The Circle Game

     C           F                 C     G
    Yesterday a child came out to wonder,
     C              F            G  Bb
    caught a dragonfly inside a jar,
     C                F               Em
    fearful when the sky was full of thunder,
         F              C     G      C
    and tearful at the falling of a star.

      C                  F                    C      G
    Then the child moved ten times round the seasons,
      C          F                  G    Bb
    skated over ten clear frozen streams.
     C                        F              Em
    Words like, “when you’re older", must appease him,
          F          C       G         C
    and promises of someday make his dreams.

         C                F         C
And the seasons, they go round and round,
         C                 F      C
and the painted ponies go up and down,
F                                     C
    we’re captive on the carousel of time.
F                                       Em                 F
    We can’t return, we can only look behind from where we came,
        C                                  G     C  F C F
and go round and round and round In the circle game.

     C                   F               C       G
    Sixteen springs and sixteen summers gone now,
     C                 F                       G   Bb
    cartwheels lost to car wheels through the town.
             C                    F                 Em
    And you tell him, “Take your time, it won’t be long now,
               F                 C       G       C
    till you drag your feet to slow the circles down."

            C              F                 C    G
    So the boy could be tomorrow, now he’s twenty,
                 C                     F              G   Bb
    though his dreams have lost some grandeur coming true.
                 C                 F                  Em
    There’ll be new dreams, maybe better dreams, and plenty,
       F               C       G         C
    before the last revolving year is through.

         C                F         C
And the seasons, they go round and round,
         C                 F      C
and the painted ponies go up and down,
F                                     C
    we’re captive on the carousel of time.
F                                       Em                 F
    We can’t return, we can only look behind from where we came,
        C                    F
and go round and round and round …
        C                    F
and go round and round and round …
        C                    F
and go round and round and round …