F                     D7
    Oh don't I know it
          C         G    C         G
And I think of you,   sweetheart
C                          Caug    F              D7
  I'm lurking in the shadows          of my memory
          C                    G              C      G
We were going to have a circus     in the barn
C                             Caug
   But the creature lurks among   us
F                       D7          C   G         C       G
   The ghost of our past,   the ghost     of our   love


[Bridge 1]
G
    And ‘If I had my own way’
   C
I always say that phrase
F                         C            G
    I thought it was a phase, but it wasn’t


[Verse 2]
C                   Caug          F           D7
    And so here I am      in my baggy-clown costume
           C            G                           C       G
Perform any  funny trick  and throw a kiss to the audience
C                         Caug              F            D7
   And I'm wearing a mask,      but you don't have to ask
   C     G                     C       G
Who—         I'm thinking about
C                              Caug
   And there's a monkey in the background
              F                  D7
Hung by a rope       from the ceiling
       C                           G
And I'm  the villain, acting fierce
                              C        G
And stretching whiskers to a point



[Bridge 2]
G
    The phantom wears a black coat
       C
Long trousers and a derby
F              C                         G
   Stands erect   and cracks the whip loudly


[Verse 3]
C                            Caug
    I'm the phantom of my own    opera
F                          D7
    I perform all the parts
          C          G     C          G
And I think of you,    sweetheart
C                  Caug                F               D7
    I'm even the audience   and I can't   help thinking
             C                    G             C       G
We were going   to have a circus      in the barn

C                          Caug         F           D7
    Can't pull the curtain,      I can't  help remembering
         C       G                 C         G
Turn a somersault   after singing a verse

C                          Caug
    And the song is never ending
       F              D7
And I never quit rehearsing
        C             G                  C       G
A performance of a sad   and twisted heart


[Bridge 3]
G
    And if I had my own way
   C
I don't know what I'd do
F                             C       G
    I probably wish it was you