Intro:  A

        F#m
Sixteen years,
       A         E              F#m
Sixteen banners united over the fields
          D             E
While the good shepherd grieves
          F#m       A           E 
Desperate men, desperate women divided,
                F#m              D  E    A
Spreading their wings 'neath the falling leaves.

        F#m
Fortune calls.
        A                E                     F#m
I stepped forth from the shadows, to the marketplace,
              D                   E                        F#m
Merchants and thieves, hungry for power, my last deal gone down.
              A               E                     F#m
She's smelling sweet like the meadows where she was born,
               D    E         A
On midsummer's eve, near the tower.


(Interlude)

                 F#m
The cold-blooded moon.
            A                   E 
The captain waits above the celebration
            F#m           D       E
Sending his thoughts to a beloved maid
            F#m           A       E
Whose ebony face is beyond communication.
               F#m                               D         E       A
The captain is down but still believing that his love will be repaid.

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


(Interlude)

                 F#m
I stumbled to my feet.
            A                  E
I rode past destruction in the ditches
         F#m                             D               E
With the stitches still mending 'neath a heart-shaped tattoo.
         F#m         A                    E
Renegade priests and treacherous young witches
     F#m                             D   E     A
Were handing out the flowers that I'd given to you.

              F#m
The palace of mirrors
          A              E
Where dog soldiers are reflected,
            F#m          D          E
The endless road and the wailing of chimes,
          F#m             A            E
The empty rooms where her memory is protected,
          F#m                           D        E         A
Where the angels' voices whisper to the souls of previous times.


(Interlude)

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

              F#m
Gentlemen, he said,
        A               E                        F#m
I don't need your organization, I've shined your shoes,
                D                         E
I've moved your mountains and marked your cards
               F#m                  A          E
But Eden is burning, either get brave for elimination
              F#m                                 D        E       A
Or else your hearts must have the courage for the changing of the guards.


(Interlude)

           F#m
Peace will come
         A           E                         F#m
With tranquility and splendor on the wheels of fire
         D          E                         F#m
But will offer no reward when her false idols fall
    A              E                F#m
And cruel death surrenders with its pale ghost retreating
            D            E           A
Between the King and the Queen of Swords.


F#m    A   E
F#m...


The "Interlude" is:

           Ab    Eb      C#                       Ab