The Burning Times

C                  F          C
I met a man on the road to Damascus
                                            G
With a crowd at his heels and a tear in his eye;
   F                          C
He said, "If you want to know why, then just ask us."
                            F         G
So ask them I did, and this was his reply:

 C                       F            C
"God-given grace tumbles down from the thunder;
                                               G
"We'll close all the wells and leave Lilith behind."
     F                         C          am
The morning star wept, and the sea split asunder,
                         F             G       C
And the mountain said, "Here come the burning times."

I was feeling quite down 'round the turn of the cent'ry;
Unbroken, unbowed, but a bit worse for wear.
Me and an old friend, we slipped past the sentry
To drink some bad coffee and let down our hair.

"It's funny," she said, "how it finally hits ya,"
As she drew on the table invisible lines;
And it hit me head-on the day I saw God's picture
Right on the front page of The Burning Times.

         G                            C
Now they spill from the hills and the cities they cover
           F               C               F            G
With their leers and their gears and their fears of the dark
        F                        C             am
And the lesson unlearned must be burned like a lover
       F            C            F             G
In the leaf and the root and the pitch and the bark.

These circles don't square with the Master of Maybe
Who humbly deigns to beg at my knee:
He can see by my bearing I must be a lady,
If I put on his chains then I'll surely walk free.

I've struggled too long for my turn in the fire,
And so, gentle sir, you'll not think me unkind
When I hope that you choke on the smoke and expire
And so put an end to the burning times.

F        C        G        C
La la la la la la la la la la.