Richard Shindell - Transit
CAPO: 2nd Fret
INTRO: B
The merge from the turnpike was murder, but it's never a cinch
C
It was Friday at five, and no one was giving an inch
D
They squeezed and they edged and they glared
C D C
Half of them clearly impaired by rage or exhaustion
B
The rest were just touchy as hell
Somewhere near Paterson everything slowed to a crawl
C
The all-news station was thanking someone for the call
D
It's a van from St. Agnes' choir
C D
There's a nun out there changing a tire
C B Am
By the time they got by her, tempers were out of control
C
So they all hit the gas in a dash for position
Em
Bobbing and weaving and flashing their high-beams
Flipping the bird and screaming obscenities
C B
A well-insured hoard, hell-bent on Saturday
And so they continued, west-bound and into the sun
C
Law and decorum constraining nary a one
D
By then it was devil-may-care
C D
Not a one even vaguely aware
C B Am
That they had come all the way to the Delaware Water Gap
C
But how had it happened? They had all missed their exits
How had it happened? Was it some kind of vortex?
Em
And in they all went, bumper to bumper
C
Faster and faster, no sign of a trooper
G
And in they all went, like sheep to the slaughter
D
Bankers and carpenters and doctors and lawyers
Em
And in they all went, families in minivans
C
Democrats, Republicans, weekend militiamen
G
They followed the river, and rounded the bend
D
Between Minsi and Tammany and into their destiny
Em
Lying in ambush, right there before them
C B
The angry old sun right on the horizon
Sister Maria tightened the bolts of the spare
C
She said a quick prayer and put the old van into gear
D
Thank god that the traffic was light
C D
If she hurried she might not be late
C B Am
For that evening's performance at the state penitentiary
C
She entered the common room and there was her choir
Altos and baritones, basses and tenors
Em
Car thieves and crack dealers, mobsters and murderers
C
Husbands and sons, fathers and brothers
G
And so it began in glorious harmony
D Em
Softly and tenderly calling for you and me
The interstate crying way off in the distance
C
And the sun going down through the bars of the prison
G D
They poured out their souls, they poured out their memories
They poured out their hopes for what's left of eternity
Em C
To sister Maria, her soul like a prism
For the light of forgiveness on all of their faces
OUTRO: B
