Whalebones And Crosses

Words and Music by Joe Henry & Lee Holdridge
from Autograph (1980)

Unusual chords:

Bm9:       |2|222
A/C#:      |3114| 5fr.
F#m/A:     ||422|
F#7sus4:   ||2422
F#7:       ||2322
C#7sus4:   |4442|
C#7:       |4342|
Ebsus4:    |4412| 4fr.
Eb:        |4312| 4fr.
Bb:        |1333|
Dbsus4:    |4432|
Dbsus4/C:  |3412|
Bbamdd4:   |1334|
Bbm7/Ab:   4|312|
F/A:       3|134|
Bbm:       |1332|
Fm/Ab:     2|134| 6fr.
Gb:        244322
Fsus4:     ||3311
F7:        131211
Bm/F#:     2|443|
Bmadd9:    |2442|


  Em
Whalebones and Crosses
                           Bm9
Stand against the Arctic sky.
     Em
The wind blows through the graveyard,
           Bm9
Where our fallen fathers lie.
  Em               C  
Eternal snow that covers them.
      G             A
The shadows of the sun.
     D        A/C#  Bm      F#m/A
The mighty struggle on the seas.
   F#7sus4   F#7     Bm   Em
A way of    life is run.

   
I'll sing for you my father.
                        Bm9
For the ancient sacred ways.
         Em
How the hunter loved the hunted.
         Bm9
How the night becomes the day.
     Em            C  
The circle of the mighty spirit
  G              A
Keeps us in its fold.
     D        A/C#   Bm      F#m/A
The warmth of understanding like
   F#7sus4   F#7          Bm   
A light shot through the cold.
       G             A
Then bring to me my people.
            Bm               C#7sus4  C#7
Touch them with your loving hands.
 F#                E
Lead them from confusion.
          Ebsus4  Eb     Bb
Lead them back unto the land.
     Dbsus4             Dbsus4/C
For sickness seems to block their path.
     Bbmadd4   Bbm7/Ab  F/A 
It clouds my  people's eyes.
     Bbm      Fm/Ab Gb
The promise that an idle truth
      Fsus4  F7     Bbm   Bm   Em
Will reap a golden lie.

Whalebones and crosses
                           Bm9
Stand against the Arctic sky.
     Em
The wind blows through the graveyard,
           Bm9
Where our fallen fathers lie.
     Em              C
The timeless hunt a journey back
     G                 A
To what we once came from.
    D      A/C#   Bm  F#m/A
Compassion and nobility
   F#7sus4   F#7      Bm
Beneath the Midnight Sun.
     D        A/C#  Bm      F#m/A
The mighty struggle on the seas.
  Bm/F#   F#7     Em   Bm  Bmadd9
A way of life is run.