Beyond The Flesh

This song came to me in a dream, and I had to struggle to get it all down and fill in the gaps and write down the music that I was hearing in my head.

Click here to see the lyrics only.

Click here to download PostScript sheet music.

Chords

The guitar is in standard tuning, EADGBE = 000000

G7add13 is GBFGDE = 323030 ; Don't emphasize the F-G and D-E discords too heavily. Pick those notes alternately instead of together.

C is (E)CEGCE = (0)32010 ; your basic ordinary C major

N.C. means No Chord, you should damp the strings to prevent them from ringing here.

For the chorus chords, there are several choices of fingering:

The first and simplest:
A7 is (E)AEGC#E = (0)02020
Ignore the B7
C7 is (E)CEBbCE = (0)32310
This is especially nice for adding little descending runs starting on Bb.

Slightly more complex, but good for getting motion with the B7, is:
A7 is (E)AEGC#E = (0)02020 ; played with the ring and pinky fingers
B7 is (F#)BF#AD#F# = (2)24242 ; barred and slid up from the A7
C7 is (G)CGBbEG = (3)35353 ; barred and slid up from the B7

But my favorite, especially for the last chorus, is to use the G7add13 fingering slid up with G and E open:
A7 is AC#GGEE = 545050
"B7" is BD#AGF#E = 767070 ; not really a true B7, but works
C7 is CEBbGGE = 878080

In general, G and E are the anchor notes for this song, and can be included in any chord even if they shouldn't really fit there (except in the bridge Bm, B, and D, perhaps). On the other hand, whether B natural or Bb is part of the scale changes frequently, and there is also a lot of switching between F and F#. This ambivalence, plus the amorphous jazziness of the G7add13, give the melody a lot of freedom.

Way Beyond The Flesh
Howard A. Landman, May 1994 & July 1996

[G7add13]
You don't have to wear no high-heels baby
I'd rather see you skip like a child
You don't need a low-cut see-through nightgown
As long as your heart runs wild
Polish on your [C] fingernails is wasted
When I need your tender caress
And you know that [G7add13] lipstick can be tasted
It only leaves a greasy mess

[A7] I've seen women the whole world wide
From [C7] Malibu to Marrakkesh
[A7] You have a beauty that shines inside
[B7] My [C7] love for you goes [N.C.] way beyond the flesh [G7add13]

You don't need no makeup or mascara
Your eyes are deep enough to drown
You don't have to shave your legs or armpits
I like to feel you soft as down
You don't have to [C] tattoo your body
With dragons running down your back
You don't need to [G7add13] pierce your ears or nipples
Your jewelry ain't what I lack

[A7] You can't believe all you read in books
There's [C7] wheat and there's chaff, and you thresh
[A7] And real worth isn't based on looks
[B7] My [C7] love for you goes [N.C.] way beyond the flesh [G7add13]

Love can be as [Am] gentle as a flower, so [Em] soft you hardly feel its touch
Love can knock you [Bm] over with its power, and [Em] make you cry that it's too much
You know Love is [Am] vaster than an ocean, so [Em] why do you still quake in doubt?
I wish I could [B] plant in you the notion, that [C] I can take what you dish [D] out.

Now I don't want to [G7add13] be a superhero
So hard that the world seems soft
I just want to be there at ground zero
When your big love bomb goes off
Bathing me in [C] white light - white heat - bright light - all night
Searing me skin from [C7] bone
[G7add13] Fusing my salts with the sands of the desert
So my minerals won't be alone

[A7] And when that moment comes to pass
And our [C7] tiniest atoms mesh
[A7] We'll flow together like molten glass
[B7] My [C7] love for you goes [N.C.] way beyond the flesh [G7add13]

Howard A. Landman / howard@polyamory.org
Last updated 1998 May 28