VdGG - A Plague Of Lighthouse-Keepers (tabs and chords)


(Eyewitness)
Intro (x4)
    Dm

e ----------------|

b ----------6-----|

g ----------7-----|

d ----------7-----|

a --5-------------|

e ----------------|


Verse chords (x2)
   Dm      Dm       C       C      Dm     Dm

e ------------------------------------------------|

b ------6-------6-------5-------5-------6-------6-|

g ------7-------7-------5-------5-------7-------7-|

d ------7-------7-------5-------5-------7-------7-|

a --5-------5-------3-------3-------5-------5-----|

e ------------------------------------------------|

Verse 1 (Vocal melody)
  Still wait ing for  my  sav-iour, storms tear me limb from limb
e ------------------------------------------------------|

b ------------------------------------------------------|

g ------------------------------------------------------|

d ----------7---5---3---2-----------------7---5---3---2-|

a --5---8-------------------3---3/5---8-----------------|

e ------------------------------------------------------|

    my fing ers feel like seaweed. I'm  so  far  out I'm too far in.
e ---------------------------------------------------------|

b ---------------------------------------------------------|

g ---------------------------------------------------------|

d ------5---3---2---2---------------5---3---2---2----------|

a --3-------------------3-------3-------------------3--3/5-|

e ---------------------------------------------------------|

   Dm (x2)

e ----------------|

b ----------6-----|

g ----------7-----|

d ----------7-----|

a --5-------------|

e ----------------|

Dm
I am a lonely man, my solitude is true,
C                                                        Dm
my eyes have borne stark witness and now my nights are numbered, too.

   Dm (x2)

e ----------------|

b ----------6-----|

g ----------7-----|

d ----------7-----|

a --5-------------|

e ----------------|

C                     Am  Bm
I've seen the smiles on dead hands,
Em                        G    Am
the stars shine, but they're not for me.

Verse 2(organ variation)
e -------------------------------------------------------------|

b -------------------------------------------------------------|

g -------------------------------------------------------------|

d ----------7---5---3h5p3p2-----------------7---5---3h5p3--2---|

a --5---8-------------------3---3/5---8----------------------3-|

e -------------------------------------------------------------|

e ---------------------------------------------------------|

b ---------------------------------------------------------|

g ---------------------------------------------------------|

d ------5---3---2---2---------------5---3---2---2----------|

a --3-------------------3-------3-------------------3--3/5-|

e ---------------------------------------------------------|

Dm         

I prophesy disaster and then I count the cost...
C                                              Dm
I shine but, shining, dying, I know that I am almost lost.
Dm
On the table lies blank paper and my tower is built on stone;
C                                              Dm
I only have blunt scissors, I only have the bluntest home.

C                          Am     Bm
I've been the witness and the seal of death
Em                      G        Am
lingers in the molten wax that is my head.

Dm         
When you see the skeletons
Bb
of sailing-ship spars sinking low
Ab
You'll begin to wonder if the points of all the ancients myths
G                             Dm
are solemnly directed straight at you...



(Jackson Sax psychedelic)
e ---------------------------------------------------------------|

b ---------------------------------------------------------------|

g ---------------------------------------------------------------|

d ---------------------------------------------------------------|

a -(3)-----------------------------------------------------------|

e -------/6-------/8-------/6-------/8---\6-------/8---\6--------|


Banton Organ psychedelics (your guess is as good as mine)

 

Verse 3    
Dm    
No time now for contrition, the time for that's long past,
C                                                  Dm       
the walls are thin as tissue and if I talk I'll crack the glass.

C                        Am       Bm
So I only think on how it might have been,
Em                          G      Am
locked in silent monologue, in silent scream.
  
Dm    
I am much too tired to speak
Bb
and as the waves crash on the bleak
Ab
stones of the tower I start to freak
G                    Dm
and find that I am overcome....
         
 

(S.H.M.)

      (x12)           G
e -------------|---------------------------------------------------------------|

b -------------|---------------------------------------------------------------|

g -------------|---------------------------------------------------------------|

d -------------|--------5-----3-h-5----3\2-(3)/5-------------------------------|

a ---3p0---5p0-|---------------------------------------------------------------|

e -3-----3-----|-/3------------------------------------------------------------|

 

     G
  "Unreal, unreal" ghost  helmsmen scream and fall in through the sky,

e ---------------------------------------------------------------|

b ---------------------------------------------------------------|

g ---------------------------------------------------------------|

d --------5-----3-h-5----3\2-(3)/5-------------------------------|

a ---------------------------------------------------------------|

e -/3------------------------------------------------------------|

    
    G
    not breaking through my seagull shrieks - no breaks until I die.

e ---------------------------------------------------------------|

b ---------------------------------------------------------------|

g ---------------------------------------------------------------|

d --------5-----3-h-5----3\2-(3)/5-------------------------------|

a ---------------------------------------------------------------|

e -/3------------------------------------------------------------|

 

Am 
The spectres scratch on window-slits,
Bm
the hollowed faces and mindless grins
C                                     Am    Ab  G  F#
are only intent on destroying what they've lost.



(Banton riffs)
  ..s c r e a m   ..sky,                  .. shrieks            ..die
  ..e  n  d  s    ..fall                  .. sea                ..dawn    
e -------------|--------------------|------------------|------------|

b -------------|--------------------|------------------|---------3--|

g -------------|--------------------|------------------|-------4----|

d -2-3-4-5-----|------------2-3-4-5-|----------55------|-----5------|

a -------------|--------2-5---------|-------------55---|------------|

e ---------3---|------3-------------|----------------3-|------------|


G         
I crawl the wall till steepness ends in the vertical fall;
G
my pain has sailed into the sea -no joking hopes at dawn.
Am
White bone shine in the iron-jaw mask,
Bm
lost mastheads pierce the freezing dark
C                    Am
and parallel my isolated tower...
   G       F    Em
no paraffin for the flame,
   Dm     C     Bm     Am
no harbour left to gain.


MORE TO COME.........

Musicians: 
Peter Hammill - lead vocals, guitars, pianos
Hugh Banton - organs, piano, mellotron, bass pedals, bass guitar, synthesiser, vocals
Guy Evans - drums and percussion
David Jackson - saxes, flute, vocals
+ Robert Fripp - electric guitar

Produced by John Anthony 
Engineered by Rob Cable, David Hentschel, Ken Scott
Recorded at Trident Studios, London, July through September 1971
1971 Charisma Records Ltd



Russian Peter Hammill / Van der Graaf Generator Page
Sergey Petrushanko hammillru@mail.ru, 1998-2024