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From his 1976 album 'Desire'.
Intro: C Am7 Am G
Em
Up on the white veranda
C G
She wears a necktie and a Panama hat.
Em
Her passport shows a face
C G
From another time and place
She looks nothin' like that.
C G
And all the remnants of her recent past
Em G
Are scattered in the wild wind.
D
She walks across the marble floor
C D C Em G
Where a voice from the gambling room is callin' her to come on in.
Em Am
She smiles, walks the other way
C D C Em Am C
As the last ship sails and the moon fades away
C Am7 Am G
From Black Diamond Bay.
Intro
Em
As the mornin' light breaks open, the Greek comes down
C G
And he asks for a rope and a pen that will write.
Em
'Pardon, monsieur,' the desk clerk says,
C G
Carefully removes his fez,
'Am I hearin' you right?'
C G
And as the yellow fog is liftin'
Em G
The Greek is quickly headin' for the second floor.
D
She passes him on the spiral staircase
C D C Em G
Thinkin' he's the Soviet Ambassador,
Em Am
She starts to speak, but he walks away
C D C Em Am C
As the storm clouds rise and the palm branches sway
C Am7 Am G
On Black Diamond Bay.
Intro
Em
A soldier sits beneath the fan
C G
Doin' business with a tiny man who sells him a ring.
Em
Lightning strikes, the lights blow out.
C G
The desk clerk wakes and begins to shout,
'Can you see anything?'
C G
Then the Greek appears on the second floor
Em G
In his bare feet with a rope around his neck,
While a loser in the gambling room lights up a candle,
D
Says, 'Open up another deck.'
C D C Em
But the dealer says, 'Attendez-vous, s'il vous plait,''
C D C Em Am C
As the rain beats down and the cranes fly away
C Am7 Am G
From Black Diamond Bay.
intro
Em
The desk clerk heard the woman laugh
C G
As he looked around the aftermath and the soldier got tough.
Em
He tried to grab the woman's hand,
C G
Said, 'Here's a ring, it cost a grand.'
She said, 'That ain't enough.'
C G
Then she ran upstairs to pack her bags
Em G
While a horse-drawn taxi waited at the curb.
She passed the door that the Greek had locked,
D
Where a handwritten sign read, 'Do Not Disturb.'
C D C Em
She knocked upon it anyway
C D C Em Am C
As the sun went down and the music did play
C Am7 Am G
On Black Diamond Bay.
intro
Em
'I've got to talk to someone quick!'
C G
But the Greek said, 'Go away,' and he kicked the chair to the floor.
Em
He hung there from the chandelier.
C G
She cried, 'Help, there's danger near
Please open up the door!'
C G
Then the volcano erupted
Em G
And the lava flowed down from the mountain high above.
D
The soldier and the tiny man were crouched in the corner
Thinking of forbidden love.
C D C Em
But the desk clerk said, 'It happens every day,'
C D C Em Am C
As the stars fell down and the fields burned away
C Am7 Am G
On Black Diamond Bay.
intro
Em
As the island slowly sank
C G
The loser finally broke the bank in the gambling room.
Em
The dealer said, 'It's too late now.
C G
You can take your money, but I don't know how
You'll spend it in the tomb.'
C G
The tiny man bit the soldier's ear
Em G
As the floor caved in and the boiler in the basement blew,
D
While she's out on the balcony, where a stranger tells her,
'My darling, je vous aime beaucoup.'
C D C Em
She sheds a tear and then begins to pray
C D C Em Am C
As the fire burns on and the smoke drifts away
C Am7 Am G
From Black Diamond Bay.
intro
Em
I was sittin' home alone one night in L.A.,
C G
Watchin' old Cronkite on the seven o'clock news.
Em
It seems there was an earthquake that
C G
Left nothin' but a Panama hat
And a pair of old Greek shoes.
C G
Didn't seem like much was happenin',
Em G
So I turned it off and went to grab another beer.
D
Seems like every time you turn around
There's another hard-luck story that you're gonna hear
C D C Em
And there's really nothin' anyone can say
C D C Em Am C
And I never did plan to go anyway
C Am7 Am G
To Black Diamond Bay.
Finish off with intro.
Enjoy!
Written by Bob Dylan/Jacques Levy