The other tab on here is wonderful; the only problem I had with it is that the chords
stop once the progression repeats. So I posted pretty much the same one but de-lazified.
So please enjoy The Diver's Wife, my favorite of Joanna Newsom's new unreleased songs
Am
The diver is my love
G Am G
and I am his, if I to be deceived
Fmaj7
who takes one breath above for eve-ry
Am
hour below the sea
Am
Who gave to me a jewel
G Am G
worth twice this woman's life, though it cost her less
Fmaj7
than laying at low tide to see
Am
her true love phosphoresce.
C
And in an infinite regress,
Gm Dm
tell me why is the pain of birth
F C
lighter borne than the pain of death?
G F
I ain't saying I loved you first,
C Bb
but I loved you best.
Am
I know we must abide
G Am G
each by the rules that bind us here:
Fmaj7
the divers and the sailors and
Am
the women on the pier.
Am
How do you choose your voice?
G Am G
How do you choose your name? How do you choose your life?
Fmaj7
How do you choose the time you must
Am
exhale and kick and rise?
C
And in an infinite capsize,
Gm Dm
like a boat tearing down the coast,
F C
double hulls bearing double masts.
G F
I don't know if you loved me most,
C Bb
but you loved me last.
Am
Recall the word you gave
G Am G
to count your way across the depths of this arid world,
Fmaj7
where you will yoke the waves that lay
Am
a bed of shining pearls.
Am
I dream it every night:
G Am G
the ringing of the pail, the motes of sand dislodged, the shucking, quick and bright
Fmaj
the twinned and cast off shells reveal
Am
a single heart of white.
C
And in an infinite backslide,
Gm Dm
ancient boulders sink past the west,
F C
like a sword at the bearer's fall.
G F
I don't say that I knew you best,
C Bb
but did you know me at all?
Am
A woman is alive, a woman is
G Am G
alive. You do not take her from your side
Fmaj
An anchor on a stone, alone,
Am
unfaceted and fine.
Am
And never will I wed.
G Am G
I'll hunt the pearl of death to the bottom of my life,
Fmaj
and ever hold my breath 'til I may
Am
be the diver's wife.
C
See how the infinite divides,
Gm Dm
and the divers are not to blame
F C
for the rift spanning distant shores.
G F
You don't know my name,
C Bb
but I know yours.
