Chords for John Dowland: "Flow my tears" (1600)

_ His reputation, you know, is a very, um, sort of depressed character. _ _ _
_ But I think depression is different to melancholy. _ _ _
Depression is a clinical condition.
_ _ Melancholy comes about through _ self-reflection. _ _
_ And it's not necessarily a bad thing to be melancholic,
to look at your life, to look at the world,
and _ it's a kind of beautiful sadness about it, _
which I respond to.
At the same time, some of his songs are incredibly joyous.
They're wonderful love songs, very sensual songs,
_ erotic songs even.
And so I think it's unfair to call him a depressing character.
I think he's bipolar. _ _ _ _
_ _ _ Flow _ _ _ my _ tears, _ fall _ _ _ _ _ from your [C] _ _ _ _ springs.
[E] _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ [F#m] [C] Exiled _ _ _ _ [E]
forever, _ _ let _ me _ mourn.
_ _ _ [A] When _ _ [C] night's black _ _
[E] bird, her [Fm] _ sad _
_ [E] infamy _ sings,
Then _ _ [G] let me _ [E] live _ for _ _ _ _ all.
_ [A] _ _ _ Dawn _ _ _ _ _ _ [E] _ [C] _
_ _ [Em] [Am]-veiled [D] _ lights [G] shine,
[Dm] _ _ _ _ _ [G] _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ [E] _ _
_ [A] _ _ _ [C] _ _ Are dark [G] _ enough _ _ [E]
for _ those
_ _ [Am] That _ in _ [D] _ [Gm] _ despair [Em] _ their [G] _ [Dm] last _ _ fortunes [E] _ _ deplore,
[C] _ _
_ [Dm] _ Like death but she [E] _ _ _ _ _ _ [A] is good. _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ [C] _ Flow my tears is perhaps the most famous [G] song of the time.
[C] Everybody mentions it, everybody [G] quotes the opening.
Yeah, why?
[C]
Because to understand it is [G] one of the hardest things [C] to do.
What do you make of it, Sting?
What does Flow my tears mean for you? _
It kind of distills that sense of melancholy
that seems to be a characteristic of the whole era. _
And yet it's uplifting.
_ [G] _
Exactly.
[Fm] You feel great after you've sung it.
For me, you've said it in one, it is cathartic.
And [C] the reason is the philosophy was very simple.
_ Melancholy [E] in its ordinary state, an ordinary presentation,
is a depressing thing that all men and women feel in this embodiment.
But [C] inspired melancholy, which comes with the right use of the arts,
poetry and music, [Bm] is cathartic and uplifting.
[C] So Flow my tears appears to be [Am] by the most depressed mind [E] you could think of
[A] and yet has the opposite effect.
It is cathartic.
We cry for a reason, a [F] psychological reason.
And by hearing this, we're [Am] cleansed.
_ And pray _ [C] _ for _ [G] my _ desserts, [Dm] _ _ _ [G] for my [D] _ _ [Dm] desserts.
For _ [E] _ [Dm] my hopes, since hope is [E] _ _ _ _
_ _ gone. _ _ _ _
_ Hark, _ _ you _
[G#] _ _ [Am] shadows _ [E] _ that [C] in _ [E] _ _ _ darkness _
_ [C] _ dwell,
[G] _ _ Lure to contempt _ _ [Em] _ _ _
light. _ _ _ _ _ _
[C] _ _ _ [Am] _ _ [Bm] Hark, _
_ [E] how [A] _ happy _ _ _ [G] they _ that _ [Em] in hell
_ [C] _ _ [D] Feel _ _ [G] wrathful _ [E] _ _ _
_ _ _ _ [A] _ _ _ _
_ _ [D] despondency.
_ _ [A] _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ [Dm] _ _