The Ballad Of The Shape Of Things

THE BALLAD OF THE SHAPE OF THINGS Time: 2/4 Tenor: D Bass: C

1 * 4 * * * 57 *

Com-pletely round is the perfect pearl, the oyster manu-factures

1 * 4 * * * 57 *

Com-pletely round is the steering wheel that leads to compound fractures

4 * 1 * 4 * 1 *

Com-pletely round is the golden fruit that hangs in the orange tree

1 57 1 57

Yes, the circle shape is quite re-nowned

1 57 1 57

And sad to say, it can be found

1 4 57 1

In the dirty, low-down run-a-round

1 4 1 57 1 57 1 *

My true love gave to me - ee, yes, my true love gave to me

Completely square is the velvet box, he said my ring would be in

Completely square is the envelope, he wrote farewell to me in

Completely square is the handkerchief I flourish constantly

As it dries my eyes of the tears I've shed

And blows my nose 'til it turns bright red

For a perfect square is my true love's head

He will not marry me; no he will not marry me

Rectangular is the hotel door my true love tried to sneak through

Rectangular is the transom hole which I had to peek through

Rectangular is the hotel room I entered angrily

Now, rectangular is the wooden box

Where lies my love 'neath the grazing flocks

They say he died of the chickenpox

In part I must agree; one chick too many had he

Triangular is the piece of pie I eat to hide my sorrow

Triangular is the hatchet blade I plan to hide tomorrow

Triangular the relationship that now has ceased to be

And the self-same shape is a garment thin

That fastens on with a safety pin

To a prize I had no wish to win

It's a lasting memory: that my true love gave to me

NOTES:

- Sung in madrigal style

- V3L2: "over" for "hole"

- V3L5: "golden flox" for "grazing flocks" (Kingston Trio)

- V4L4: "triangular" for "the self-same" (Kingston Trio)

SYMBOLS:

- Asterisk (*) = new measure, play same chord

- Period (.) = 1/8 note rest at start of a measure

- Underline(_) = sustain note into next measure

CHORDS (Nashville Number System):

- This system permits you to play a song in any key

- It uses the numeric relationships between chords in a given key

- The numbers are the notes of the diatonic scale (do-re-me-fa-so-la-ti-do)

Common Keys 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Key of C: C D E F G A B

Key of D D E F# G A B C#

Key of E E F# G# A B C# D#

Key of F F G A Bb C D E

Key of G G A B C D E F#

Key of A A B C# D E F# G#

Key of Bb Bb C D Eb F G A

EDITING (to a chosen key):

- Use the "replace" feature of any text editor

- Most songs use four chords or less ( 1 > 5 > 4 > 6 )

- Beware: the number 7 could be the seventh scale note or a 7th chord

- Submitted by: Barrie McCombs (bmccombs@acs.ucalgary.ca)