Changing Of The Guards

[Intro: ]Ab
 

        Fm
Sixteen years,
       Ab        Eb             Fm
Sixteen banners united over the fields
          Db            Eb
While the good shepherd grieves
          Fm        Ab          Eb
Desperate men, desperate women divided,
                Fm               Db Eb   Ab
Spreading their wings 'neath the falling leaves.

        Fm
Fortune calls.
        Ab               Eb                    Fm
I stepped forth from the shadows, to the marketplace,
              Db                  Eb                       Fm
Merchants and thieves, hungry for power, my last deal gone down.
              Ab              Eb                    Fm
She's smelling sweet like the meadows where she was born,
               Db   Eb        Ab
On midsummer's eve, near the tower.

**Interlude

                 Fm
The cold-blooded moon.
            Ab                  Eb
The captain waits above the celebration
            Fm            Db      Eb
Sending his thoughts to a beloved maid
            Fm            Ab      Eb
Whose ebony face is beyond communication.
               Fm                                Db        Eb      Ab
The captain is down but still believing that his love will be repaid.

                Fm
They shaved her head.
                     Ab              Eb
She was torn between Jupiter and Apollo.
            Fm             Db           Eb
A messenger arrived with a black nightingale.
                  Fm          Ab                 Eb
I seen her on the stairs and I couldn't help but follow,
           Fm                                Db Eb      Ab
Follow her down past the fountain where they lifted her veil.

**Interlude

                 Fm
I stumbled to my feet.
            Ab                 Eb
I rode past destruction in the ditches
         Fm                              Db              Eb
With the stitches still mending 'neath a heart-shaped tattoo.
         Fm          Ab                   Eb
Renegade priests and treacherous young witches
     Fm                              Db  Eb    Ab
Were handing out the flowers that I'd given to you.

              Fm
The palace of mirrors
          Ab             Eb
Where dog soldiers are reflected,
            Fm           Db         Eb
The endless road and the wailing of chimes,
          Fm              Ab           Eb
The empty rooms where her memory is protected,
          Fm                            Db       Eb         Ab
Where the angels' voices whisper to the souls of previous times.

**Interlude

              Fm
She wakes him up
                  Ab                Eb
Forty-eight hours later, the sun is breaking
            Fm                 Db               Eb
Near broken chains, mountain laurel and rolling rocks.
                 Fm            Ab                  Eb
She's begging to know what measures he now will be taking
                 Fm                               Db     Eb      Ab
He's pulling her down and she's clutching on to his long golden locks.

              Fm
Gentlemen, he said,
        Ab              Eb                       Fm
I don't need your organization, I've shined your shoes,
                Db                        Eb
I've moved your mountains and marked your cards
               Fm                   Ab         Eb
But Eden is burning, either get brave for elimination
              Fm                                  Db       Eb      Ab
Or else your hearts must have the courage for the changing of the guards.

**Interlude

           Fm
Peace will come
         Ab          Eb                        Fm
With tranquility and splendor on the wheels of fire
         Db         Eb                        Fm
But will offer no reward when her false idols fall
    Ab             Eb               Fm
And cruel death surrenders with its pale ghost retreating
            Db           Eb          Ab
Between the King and the Queen of Swords.

Fm     Ab  Eb   Fm...