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While You Were Sleeping

Elvis Perkins
Version1
90

Chords in this song

Strum
D-DU-UDU
 While you  were sleeping,  your babies grew
 The stars  shined,  and the shadows moved
 And time  flew,  the phone  rang
 There was  a silence  when the kitchen sang
 Its songs competed  like kids  for space
 We stared  for hours in our  maker’s face
 They gave  us picks,  said don’t mind the sun
 And go gold  and come back when you’re done
Uh-oh  . . . uh-oh
While you  were sleeping,  you tossed you  turned
 You rolled your eyes as the world burned
 The heavens fell, the earth quaked
 I thought you must be, but you weren’t awake
 No you were dreaming, you ignored the sun
 You grew your power garden for your little ones
 And you found brides for them on Christmas Eve
 They hung young Cain from the Adam trees
 -- And danced uh-oh, uh-oh, uh-oh
While  you were sleeping,  I tossed and I turned
 ‘Til I closed my eyes but the  future burned
 Through the planet turned a hair  grey
 As I relived the day
 Third Verse:
While you  were sleeping,  the money died
 Machines were harmless and the Earth sighed
 The wind, you swept sound
 And gravity but my love around
 The oceans rose, sang about decay
 While the witches flew and the mermaids stayed
 Full of dreams, you overslept
 And keeping with the quiet through the walls I crept
 And walked on tiptoes
 Sent darkness swirling over all the kitchen
 In the early morning
 Uh-oh, uh-oh
 I’ll never catch up to you, who sleeps so sound
 My yawns are useless, my heart beats too loud
 But go to sleep, my mind’s too proud to bow out
 While you were sleeping, the time changed
 All your things were rearranged
 Your vampire mirrors, face to face
 They saw forever out into space
 And found you dreaming in black and white
 While it rained in all the colors of the night
 Uh-oh, Uh-oh
 While I watched the TV’s memories
 Of championships managed to seep, can it be?
 My honey be-tween you an’ me
 So I waited for the riddled sky
 To be solved again by the sunrise
 And I made a death soup for life
 For my father’s ill widowed wife
 Did you have that strangest dream before you woke?
 Because in God you had the butterfly stroke.
 Did it escape you like some half-told joke
 When you reached for your plume of smoke?
 And it’ll haunt you my honey bee
 Anyone, who’s anyone has that same dream
 Where you’re falling, where you’re flying
 And were you calling out, or were you dieing?
 But thank God you’re up now, let’s stay this way
 There’ll still be no more names and no more days
 ‘Cause when we’re dreaming, the babies grow
 The sun shines and the shadows flow
 Time flies and the phone rings
 There is a silence when everybody tries to sing
 Uh-oh, uh-oh, uh-oh. . .

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Readable chord sheet for While You Were Sleeping by Elvis Perkins

While you[G] were sleeping,[C] your babies grew       [G]                 [Am]
The star[G]s shined[C], and the shadows moved  [G]          [Am]
And time[G] fle[C]w, the p[G]hone r[Am]ang
There was[G] a silenc[C]e when the kitchen sang   [G]         [Am]
Its [G]songs [C]competed like kids[G] for sp[Am]ace
We [G]stared for hours in o[C]ur maker’s face   [G]                 [Am]
They gav[G]e us picks,[C] said don’t mind the sun      [G]                     [Am]
And go g[G]ol[C]d and come back when you’re don[G]e                 [Am]
[G]   [C]Uh-oh . . .  u[G]h-o[Am]h

[C]While [G]you were s[C]leeping, you tossed [G]you turned  [Am]
You rolled your eyes as the world burned
The heavens fell, the earth quaked
I thought you must be, but you weren’t awake
No you were dreaming, you ignored the sun
You grew your power garden for your little ones
And you found brides for them on Christmas Eve
They hung young Cain from the Adam trees
-- And danced uh-oh, uh-oh, uh-oh

[Am]While you were sleeping,[E] I tossed and I turned                  [Am]
‘Til I closed my eyes but [Dm]the future burned                     [G]
Through the planet turned a hair[C] grey              [F]
As I relived the day     [E]

Third Verse:

[C]While [G]you were s[C]leeping, the money d[G]ied [Am]
Machines were harmless and the Earth sighed
The wind, you swept sound
And gravity but my love around
The oceans rose, sang about decay
While the witches flew and the mermaids stayed
Full of dreams, you overslept
And keeping with the quiet through the walls I crept
And walked on tiptoes
Sent darkness swirling over all the kitchen
In the early morning
Uh-oh, uh-oh

I’ll never catch up to you, who sleeps so sound
My yawns are useless, my heart beats too loud
But go to sleep, my mind’s too proud to bow out

While you were sleeping, the time changed
All your things were rearranged
Your vampire mirrors, face to face
They saw forever out into space
And found you dreaming in black and white
While it rained in all the colors of the night
Uh-oh, Uh-oh

While I watched the TV’s memories
Of championships managed to seep, can it be?
My honey be-tween you an’ me

So I waited for the riddled sky
To be solved again by the sunrise
And I made a death soup for life
For my father’s ill widowed wife

Did you have that strangest dream before you woke?
Because in God you had the butterfly stroke.
Did it escape you like some half-told joke
When you reached for your plume of smoke?

And it’ll haunt you my honey bee
Anyone, who’s anyone has that same dream
Where you’re falling, where you’re flying
And were you calling out, or were you dieing?
But thank God you’re up now, let’s stay this way
There’ll still be no more names and no more days
‘Cause when we’re dreaming, the babies grow
The sun shines and the shadows flow
Time flies and the phone rings
There is a silence when everybody tries to sing
Uh-oh, uh-oh, uh-oh. . .

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