Come Down In Time


Am7 
In the quiet, s
Bm7 
ilent seconds I
Am7 
I turned off the ligh
Bm7 
t switch and I
Cmaj7 
I came down to  
Bm7 
meet 
 
you
 
in the  
Dm7 
half-light the  
E7 
moon left while a
 
Am7 
cluster of nig
Bm7 
ht jars sang some
Am7 
songs 
 
o
Bm7 
ut of tune.
Cmaj7 
A mantel of  
Bm7 
bright light shone
Dm7 
down from her  
E7 
room
 
Fmaj7 
Come down i
Em7 
n time,  
Dm7 
I still  
Cmaj7 
hear her say
Fmaj7 
So clear  
Em7 
in my ear,  
Dm7 
like it  
Cmaj7 
was 
 
today.
Fmaj7 
Come down in  
Ab 
time was the  
Cmaj7 
message 
 
 
Bm7 
she 
 
 
Am7 
gave 
 
 
Gm7 
Fmaj7 
Come down in
Ebmaj7 
time and I’ll
Dm7 
meet you half  
F 
way
C/G 
.  
D 

Well, I don’t know if I should have

heard her as yet but a
a true love like ours is a
a hard love to get and I
I’ve walked most all the way and I
I ain’t heard her call and I
I’m getting to thinking if she’s
coming at all.

 
Fmaj7 
Come down i
Em7 
n time,  
Dm7 
I still  
Cmaj7 
hear her say
Fmaj7 
So clear  
Em7 
in my ear,  
Dm7 
like it  
Cmaj7 
was 
 
today.
Fmaj7 
Come down in  
Ab 
time was the  
Cmaj7 
message 
 
 
Bm7 
she 
 
 
Am7 
gave 
 
 
Gm7 
Fmaj7 
Come down in
Ebmaj7 
time and I’ll
Dm7 
meet you half  
F 
way
C/G 
.  
D 
 
Am7 
There are women  
Bm7 
and women and
Am7 
some 
 
h
Bm7 
old you tight while
Cmaj7 
some leave you c
Bm7 
ounting 
 
the
Em7 
stars in the nig
Bm7 
ht

9 Comments:

  1. i like to learn elton john chords on the Rock of the westies from 1975
    and too low for ztero in 1983 all the elon john chords on a gutiar from daniel clapham

  2. The Bm7 in the verses doesnt make if for me. Replace with D, harmonizes better with Dm in bridge part.

  3. Good work, but the last chord is not Bm7. Leave out the
    third and the seventh and you’ve got it. Just notes B natural and F
    sharp. On piano B natural then F sharp, other hand same thing an
    octave higher.

  4. This is favorite for me since I heard my brother, Cy Timmons, sing it in his nightclub in Atlanta, CAFE EREWHON. So unlike most Elton John entries. It’s sparse storytelling in song at its best by Bernie. Also the chords are remarkable in that they appear to be in two keys at once, I believe C and F, maybe A, though the song predominates in minor chords that never cease to surprise.
    One correction: the second Bm is actually a Dmaj., which adds variety and “heft” to the sequence. Try it; you’ll like it.

    • Yeah for sure, the Bm would sound great. I usually play Dmaj7 with Bm on the bass 🙂

      I love the early records of this song. There are some awesome early versions that are live radio recordings that you can find on YouTube.

  5. One more comment: I always heard this song performed with “gaggle of night jaws” rather than “cluster”. Have to check a book on ornithology I suppose to know which is correct. Poetically, “gaggle” flows better, don’t you think?

  6. you don’t change a great song’s lyrics because you think it’s better, you dope…lol…part of the brilliance of the lyric is that it is unique…you can interpret it any way you want, but you don’t change a lyric or writer’s words, especially someone of renown because you think it sounds just as good or better…that’s the ultimate slight to the artist…

  7. To Bernie T.
    Damn right. Especially as the original lyric is “A cluster of nightjars sang some songs out of tune”, not “night jaws”.
    Although something that must be acknowledged is that Elton didn’t always sing the published lyric.
    The line “There are woman and women and” was sung that way on the demo but not on the album, where he omitted the first “and”.

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