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Ballad In Plain D

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Ballad in Plain D – Bob Dylan
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Tuning: Standard
Not easy to transcribe: Dylan is still working out the chord structure as
C or C/G: I guess he plays 3-3-2-0-1(0) for all the C-chords; the difference
is due to which string he picks as the root note (A-string: C, E-string: C/G).
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Capo: 2nd fret
Play: C
Key: D (not so "plain", after all ...)
Tempo: 125 bpm
CHORDS
E-A-D-G-B-e
C x-3-2-0-1-x
C/G 3(3)2-0-1-x
G 3-x-0-0-0-x
G6 3-x-2-0-0-x
G7 3-x-3-0-0-x
Bb x-x-0-3-3-x or x-x-3-3-3-x (for example in Verse 6)
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[Verse 1]
| G| G7| C   Am   C/G| C| C/G| C| C/G|
I once loved a girl, her skin it was bronze
C/G   Am   Bb| F| % |
With the innocence of a lamb, she was gentle like a fawn
C/G   Am   C/G| C| C/G|
I courted her proudly but now she is gone
C   G6   G7| C/G| % | C| G|
Gone as the season she’s ta- ken
[Verse 2]
G7   C/G   Am   C/G| C| C/G|
In a young summer’s youth, I stole her away
C/G   Am   Bb| F| % | % |
From her mother and sister, though close did they stay
C/G   Am   C/G| C| C/G|
Each one of them suffering from the failures of their day
C/G   G   G7| C| C/G| C| G| G6| G7|
With strings of guilt they tried hard to guide us
[Verse 3]
| G7| C   Am   C/G| C| C/G| C/G|
O - o - of the two sisters, I loved the young
Am   C/G   G7| F| % |
With sensitive instincts, she was the creative one
C/G   Am   C/G| C| C/G|
The constant sc(r?)apegoat, she was easily undone
C/G   G   G7| C/G| % | G|
By the jealousy of others around her
[Verse 4]
| G| G7| C/G   Am   C/G| C| % |
For her parasite sister, I had no respect
C/G   Am   G7| F| % |
Bound by her boredom, her pride to protect
C/G   Am   C/G(F)| C| C/G|
Countless visions of the other she’d reflect
C   G   G7| C/G| % | % | G| G6|
As a crutch for her scenes and her socie- ty
[Verse 5]
| G7| C   Am   C/G| C| C/G|
My- self, for what I did, I cannot be excused
C/G   Am   C/G| F| % | % |
The changes I was going through can’t even be used
C/G   Am   C/G| C| C/G|
For the lies that I told her in hopes not to lose
C/G   G   G7| C/G| % | C| G|
The could-be dream-lover of my life- time
[Verse 5]
| G7| C   Am   C/G   F| C| C/G|
With unseen consciousness, I possessed in my grip
C/G   Am   Bb| F| % |
A magnificent mantelpiece, though its heart being chipped
(bum note:x-0-3-3-3-x)
C/G   Am   C/G| C| C/G|
Noticing not that I’d already slipped
C/G   G7| C| C/G| C| G|
To a sin of love’s false securi- ty
[Verse 6]
| G7| C   Am   F| C| C/G|
From silhouetted anger to manufactured peace
C/G   Am   Bb| F| % |
Answers of emptiness, voice vacancies
C/G   Am   C/G| C/G| C/G|
Till the tombstones of damage read no questions but, “Please
C/G   G7| C| C/G| G| % | G7| % |
What’s wrong and what’s exactly the mat-ter?”
[Verse 7]
C/G   Am   C/G| C| C/G|
And so it did happen like it could have been foreseen
C/G   Am   Bb| F| % |
The timeless explosion of fantasy’s dream
C/G   Am   C/G| C/G| % |
At the peak of the night, the king and the queen
C/G   G7| C| C/G| % | G| G6| G7|
Tumbled all down into pie-ces
[Verse 8]
| G7| C/G   Am   F| C| C/G|
“The tragic figure!” her sister did shout
C/G   Am   Bb| F| % |
“Leave her alone, God damn you, get out!”
C/G   Am   C/G| C| C/G|
And I in my armor, turning about
C/G   G7| C/G| % | G| G6| G7|
And nailing her in the ruins of her pettiness
[Verse 9]
| G7| C/G   Am   C/G| C| C/G|
Be- neath a bare lightbulb the plaster did pound
C/G   Am   Bb| F| % |
Her sister and I in a screaming battleground
C/G   Am   C/G| C| % |
And she in between, the victim of sound
C/G   G   G7| C| C/G| % | G| G6| G7|
Soon shattered as a child to the sha- dows
[Verse 10]
| G7| C/G   Am   Am| C/G| % |
All is gone, all is gone, admit it, take flight
C/G   Am   Bb| F| % |
I gagged in contradiction, tears blinding my sight
C/G   Am   C/G| C/G| % |
My mind it was mangled, I ran into the night
C/G   G   G7| C/G| % | G| G6| G7|
Leaving all of love’s ashes behind me
[Verse 11]
| G7| C/G   Am   F| C| C/G|
The wind knocks my window, the room it is wet
C/G   Am   Bb| F| % |
The words to say I’m sorry, I haven’t found yet
C/G   Am   F| C| C/G|
I think of her often and hope whoever she’s met
C/G   G7| C/G| % | G| % |
Will be fully aware of how precious she is
[Solo]
| C/G| Am| F| C/G| % |
| C/G| Am| Bb| F| % |
| C/G| Am| G7| F| C/G| % |
| C/G| G7| % | C/G| G| % |
[Verse 12]
| G7| C   Am   C/G| C| % |
Ah, my friends from the prison, they ask unto me
C   Am   F| F| F/C|
“How good, how good does it feel to be free?”
C/G   Am   C/G| C| % |
And I answer them most mysteriously 2/4
C/G   G| G7| % | C| C/G|
“Are birds free from the chains of the sky- way?”
[Coda]
| Am| C/G| F| % | C/G| % | G7| C/G  
(timing is fuzzy in the last few bars)
All chords in this song (9)

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About Ballad In Plain D Chords by Bob Dylan

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