Van der Graaf Generator - Aloft (chords)

F F G F
Whispers of a wind to lift you off the ground,

F F G F
the breath of air that'll take you where it will,

F F G Am Em
this flight of fancy carries you until you know for sure

Dm
there's no going back

Dm
to where you were before,

Dm
now you've lost the knack.

F F G F
With best-laid plans you once flattered to deceive,

F F G F
of fatted calf were intent to eat your fill.

F F G Am Em
Perpetual motion carries you but still you know for sure

Dm
that you can't keep track

Dm
and you can't keep score

Dm
there's no going back any more.

Dm
You were tethered
eyes and ears peeled tightly on the ground,
wondering whether
e
what goes up is certain to come down...
steady measures,
Gm7 A Dm
learn to take the whole thing in the round.
Dm Gm G G+ Gm7 A Dm

Dm
Keep on talking,

for that's all that's keeping you aloft

Dm
it was awkward

Gm
holding in your breath before the off.

G G+g# G Bb
Now you travel, though you're not so eager to arrive.

Dm
On the journey what respect you earn is token,

C Bb
faith in progress goes unspoken

Dm Dm A Dm
and that's all that's keeping you alive.

A Bb
And you know it's not the going, it's the getting there

A Bb
that'll slow you, so you really can't remember where

G Gm
you were heading when you started;

Dm A d
all was eloquence but now it's all hot air.

Riffs follow, almost similar in structure, but in different keys for

instrumental bridge and vocal bridge.

Instrumental riff:
d d-e-e-d-e-b d d-e-g-e-d-b

Vocal riff:
d g - a -a - g-a- a#
Draw breath in apprehension,

g g . a -a#-a# -a -g
no safety features left in place,
your sentence in suspension.
you're clinging on, a basket case.
You didn't want to tell me
about your secret passion.
What dummy would you sell me
with such unfashionable haste?

Dm
Hold it steady,

Dm+e
can't afford to let direction drift.

Dm
Are you ready?

Gm+e
The denouement when it comes is swift.

G Gsus4 G Bb
Are you joking? Were you hoping for some jolly japes?

Dm
Eat those words or spit them out before they choke you.

C
Failing progress

Bb
from this moment

Dm Gm7 A Dm
I don't see you making your escape.

A Bb
And you know it's not the going, it's the getting there

A Bb
that'll get you, that'll get you, no-one lets you

A Bb
know you're slowly in the process of forgetting where

G
you were heading when you started.

Dm
All was eloquence

A (Dm) F F -> G -> F x2

or was it all hot air?
Dm2
So the pay-off's due,

Dm2
now you've told your tale.

Dm2
All the words you used

are exhaled.