Chords for Luke - Liam Clancys tribute to Luke Kelly

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_ Luke, _ _ how glad I am that our [G] paths crossed _ _ in that brief window of consciousness that has given to us _ [C] between the two great mysteries.
_ [G] _ _ _ _
You came [C] into my life [G] through a window, [D] the men's room [Dm] window in the [D] Central Hotel at the Fla in [Am]
Milltown, Malbay.
[G] They wouldn't let you in the front door [E] because they said it was after hours and you [G] weren't a resident,
but it was really because they didn't want a Dublin jackeen upsetting [D] this session. _ _
[Em] Willy Clancy was [E] there in the parlour and [G] Jimmy Ward _ and the [Em] great Seamus Ennis, _ _ who [G] shares _ this piece of ground with you [Am] now, _ forever.
[A] _ _ _
You [G] startled us all that night, Lukey, when you sang. _ _
You were [C] no self-effacing _ [G] rustic waiting to be coaxed to sing soft, [D] sad love [G] songs.
You were as strident as a street in Crickenwood, you were as brash as a Dublin hackney driver, and you [C] took delight in what [G] you sang. _ _ _
[E] Joy and [G] anger mixed in a powerful blend, that was your [C] hallmark, then [Am] as always.
_ [G] Joy in the act of [Em] singing, _ _ anger _ in [G] the words that spoke of injustice.
You [D] came from the mould of the great _ [E] communists, who knew that it [Am] was right to [G] rail against the [E] tyranny of [Em] class and privilege.
[G] _ _ _ _ _
_ _ Look at [D] us now, Luke, _ [G] here in this cemetery, _ _ _
[D] the small huddle of [G] the living, [C] _ _ _ amidst a vast throng [G] of the generations that [D] march through before [G] us, _ _
and coming fast [C] behind, _ _ [Am] the generations [G] _ waiting to be born.
[E] _ _ [Em] _ _ _
So [G] what signifies, Luke?
_ _ _ _ _ [D]
What signifies _ [G] is that you fulfilled your destiny, _ that you did not stint in the giving of [C] the talent that was uniquely yours.
_ [G] _ Had you been a [D] blade of grass, [G] you would have been very green and very tall and very pointed,
_ because all things must be what they are to their [C] fullness.
Since _ _ _
_ _ [G] we laid you down here_
_ _ How many years ago? _ _ _ _
[D] You have been joined _ [Am] in the long [G] silence _ by [E] so many of [Em] those we knew, _
[Cm] by [Dm] Ciarán Bork and [G] Seamus Ennis _ and Willie [Am] Clancy and Joe Heaney, [D] _ _ _ _
[C] _ [D] and by my own [Am] brothers.
_ [G] Tom, _ _ _
[Em] _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ [G] but are you really silenced, Luke?
_ [Am] No, _ _ [A] no one ever will be.
[G] It's all preserved, isn't it, _ _ _ in reality [C] as well as in memory. _
_ _ [G] And when in the [E] future there are those who want [G] to hear not the [C] froth of fashion and the pop song of the month,
[Am] _
_ [G] but the timeless [Em] vision _ of the true [G] story told,
they _ _ will [D]
listen _ to you, Luke.
[G] _ You and your likes, _ _ if such there are.
[C] _ _ _
And even [G] though we understand all this [D] with our heads,
[G] _
_ _ _ we still lament [C] in our hearts _ _
[E] that you will, [D] _ as the song says,
[E] _ _ _
_ No, [Em] nay, [G] never,
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[D] never no more _ _
_ [G] _ will you play the wild rover. _ _ _ _
_ Never [C] _ _
no [Am] more. _ _ _ _
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