Album version
capo 2nd fret (sounding key E minor)
G/b
Darkness at the break of noon
D
Shadows even the silver spoon
Csus2
The handmade blade, the child's balloon
G/b
Eclipses both the sun and moon
Bb6
To understand you know too soon
D
There is no sense in trying.
Pointed threats, they bluff with scorn
Suicide remarks are torn
From the fool's gold mouthpiece
The hollow horn plays wasted words
Proves to warn
That he not busy being born
Is busy dying.
Temptation's page flies out the door
You follow, find yourself at war
Watch waterfalls of pity roar
You feel to moan but unlike before
You discover
That you'd just be
One more person crying.
D A
So don't fear if you hear
D G/b
A foreign sound to your ear
D A G/b A D
It's alright, Ma, I'm only sighing.
As some warn victory, some downfall Private reasons great or small Can be seen in the eyes of those that call To make all that should be killed to crawl While others say don't hate nothing at all Except hatred. Disillusioned words like bullets bark As human gods aim for their mark Made everything from toy guns that spark To flesh-colored Christs that glow in the dark It's easy to see without looking too far That not much Is really sacred. While preachers preach of evil fates Teachers teach that knowledge waits Can lead to hundred-dollar plates Goodness hides behind its gates But even the president of the United States Sometimes must have To stand naked.
An' though the rules of the road have been lodged It's only people's games that you got to dodge And it's alright, Ma, I can make it.
Advertising signs that con you Into thinking you're the one That can do what's never been done That can win what's never been won Meantime life outside goes on All around you. You lose yourself, you reappear You suddenly find you got nothing to fear Alone you stand with nobody near When a trembling distant voice, unclear Startles your sleeping ears to hear That somebody thinks They really found you. A question in your nerves is lit Yet you know there is no answer fit to satisfy Insure you not to quit To keep it in your mind and not fergit That it is not he or she or them or it That you belong to.
Although the masters make the rules For the wise men and the fools I got nothing, Ma, to live up to.
For them that must obey authority That they do not respect in any degree Who despise their jobs, their destinies Speak jealously of them that are free Cultivate their flowers to be Nothing more than something They invest in. While some on principles baptized To strict party platform ties Social clubs in drag disguise Outsiders they can freely criticize Tell nothing except who to idolize And then say God bless him. While one who sings with his tongue on fire Gargles in the rat race choir Bent out of shape from society's pliers Cares not to come up any higher But rather get you down in the hole That he's in.
But I mean no harm nor put fault On anyone that lives in a vault But it's alright, Ma, if I can't please him.
Old lady judges watch people in pairs Limited in sex, they dare To push fake morals, insult and stare While money doesn't talk, it swears Obscenity, who really cares Propaganda, all is phony. While them that defend what they cannot see With a killer's pride, security It blows the minds most bitterly For them that think death's honesty Won't fall upon them naturally Life sometimes Must get lonely. My eyes collide head-on with stuffed graveyards False gods, I scuff At pettiness which plays so rough Walk upside-down inside handcuffs Kick my legs to crash it off Say okay, I have had enough What else can you show me?
And if my thought-dreams could be seen They'd probably put my head in a guillotine But it's alright, Ma, it's life, and life only.
Before the Flood version
Same as above, except that the fourth verse is omitted, and that the audience is more noisy after the second.
Budokan version
It’s hard to tell if there is an A major involved in the A minor as well. There probably is.
|: Am . Am . ; . . . | C . . D ; . C . :|
Am
Darkness at the break of noon
C
Shadows even the silver spoon
D
The handmade blade, the child's balloon
F
Eclipses both the sun and moon
E
To understand you know too soon
Am Am
There is no sense in trying.
...
Am E
So don't fear if you hear
A D
A foreign sound to your ear
A E D D Am Am
It's alright, Ma, I'm only sighing.
...
30th Anniversary Celebration version
The song itself is played as the album version, but there is an instrumental verse at the end, which is worth looking at.
Chords for the final instrumental verse:
G/d D C G Bb D |-/7--(7)--0---3---6---2------ |-/8---7---1---3---6---3------ |-/7---7---0---4---7---2------ |--0---0---2---5---8---0------ |----------3---5---8---0------ |----------------------0------
D A D : , . , . , . , : , . , . , . , : . . . |-5---------------|---------------------------------|-2-------5-------| |-7---------------|-2-------------------------------|-3-------7-------| |-7---------------|-2-------------------------------|-2-------7-------| |-7---------------|-2-----------2-----------2-------|-0---------------| |-0---------------|-0-------3h4-----0---3h4---------|-0---------------| |-0---------------|---------------------------------|-0---------------|
G D A D G/b : . . . : . . . . . . |-3---------------|-2---0---2---3--------3-3---------------------------| |-3---------------|-3---2---3---3--------3-3---------------------------| |-4---------------|-2---2---2---0--------0-0---------------------------| |-----------------|-------------0--------0-0-0-2-4-2---0-2-0---2-4-2-0-| |-----------------|-0---0---0---2--------2-2---------2-------2-0-0-0-0-| |-----------------|----------------------------------------------------|
D |---------------10-10-10-10-10-| |-/7-7-7-7--/7--7--7--7--7--7--| |-/7-7-7-7--/7--7--7--7--7--7--| |-/7-7-7-7--/7--7--7--7--7--7--| |-/9-9-9-9------------------9--| |---------------------------0--|