Monkey & Bear by Joanna Newsom
...............................
- Chords interpreted by CM -
- Transposed down 2 half-steps -
...............................


Down in the gr

een hay
	   
Where monkey a

nd bear usuall

y lay
	
They woke from

 a stable-boy'

s cry

	
He said; someo

ne come quick!
	  
The horses got

 loose, got gr

ass-sick!
	  
They'll flound

er, feign, the

y'll die


What is now kn

own by the sor

rel and the ro

an?
	
By the chestnu

t, and the bay

, and the geld

ing grey?
	   
It is: stay by

 the gate you 

are given
	      
And remain in 


your place, fo

r your season
	       
And had the ov

	
erfed dead but

 listened
	    
To that high-f

ence, horse-se

nse, wisdom...


Did you hear t

hat, Bear?
	   
Said Monkey, W

e'll get out o

f here, fair a

nd square
	
They left the 

gate open wide


So, my bride

Here is my han

d, where is yo

ur paw?

Try and unders

tand my plan, 

Ursala

My heart is a 

furnace

Full of love t

hat's just, an

d earnest

Now; you know 

that we must u

nlearn this

Allegiance to 

a life of serv

ice

And no longer 

answer to that

 heartless

Hay-monger, no

r be his accom

plice

(that charlata

n, with artles

s hustling!)

But; Ursala, w

e've got to ea

t something

And earn our k

eep, while sti

ll within
 	
The borders of

 the land that

 man has girde

d
	
(all double-bo

lted and tight

-fisted!)

Until we reach

 the open coun

try

A-steeped in m

ilk and honey

Will you keep 

your fancy clo

thes on, for m

e?

Can you bear a

 little longer

 to wear that 

leash?
 	
My love, I swe

ar by the air 

I breathe:

Sooner or late

r, you'll bare

 your teeth

  
But for now, j

ust dance, dar

ling
  
C'mon, will yo

u dance, my da

rling?
   
Darling, there

's a place for

 us
	   
Can we go, bef

ore I turn to 

dust?

Oh my darling,
	    
There's a plac

e for us

Oh darling
C'mon will you dance, my darling?
Oh, the hills are groaning with excess
Like a table ceaselessly being set
Oh my darling, we will get there yet


They trooped p

ast the guards

,

Past the coops

, and the fiel

ds, and the fa

rmyards

All night, til

l finally:

The space they gained grew
Much farther than the stone that bear threw
To mark where they'd stop for tea

   
But walk a lit

tle faster and

 don't look ba

ckwards
	
Your feast is 

to the East, w

hich lies a li

ttle past the 

pasture
	 
When the black

birds hear tea

 whistling, th

ey rise and cl

ap
	     
And their appl


ause caws the 

kettle black
    
And we won't h

ave none of th

at!
          
Move along, Be

		
ar; there, the

re; that's tha

t


Though cast in

 plaster

Our Ursala's h

eart beat fast

er

Than monkey's 

ever will

	
But still;

They have got 

to pay the bil

ls

Hadn't they?

That is what t

he monkey'd sa

y

So, with the c

ourage of a cl

own, or a cur

Or a kite, jer

king tight at 

its tether

In her dung-br

own gown of fu

r

And her jerkin

' of swansdown

 and leather

Bear would sway on her hind legs;
The organ would grind dregs of song, for the pleasure
Of the children, who'd shriek
Throwing coins at her feet
Then recoiling in terror

  
But for now, j

ust dance, dar

ling
  
C'mon, will yo

u dance, my da

rling?
   
Darling, there

's a place for

 us
	   
Can we go, bef

ore I turn to 

dust?

Oh my darling,
	    
There's a plac

e for us

Oh darling
C'mon, will you dance, my darling?
You keep your eyes fixed on the highest hill
Where you'll ever-after eat your fill
Oh my darling, dear, mine
If you dance
Dance, darling, and I love you still

	***(The rest of this sounds like it's just dancing around the C
	chord in first and second inversions. So, you could just play
	different inversions of Cm Cm Cm Bb repeatedly at this part - or
	you could play this suggestion below)***

    
Deep in the ni

     
ght shone a we

ak and miserly

 light
    
Where the monk


ey shouldered 

his lamp

Someone had told him the bear had been wandering
A fair piece away from where they were camped

Someone had told him the bear'd been sneaking away
To the seaside caverns, to bathe
And the thought troubled the monkey
For he was afraid of spelunking down in those caves

Also afraid what the village people would say
If they saw the bear in that state;

Lolling and splashing obscenely
Well, it seemed irrational, really; washing that face
Washing that matted and flea-bit pelt
In some sea-spit-shine, old kelp dripping with brine

But monkey just laughed, and he muttered;
When she comes back, Ursala will be bursting with pride
Till I jump up, saying: you've been rolling in muck!
Saying: you smell of garbage and grime!

But far out, far out, by now, by now
Far out, by now, Bear ploughed
'Cause she would not drown:

First the outside-legs of the bear
Up and fell down, in the water, like knobby garters
Then the outside-arms of the bear
Fell off, as easy as if sloughed from boiled tomatoes

Low'red in a genteel curtsy
Bear shed the mantle of her diluvian shoulders;
And, with a sigh,
She allowed the burden of belly to drop like an apron full of boulders

If you could hold up her threadbare
Coat to the light where it's worn translucent in places
You'd see spots where almost every night of the year 
Bear had been mending suspending that baseness

Now her coat drags through the water
Bagging, with a life's-worth of hunger, limitless minnows;
In the magnetic embrace
Balletic and glacial of Bear's insatiable shadow;

Left there! Left there! When Bear left Bear.
Left there! Left there! When Bear stepped clear of Bear!


Sooner or late

r you'll bury 

your teeth