Am7 Bm7 C Am9

[Verse]
Am9
The old gates are always locked
        D7
By the daughter of the keys
Am9
Sad eyes are fixed on the world
D7
From the balcony
          C              D/B
While the six o'clock procession
            D7/A              Esus4
Take their prayer books to the hall
     Am               D
It's sad to see them shed a tear
  C                Am7
Inside the convent walls

Am9
Red mountains around them
D7
Keep out those who'd come
Am9
But only birds and wild deer
D7
Share the lives of nuns
     C             D/B
For ladies who in kindness
          D7/A              Esus4
Burn the knowledge they have found
       Am              D
Their knowledge lies inside a hole
 C              Am
Buried in the ground

[Chorus]
Am7                    D9
For the Sisters of the Cross
Am7                    D9
Seek the shadows that they have lost
G                   C
In the walls where their lives
G                C
Are protected by God
A7                 D9
But the feeling of love
A7                   D9
Is somehwere in your bones
C
Your body is wasted
         Esus4
When it should have been owned

Am9
The Mother of the mission bells
D7
Has lived here all her life
Am9
She never felt the hands of man
D7
Touch her in the night
           C           D/B
And the canopies that cover her
    D7/A        Esus4
So cold and so afraid
 Am             D
Thinking holy mothers die
       C               D
Like spinsters in the grave

Am9
To be single in the chapel
       D7
Praying knelt down on your knees
Am9
Where the corridors are echoing
D7
Their proud solemnity
         C            D/B
And the candle light against the glass
       D7/A          Esus4
Plays shadow chasing tricks
        Am                      D
As the young girls fall, their eyes in tears
   C            Am
Beside the crucifix