| Time Wrote the Rocks |
Intro | Dm | C | Dm | C |
Verse 1A | Dm | C | Dm | A | (hi A) | | From | desert cliff and mountaintop we trace the wide design, |
| Dm | C | A | A | (low A) | | | Strikeslip fault and overthrust and syn and anticline. . . |
| Dm | C | Dm | A | (low A) | | We | gaze upon cre - ation where e - rosion makes it known, |
| Dm C | F G | Dm C | Dm | | | And | count the countless aeons in the banding of the stone. |
Verse 1B | C | C | Dm | Dm | | | | Odd long vanished creatures & their tracks & shells are found |
| C | C | Dm | A | (hi A) | | Where | truth has left its sketches on the slate below the ground. |
| Dm | C | Dm | A | (low A) | | The | patient stone can speak, if we but listen when it talks. |
| Dm C | F G | | F | C | | | Humans wrote the book of earth... | | | ... time wrote the |
| Dm | C | Dm | C | | | | Rocks |
| Dm C | F G | F C | Dm |
Verse 2A | Dm | C | Dm | A | (hi A) | | | There are those who name the stars, who watch the sky by night, |
| Dm | C | A | A | (low A) | | | Seeking out the darkest place, to better see the light. |
| Dm | C | Dm | A | (low A) | | | Long ago, when threats and trials broke his weary will, |
| Dm C | F Gm | Dm C | Dm | | | | Galileo recanted, but the Earth is moving still. |
Verse 2B | C | C | Dm | Dm | | | | High above the mountaintops, where only distance bars, |
| C | C | Dm | A | (hi A) | | The | truth has left its footprints in the dust between the stars |
| Dm | C | Dm | A | (low A) | | | We may watch and study or may shudder and de-ny |
| Dm C | F G | | F | C | | | Humans wrote the book of night… | | | ... fire wrote the |
| Dm | C | Dm | C | | | | sky... |
| Dm C | F G | F C | Dm |
Verse 3A | Dm | C | Dm | A | (hi A) | | | By stem and root and branch we trace, by feather, fang and fur, |
| Dm | C | A | A | (low A) | | | How the living things that are descend from things that were |
| Dm | C | Dm | A | (low A) | | | The moss, the kelp, the zebrafish, the very mice and flies, |
| Dm C | F Gm | Dm C | Dm | | | | Tiny, humble, wordless things how shall they tell us lies? |
Verse 3B | C | C | Dm | Dm | | | | We are kin to beasts, no other answer can we bring. |
| C | C | Dm | A | (hi A) | | The | truth has left its fingerprints on every living thing. |
| Dm | C | Dm | A | (low A) | | | Winnowed by an aimless game of birth and blood and strife. |
| Dm C | F C | | Dm | C | (hi Dm/C) | | Humans wrote the book of names... | | | ... death wrote |
| Dm | C | Dm | C | | | | life |
| Dm C | F G | F C | Dm |
Verse 4A | Dm | | F | A | (hi A) | (No drums, single chords) | And | we who listen to the stars, or walk the dusty grade, |
| Dm | | A | | (low A) | | Or | break the very atoms down to see how they are made, |
| Dm | | F | A | (low A) | | Or | study cells or living things, seek truth with open hand |
| Dm C | F G | Dm C | Dm | | (full drums, normal chords) | The pro | foundest act of worship is to try to understand. |
Verse 4B | C | C | Dm | Dm | | | | Deep in flower and in flesh, in star and soil and seed, |
| C | C | Dm | A | (hi A) | | | The truth has left its living word for anyone to read. |
| Dm | C | Dm | A | (low A) | | | So turn and look where best you think the story is unfurled. |
| Dm C | F C | | Dm | C | (hi Dm/C) | | Humans write the book of truth... | | | ... truth writes the |
| Dm | C | Dm | C |
| Dm C | F G | F C | Dm | (retardano) |