Beggar's Quest

                                                       
CAPO III
 em                         G              D
Out of the east broke the storm, driving crows
                 em                   f#m  fm   em
     across the fields where the corn had been piled
         A+4               
And the Southern lights flared and flickered
     Cdom7      A          em
     like the grief of a child
em+4                                     G
The pack was heading northward; I could hear them call,
              B          Bb   A  em
     but my feet kept moving me west
     ^C                     B Bb A
Well beggars can't be choosers,    
               Cdom7 A+4      em
       and I'm on a beggar's quest.

Edge of Black Mesa burns a light, 
     ancient of stones
The keeper and the kindler came blinking into the night;
     my voice was dry as bones
They offered me blood and whiskey,
     saying "take the one you like best."
But I would not let their tender mercies
       draw me from my beggar's quest.

The floor of the telegraph office was plastered
     with old campaign flyers
And a hundred tinny voices
     spilled from the severed wires
I remember eyes like thunder, a face like a lie,
     and a sharp pain in my breast
That took away my reason,
     and set me on this beggar's quest.

I lost the scent down by Ghost River, 
     where the Juggler, to my sorrow,
Told me, "you don't understand today,
     but maybe you will understand tomorrow
That a man ain't nothing but a wild wolf
     when his soul can't find its rest."
Well I will see my way clear come evening,
       carry on my beggar's quest.