B            A           B          A
It happened one night at three in the morning
      B            E        G#m
The devil appeared in my studio room
       Amaj7             E
And he said, "I'm your pal,
              A      D
and I'll make you a deal
          F#m           C#m
Blow away all your struggles
        B           A      B
And take your soul for a toy."

A B A B A B A

[Verse 2]

          B         A
After rubbing my eyes
          B         A
I looked all around me
            B           E
At the half-finished drivel
           G#m
I'd worked on for days,
      Amaj7          E
And I told him my dream
          A         D
Was to live for all time
           F#m          C#m
In some perfect refrain like
        B           A     B
The man who wrote Danny Boy


A B A B A B

[Chorus 1]

       E                D
And I said, "If you're real,
           E        D
Then I'll ask you a question:
      E          D
While most of us turn
     E        D
into ashes or dust,
     E            D
Just you and that other guy
E        D
Go on forever
    E              D
But who writes the history,
    E         D
And whom do I trust?"

[Break]

Cmaj7 Amaj7 E D6

B A B A B A B A

[Verse 3]

        B       A
He gave me a wink
            B        A
And he said it was funny
        B            E
How mortals could pour
           G#m
All their blood, sweat and tears
      Amaj7      E
Into tape, onto paper,
     A       D
Or into the air
          F#m         C#m
To be lost and forgotten
       B          A      B
Outside of his kind employ.


A B A B A B

[Chorus 2]

             E          D
Then I thought I could hear
          E              D
A great sound in the distance
       E             D
Of whiskey-soaked singing and
     E            D
Laughter and cheer
               E            D
And they're saying that song
                 E           D
Could bring tears to a glass eye
        E         D
So pass me the papers,
         E          D
I'll sign them in blood

E D E D

           E             D
And the smell of the brimstone
          E           D
Has turned into greasepaint
            E          D
And the roar of the crowd
            E        D
Like the furies of hell
          E         D
And I hear the applause
          E              D
And I hear the bells ringing
           Amaj7       E
And the sound of a woman's voice
    A         D
From the next room,
 N.C.
Saying,


[Bridge]

    G         F
"Come to me now,
         G         F
Come lay down beside me
    G             C
Whatever you're doing,
          Em
You're too gone to see
             F           C
You can't hold on to shadows,
        F       Bb
No more than to years
         Dm             Am
So be glad for the pleasures
          G          F  G
We're young enough to enjoy."

[Break]

Cmaj7 Amaj7 E D6

B A B A B A B A

[Verse 4]

      B         A
So maybe I'm drunk
      B       A
Or maybe a liar
      B          E
Or maybe we're all
       G#m
Living inside a dream
        Amaj7         E
You can say what you like
          A                D
When I'm gone then you'll see
         F#m         C#m
I'll be down in the dark
F#m        C#m
Down underground
      F#m                 C#m
With Shakespeare and Bach and
       B           A    B
The man who wrote Danny Boy.