eb
 123 But I mean to say you're strong.
 124
 125 Yes you are, if that sign on the cross,
 126 Bb
 127  If it begins to worry you.
 128                                 Eb           Ab
 129 Well, that's all right, you just sing a song
 130                                       Eb
 131 And all your troubles will pass right on through.
 132 </pre>
 133
 134 <hr />
 135
 136 <p>*) The official lyrics have &ldquo;it's a gold mine&rdquo;</p>
 137
 138 </body></html>