Ballad Of The Absent Mare Chords by Leonard Cohen

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_ Say a prayer for the cowboy, his mare's run away, _
[D] and he'll walk till he finds her, his darling his stray.
[A] But the river's in flood, _ and the roads are awash,
[E] and the bridges break up _ _ _ in the panic of [A] loss,
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and there's nothing to follow, _ there's nowhere to go.
_ _ [D] She's gone like the summer, _ gone like the snow,
[Bm] and [A] the crickets are breaking his heart with their song,
_ [E] as the day caves in, _ _ and [D] the night is [A] all wrong. _ _ _ _
_ _ _ Did he dream, was it she, who went galloping past, _
[D] and bent down the fern, broke open the grass,
[A] and printed the mud with the iron and the gold,
that [E] he nailed to her feet. _ _
When [D] he [A] was the Lord, _ _ _ _ _ _ _ and although she goes grazing a minute away, _
_ [D] he tracks her all night, he tracks her all day,
_ [A] oh blind to her presence, except to compare [E] his injury here, _ _ _
with her [D] punishment [A] there, _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ then at home on a [E] branch,
[A] in the highest tree, _ _ _ [D] a songbird sings out so suddenly,
_ _ [A] ah the sun is warm, and the soft winds ride [E] on the willow tree. _ _ _
By [D] the river _ [A] _ side, _ _ _ _ _ _ oh the world is sweet, _ _ world is wide,
[D] and she's there where the light and the darkness divide,
[A] and the steam's coming off her, she's huge, she's shy, [E] and she steps. _ _ _ _
When [D] she paws at [A] the sky, _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
she comes to his hand, but she's not really tame,
_ [D] she longs to be lost, he longs for the same,
[A] and she'll bowl, and she'll plunge, through the first open pass,
[E] to roll and to feed, _ in [D] the sweet mountain [A] grass, _
_ _ _ _ _ or she'll make a break for the high plateau,
[D] where there's nothing above, and there's nothing below,
_ [E] and it's time for their burden, [A] it's time for the whip,
[E] will she walk through the flame, _ _ _ [D] can he shoot from [A] the hip? _ _ _
_ _ _ _ So he binds himself to the _ galloping mare,
and [D] she binds _ herself to the rider there,
_ [A] and there is no space, but there's left and right,
[E] and there is no time, _ _ but [D] there's day [A] and night, _ _ _ _
_ _ _ and he leans on her neck, and he whispers low,
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Whither thou goest, _ I will go, [B] [A] and they turn as one,
and they head for the plain, [C#m] _ [E] no need for the whip,
_ _ no [D] need for [A] the rein, _ _ _ _ _ _ _ now the clasp of this union,
who fastens it tight, _ [D] who snaps it asunder,
the very next night, _ [A] some say the rider, _ some say the mare,
[E] or that loves like the smoke, _ _ [D] beyond all [A] repair,
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but my darling, says Leonard, _ _ just let it go by,
that [D] old silhouette on the great western sky,
[A] so I pick out a tune, and they move right along, _
[E] and they're gone like the smoke, _ _ and [D] they're gone like [A] this song. _
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