Payday by Cathal Coughlan
From the Cathal Coughlan’s 2000 Black River Falls album. Written by Cathal Coughlan. No capo.
INTRO
[Dm7] [C/D] (x2)
VERSE 1
[Dm7] How many [C/D] days have [Dm7] broken on you [C/D] now
[Dm7] Since you ceased to [C/D] suffer and to [Dm7] breathe? [C/D]
The [Dm7] season has [C/D] changed, or [Dm7] so they’ll try to [C/D] say
The [Dm7] hillside where you [C/D] lie is wreathed in [Dm7] green [C/D]
But the [Fm] air keeps its [Fm7] chill
And [Bb/C] summer hides it face
The [Fm] air resounds with [Fm7] shots from absent gu [Gm] ns
Re [Fm] gret unpacks its [Fm7] bags
And [Bb/C] settles down to stay
Now [Cm] all is [Bb/C] said and do [Bb6] ne
CHORUS 1
And it’s [C] payday up on Blarney Street and the [Cm7] mystery returns
To the [C] bookie shops and pharmacies – the [Cm7] mystery returns
No [C] whiskey, no amphetamines – the [Cm7] mystery returns
And you’re [Gm] gone like a [Ebmaj7] clou [Eb] d
[Gm] Left me here to my count do [Ebmaj7] [Eb] wn
VERSE 2
[Dm7] [C/D] (x2)
That [Dm7] bird will never [C/D] sing full [Dm7] yards from wing to [C/D] wing
He’s [Dm7] gliding through the [C/D] city’s sunless [Dm7] pause [C/D]
Down [Dm7] close to the [C/D] road, no [Dm7] fear of steel or [C/D] chrome
The [Dm7] street lamps beckon him [C/D] on until he [Dm7] finds his perch in the [C/D] dawn
And [Fm] he’s there when I [Fm7] rise
On the [Bb/C] ledge across from mine
Seems [Fm] no one sees the [Fm7] blackness there but [Gm] me
“Come [Fm] on, jump a [Fm7] cross
You’ll [Bb/C] never feel the drop”
Now [Cm] all is [Bb/C] said and do [Bb6] ne
CHORUS 2/OUTRO
And it’s [C] payday over Stepney Green – and the [Cm7] mystery returns
To those [C] fragile heartbreak tenancies – and the [Cm7] mystery returns
And the [C] limp consumer certainties – and the [Cm7] mystery returns
And you’re [Gm] gone like a [Ebmaj7] clou [Eb] d
Too [Gm] late for luck to [Ebmaj7] chang [Eb] e [Bb/C] now