Em                   D    Em
I tell it as I best know how
     Em                    D      Em
And that's the way it was told to me
 Em                     G
Must have once been a thief or a whore
  G          F          Eb    B7
Then surely was thrown overboard
  B7
Where, they say
    Em                      D       Em     D
I came their way from the deep blue sea

 Em                      D      Em
It picked me up and tossed me round
 Em                   D       Em
I lost my shoes and tore my gown
     Em
I forgot my name
       G
And drowned

       G       F        Eb        B7
Then woke up with the surf a-pounding;
     B7    Em         D     Em        D
It seemed I had been run aground

            Em             D
Well they took me in and shod my feet
       A                     C  Bb
And taught me prayers for chastity
       F      C             Bb
And said my name would be Colleen, and
Dm       G       A       B7
I was blessed among all women
    B7    Em      D      Em
To have forgotten everything


Em Em Em D Em

Em Em Em D Em


[Verse 2]

    Em                      D   Em
And as the weeks and months ensued
    Em                  D  Em
I tried to make myself of use
    Em                       G
I tilled and planted, but could not produce--
      G        F           Eb         B7
Not root, nor leaf, nor flower, nor bean; Lord!
             Em           D    Em
It seemed I overwatered everything

       Em                     D
And I hate the sight of that empty air
       A              C       Bb
Like stepping for a missing stair
      F      C        Bb
And falling forth forever blindly:
   Dm        G       A   B7
Cannot grab hold of anything! No
     Em               D       Em
Not I, most blessed among Colleens


Em Em Em D Em

Em Em Em D Em


[Verse 3]

    Em                    D     Em
I dream some nights of a funny sea
    Em               D   Em
As soft as a newly born baby

    Em              G
It cries for me so pitifully!
       G           F            Eb         B7
And I dive for my child with a wildness in me
    Em              D       Em
And am so sweetly there received

     Em                 D
But last night came a different dream:
    A                C          Bb
A gray and sloping-shouldered thing
        F               C          Bb
Said "What's cinched 'round your waist, Colleen?
     Dm     G     A     B7
Is that my very own baleen?
 B7             Em     D      Em
No! Have you forgotten everything?"


Em Em Em D Em

Em Em Em D Em


[Verse 4]

      Em                  D       Em
This morning, 'round the cape at dawn
      Em                D    Em
Some travellers sailed into town
      Em                      G
With scraps for sale and the saddest songs
       G        F          Eb    B7
And a book of pictures, leather-bound, that
               Em            D     Em
Showed a whale with a tusk a metre long

   Em                 D
I asked the man who showed it me
       A               C            Bb
"What is the name of that strange beast?"
     F      C        Bb
He said its name translated roughly to
Dm     G A B7               Em     D        Em
He-Who-Easily-Can-Curve-Himself-Against-The-Sky

          D
And I am without words
    A              C     Bb
He said "My lady looks perturbed
      F        C       Bb
(the light is in your eyes, Colleen)."
   Dm         G       A    B7
I said, "Whatever can you mean?"
      B7
He leaned in and said
      Em              D     Em
"You ain't forgotten everything."


Em Em Em D Em

Em Em Em D Em


[Verse 5]

Em Em D Em
Em Em D Em


     Em                 D    Em
"You dare to speak a lady's name?"
    Em            D     Em
He said, "My lady is mistaken
   Em                    G
I would not speak your name in this place;
       G         F             Eb     B7
For if I were to try then the wind--I swear--
                          Em              D      Em
Would rise, to tear you clean from me without a trace."

  Em                       D
"Have you come, then, to rescue me?"
     A                       C      Bb
He laughed and said, "From what, 'colleen'?
      F           C           Bb
You dried and dressed most willingly
     Dm   G        A          B7
You corseted, and caught the dread disease
    Em                 D          Em
By which one comes to know such peace."

           Em                   D
Well, it's true that I came to know such things as
     A                 C  Bb
The laws that govern property
          F        C       Bb
And the herbs to feed the babes that wean
       Dm    G         A       B7
The welting weight for every season;
      B7
But still
   Em                 D        Em
I don't know any goddamned "Colleen"


Em Em Em D Em

Em Em Em D Em


[Verse 6]

     Em                          D
Then dive down there with the lights to lead
       A                 C     Bb
That seem to shine from everything--
  F         C              Bb
Down to the bottom of the deep blue sea;
 Dm   G           A     B7
Down where your heart beats so slow
         Em                      D       Em
And you never in your life have felt so free
                     D
Will you come down there with me?
       A                C       Bb
Down where our bodies start to seem like
 F   C        Bb
Artifacts of some strange dream
  Dm        G         A      B7
Which afterwards you can't decipher
         Em
And so, soon, have forgotten
  D     Em
Everything


[Outro from "...thing"]

Em D A C Bb
F C Bb
Dm G Am B7
Em D A C Bb
F C Bb
Dm G Am B7
Em D A C Bb D