Bruce Springsteen - Wild Billy's Circus Story: chords

        C                 D                    G
The Machinist climbs his ferris wheel like a brave
         C                      D
And the fireeater's lyin' in a pool of
                     G
sweat victim of the heatwave,
            C                   D
Behind the tent the hired hand tightens
                  G                C
his legs on the sword swallowers blade,
                           G
Circus town's on the shortwave

Well the runway lies ahead like a great false dawn
Whoa, fat lady, big mama, Missy Bimbo
sits in her chair and yawns
And the man-beast lies in his cage
sniffing popcorn
As the midget licks his fingers and
suffers Missy Bimbo's scorn
Circus town's been born

             C
Whoa and a press roll drummer go,
ballerina to-and-fro cartwheelin' up on that
      G
tightrope,
           C
With a cannon blast, lightin' flash,
movin' fast through the tent, Mars bent,
            G
He's gonna miss his fall,
                          D
Oh God save the human cannonball.

          C
And the flying Zambini's watch Marguarita do
     G
her neck twist,
             C
And the ringmaster gets the crowd to count along:
        Am  D
95, 96, 97.

          C                               D
A ragged suitcase in his hand, he steals silently
                      Em
away from the circus grounds,
         C                        D
And the highway's haunted by the carnival sounds
                   Em                 D
They dance like a great greasepaint ghost on the
 C
wind,
          Bm                    Em             C
A man in baggy pants, a lonely face, a crazy grin,
         G             F         C
Runnin' home to some small Ohio town
Em           G                   D
Jesus, send some sweet women to save all your clowns


     C                        B
And circus boy dances like a monkey on barbed wire,
         C                      D
And the barker romances with a junkie,
                  G
she's got a flat tire,
            C                     D
And now the elephants dance real funky and
     G                        C
the band plays like a jungle fire,
                      G
Circus town's on the live wire.

          C
And the strong man Sampson lifts the midget,
little Tiny Tim, up on his shoulders, way up
                                     G
And carries carries him on down the midway past
     C              G               C           G
the kids, past the sailors, to his dimly lit trailer
         C                            G
And the ferris wheel turns and turns like it ain't
      Dsus4       D
ever gonna stop,
         Dsus4                              D
And the circus boss leans over and whispers in
                  Dsus4
the little boy's ear,
     C                       G
Hey son you want to try the big top?
      C                     G
All aboard, Nebraska's our next stop.