C  D  C  Am
G  D  C  D


[Verse 1]
     G                          C            G
I've only just noticed that the martins have flown
                    C             Am     D
And their music has gone from the wire.
        G                         C         G
There's still a good hour for the sun to go down
                D            C     G
But already I'm lighting the fire.
       C                           G
And we welcomed the springtime the martins and I,
                 C        D     G
Now October will find me alone.
          G                     C
There's a pain in a parting without a goodbye.
          G           D            C        G
I've just noticed the martins have flown.


[Interlude]
G  D  C  D


[Verse 2]
         G                         C               G
Hear the high lonesome call as the wild geese pass o'er
                         C         Am     D
Like a freight train way up in the blue.
       G                     C            G
As the arrows of autumn to a far southern shore
              D               C      G
Are flying so straight and so true.
          C                          G
And we're both birds of passage, the graylag and I,
                   C           D      G
For the journey is all we have known.
        G                         C
But the long winding road and the vast empty sky
        G              D               C      G
Will be there when the wild geese have flown.


[Interlude]
G  D  C  D


[Verse 3]
      G                        C             G
And a starburst of chaffinches rise from the wind
                 C             Am    D
And scatter like leaves on the air.
         G                       C         G
When the summer days end and the autumn begins
                D           C      G
Is a secret the trees never share.
      C                        G
We'll lean to the leeward, the tall pines and I,
                     C          D      G
When the northerlies cut to the bone.
        G                        C
And the birch and the willow and ash heave a sigh
         G           D            C       G
When the last summer breezes have blown.


[Interlude]
G  D  C  D


[Verse 4]
       G                         C           G
As the dance of the seasons goes round and around
                       C         Am    G
There's a time for all nature to rest
         G                          C        G
When the green summer pastures have faded to brown
                    D        C         G
And the forest with color is blessed.
      C                     G
We'll waltz into winter the autumn and I
               C          D      G
In a flurry of russet and gold
        G                               C
And the swirl of the snowflakes falling down from the sky
      G               D          G
As we watch her white blanket unfold



[Outro]
      C                    G
We'll waltz into winter my sweetheart and I
       C             D            G
In the warmth of the love we have known
         G                       C
And give thanks for another good year that's gone by
       G        D            C        D
As the closer together we've grown.
C  Am  C  D
C      D