Valley Of The Dead Cars by the Fatima Mansions
From the Fatima Mansions’ 1989 Against Nature album. Written by Cathal Coughlan. No capo.
INTRO
[F]
VERSE 1
[F] A box full of groceries
[F] Rotten clothes, she’s torn her knees
[F] In the main street [Dm7] chill
VERSE 2
She [F] sleeps at night in broke-down cars
[F] Squirts the dreams into her arms
[F] She says, “Junkie-man, have your [Dm7] fill.”
Well, she had [C] friends that [C7] went a [D] broad and do not [G] write
She says the [C] hardest [C7] ones are [D] those who stay be [Bb] hind
CHORUS 1
In the [F] valley of the dead [Cm7] cars
They would [F] end it all if they could [Cm7] start
They [F] sent out their kids to [Dm7] wander the world
[G7] Now they can rest at [C] last
VERSE 3
You’re out [F] scootin’ by the graveyard and you’re looking for a brave heart
[F] Could’ve been your lover but you said you never gave
You have to [F] be home early or you’ll get smacked ’round the head till [Dm7] bedtime
VERSE 4
Now you [F] hike the roads on your half-shod feet
You [F] hump the devil, you hump the police
[F] Criss-cross Harlem playing hide-and-seek with [Dm7] death
And now she [C] lurches [C7] off as [D] haughty as a [G] queen
To [C] take the [C7] waters [D] in old Skibbe [Bb] reen
CHORUS 1
In the [F] valley of the dead [Cm7] cars
They would [F] end it all if they could [Cm7] start
They [F] sent out their kids to [Dm7] wander the world
[G7] Now they can rest at [C] last
BRIDGE
[F] So I took her back with me to my [G7] own true place
[Bb] Which was a mildewed and disintegrating [F] cottage overlooking a disused waterfall
And we lay there in [G7] silence, fruitless silence until [Bb] just before dawn when she rolled ove [F] r onto me
INSTRUMENTAL
[F] [G7] [Bb] [F] (x2)
VERSE 5
They [F] come withal in their Japanese cars
They [F] know where the good meal bargains are
[F] And they spy by the side of the road
In the twilight, rain and [Dm7] storm
VERSE 6
She [F] juts her thumb in futile haste
Con [F] tempt to her is sweet to taste
The nuns told her, “Do not waste sen [Dm7] sation.”
When the [C] towns are [C7] all just [D] smoking empty [G] shells
She will [C] still [C7] be here [D] doing what she does [Bb] well
CHORUS 2/OUTRO
In the [F] valley of the dead [Cm7] cars
At the [F] mouth of a flooded [Cm7] mine
[F] I will embrace you [Cm7] hard
And we’ll [F] wait for the sun to [Cm7] shine
In the [F] valley of the dead [Cm7] cars
(Uh [F] huh yeah [Cm7] well)
The [F] valley of the dead [Cm7] cars
(Uh [F] huh oh [Cm7] ho) [F]