Filker.com

Not Everybody Dies

Lyrics and Music ©2001 by Bill Roper


I first met Erica Neely at FilkOntario in 2001, where she debuted her new album, "Not Everybody Dies". I'd heard that Erica writes a lot of ose, but wasn't familiar with her work, so I started to wonder what a song with that title would be like and discovered that I had a thought.

Of course, it turned out that track was the humorous song on the album. But I still had this perfectly good idea and asked Erica if I might borrow the title. She said sure.

I've sent her the chords and lyrics, as she's threatening to play with people's minds. Of course, Erica would never do anything like that...

Am
There was a rhythm in her motion
         Fmaj7
Like the waves upon the ocean
        G           E7              Am
And I'd never met a woman with such grace.

She had an easy way of walking
      Fmaj7
And a careful way of talking
      G               E7             Am
And a light of wisdom shining in her face.
  Dm7                           Am
I knew I had a need to know her better.
  Dm7                                  E7
I only wish I'd known where that would lead.

	(Chorus)
	         C9
	I didn't know it when I kissed her,
	              Am7/G
	But since the day I saw that picture
	            Em7/D       E7/D           Am
	I find I've fallen in a web of careful lies.
	           C9
	For I have looked behind the curtain.
	             Am7/G
	Soon I'll be finding out for certain
	         Em7/D             E7/D      Am
	That the truth is that not everybody dies.

For she took me as a lover
And I was find till I discovered
Her picture in a yellowed magazine.
When the last good war had ended
And the men who had defended
Had all filled the streets with her there at the scene.
She laughed and said I must have been mistaken
For the woman there must surely now be dead.

(Chorus)

She was a puzzle and a mystery
With a face from out of history
And I thought of things I'd not have seen before.
How she might escape detection
And I thought upon reflection
Where there was one, there might be many more.
I searched with eyes that knew what they were seeking
And saw the signs in others that she met.

(Chorus)

	(Bridge)
	  Dm7             Am          Dm7              Am
	A wiser man would flee, and a fool would never see,
	    Dm7                            E7
	But like a moth I'm drawn into the flame.

Is their secret made for sharing?
Am I beyond the point of caring?
Is a life beyond my time a thing I'd seek?
Or is it only validation
That I have found their phantom nation?
That despite my youth, they cannot call me weak?
I know I'll have my answers in a moment
As I raise my hand to knock upon her door.

(Chorus)
	         Em7/D             E7/D      Am
	Yes, the truth is that not everybody dies.
	         Em7/D             E7/D      Am
	And I'll soon find out not everybody dies.