Chords for Fairport Convention - The Hanging Song

[C] Wake up John, it's time [A] to go, come [G] along John, [E] take me [A] slow, wake up John, it's time to go.
_ [C] _ [A] _ _ _ _ _
_ _ [Am] _ [A] _ _ _ _ _
_ _ [Am] _ [A] _ _ _ [Am] _ [A] _
_ _ _ _ _ [G] _ _ [D] _
_ [F] _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ [A] _ Rejoined from session, [Em] just to [A] help me [Bm] deal, with a border [C#m] at my elbow [F#] and another [F] at my heel.
_ [A] _ Marching in the morning, down a path I'd lately seen, [Bm] I was sleeping in [C#m] this garden, [F#] am I still [F] within my dream? _ _ _ _
[A] The echo of my heartbeat [F] is the beating [A] of a drum, [Bm] and all the earth [C#m] is singing [F#] with life's [F] sweet _ hum.
[A] With mild and solemn silence, shuffle through a door, [Bm] it's the place [C#m] where life is taken for [F#] the letter of the [F] Lord. _ _ _ _ _
[A] Shake the holy water, [D] summon [E] up the [D] guard, [C#m] dying's very [C] easy, _ waiting's [B] very _ hard.
_ _ _ [D]
[F#m] A rose is hanging from the [D] fruit, the sight which [F#m] lusts me, I thought a gibbet and [B] a cup would make a gallows tree,
[E] but now all is [G] revealed, stand there is the command, [F#m] my feet are on the [B] trapdoor with a rope around my hand.
_ _ [C] [A] And now the executioner is [G] shaking [A] hands with me, [Bm] my duty [C#m] I must carry [F#] out, your poor [F] fellow says he.
[A] A rope is tied around my [F] feet and [G] a bag [A] upon my head, [Bm] and then the [C#m] noose which [F#] separates the living [F] from the _ dead. _
_ _ _ [A] Shake the holy water, summon [E] up the guard, [Am] dying's [C#m] very easy, [C] _
waiting's [B] very _ hard. _
_ _ [D] _ [F#] Mary whispers to [D] me, have you anything to say?
[F#] My mouth is dry, my throat [B] is tight, my answer's drop away.
[E] Silence now surrounds [G] me, my heart is beating on, [F#] the trapdoor hardly moves at [B] all, and my life is still my _ own.
_ [F] _ [A] _ _
_ _ [F] _ [G] _ [A] _ _ _ _
_ _ [Dm] _ _ [A] _ _ _ _
_ _ [F] _ [G] _ [A] _ _ _ _
_ _ [F] _ [G] _ [A] _ _ _ _
_ [F] _ _ [A] _ _ _ _ _
_ [F] _ _ [A] _ _ _ _ _
_ [F] _ _ [A] _ _ _ _ _
_ [F] _ [G] _ [A] _ They stand me in a corner with my hands and feet still found, while [Bm] the [C#m] carpenter is called [F#] for and an [F] explanation found.
[A] The rain has warped the timbers, I [G] hear the [A] hangman say, [Bm] it's funny [C#m] but it worked well, [F#] I tried it [F] _ yesterday. _
_ _ _ _ [F#m] They say, [D] your ordeal's nearly over, [F#m] your life's as good as [B] ended, but I hear their voices quaver, [E] once more the bolt is shaken [G] and again I hang in limbo.
[F#m] All the guards jump on the trapdoor [E] and my body stands up [B] tiptoe.
_ _ [C] _ [A]
Shake the holy water, [D] [E] summon up the guard, [Dm]
[C#m] dying's very easy, [C] _ waiting's [B] very _ hard.
_ [G] _ _ [A] They stand me in a corner with [G] my hands [A] and feet still tied, a water hole's on to the noose [F#] and the [F] trapdoor opens wide.
[A] Is it magic or coincidence [F] [Dm] that keeps me [A] on the brink?
[Bm] It seems [C#m] to work without [F#] me, will it kill me [F] now?
I _ _ _ _ _ [F#m] think.
Please, I'm tired of living and I [Bm] really want to [F#m] die.
I was taken to the scaffold [B] and I heard the hangman cry, [E] leave.
I'm truly sorry, [G] forgive these hands are fine.
[F#m] He drew the bolt and I felt the [B] job for the third and final _ _ time.
[F#m] My life was spared that morning, [D] for it wasn't as it [F#m] takes, to raise the bolt, the [B] law requires a man to feel the [E] stake.
_ _ _ [G] _ _ _ _ [F#m] _
_ _ _ [B] _ _ _ _ _
_ _ [A#] _ [A] Shake the holy water, [D]
summon [E] up the [A] guard, [C#m] dying's very [C] easy, _ waiting's [B] very _ hard. _
_ _ _ [A] Shake the holy water, [D]
summon [E] up the guard, [A] dying's [C#m] very easy, [C] _
waiting's [B] very hard. _ _