Man-Erg Lyrics

Van der Graaf Generator - Man-Erg
from the album Pawn Hearts (1971).
The killer lives inside me: yes, I can feel him move.
Sometimes he's lightly sleeping in the quiet of his room,
but then his eyes will rise and stare through mine;
he'll speak my words and slice my mind inside.
Yes the killer lives
Angels live inside me: I can feel them smile...
Their presence strokes and soothes the tempest in my mind
and their love can heal the wounds that I have wrought
They watch me as I go to fall
-well, I know I shall be caught,
while the angels live.
How can I be free?
How can I get help?
Am I really me?
Am I someone else?
Organ plays these chords over the riff after the vocals: (3m41s)
repeat riff, slowing down
Maybe something like this on the last one:
Ao Bb Ao Ab
#11
But stalking in my cloisters hang the acolytes of gloom
and Death's Head throws his cloak into the corner of my room
Bb+ Bb Bbo F maj9 Dm11
and I am doomed...
But laughing in my courtyard play the pranksters of my youth
and solemn, waiting Old Man in the gables of the roof:
Bb+ Bb Bbo Fmaj9
he tells me truth...
| Fmaj9 | Dm11 | Bb Bb+ Bb Bbo | Fmaj9 |
| Csus C | Bb | A7sus A7 | Dsus D |
| Csus C | Bb Bb+ Bb Bbo | F |
| C D | D | Eb Fm Fm Fm A A G | FFF AbAbAb | (4/4, 4/4, 5/4, 2/4)
And I too, live inside me and very often don't know who I am:
I know I'm not a hero, well, I hope that I'm not damned.
I'm just a man, and killers, angels, all are these:
Dictators, saviours, refugees in war and peace
as long as Man lives...
I'm just a man, and killers, angels, all are these:
Dictators, saviours, refugees
us