To Hide A Little Thought

Studio CD: You Must Ask The Heart, Surrender To Jonathan
Live Bootleg: Cicero's St. Louis, The Knitting Factory 1997 (2), The Knitting Factory 1997 (1), Bowery Ballroom 2000
You Must Ask The Heart

Chords

                        C
I tried to hide a little thought
Am                               G
The more I tried the worse things got
G                         C
It started out so meek and small
Am                    G
But in a wink pervaded all


G                                C
Just a stray little stray, stray, stray
            G                       D
By tryin' to hide if I'd asked it to stay
           G                     C
By tryin' to hide if I'd made it a bed
             G              D
From which to rule the world unsaid


D               Em
To hide a little thought
 D           Em
A little vagabond
 D             Em
A sprite in the dark
    D               Em
That wouldn't move along


                           C
Many thoughts they come and go
Am                               G
This too shall pass, she'll never know
                            C
But since my way is bold and free
Am                              G
She noticed somethin' strange in me


                                   C
Maybe my voice speeded up or slowed down
        G                      D
Maybe my eyes started dartin' around
        G                         C
Maybe my hands started coverin' my face
       G                    D
Maybe I rambled all over the place


                Em
To hide a little thought
 D           Em
A little vagabond
 D             Em
A sprite in the dark
    D               Em
That wouldn't move along


                            F#m
I don't say each thing on my mind
Bm                           A
To say each thing would be unkind
                          F#m
But with someone I know so well
Bm                      A
It's so unlike me not to tell


A                               F#m
Usually I like confrontations, I do
          A                           E
I get this thrill out of sayin' what's true
         A                      F#m
I look so lifeless when I try to lie
               A                   E
That's why it's easy to tell when I try


E               F#m
To hide a little thought
 E           F#m
A little vagabond
 E             F#m
A sprite in the dark
    E               F#m
That wouldn't move along

Chordpro

I tried to hide a little [C] thought
[Am] The more I tried the worse things [G] got
[G] It started out so meek and [C] small
[Am] But in a wink pervaded [G] all

[G] Just a stray little stray, stray, [C] stray
By tryin' to [G] hide if I'd asked it to [D] stay
By tryin'to [G] hide if I'd made it a [C] bed
from which to [G] rule the world [D] unsaid

[D] To hide a little [Em] thought
A [D] little vaga[Em]bond
A [D] sprite in the [Em] dark
that [D] wouldn't move a[Em]long

Many thoughts they come and [C] go
[Am] This too shall pass, she'll never [G] know
But since my way is bold and [C] free
[Am] She noticed somethin' strange in [G] me

Maybe my voice speeded up or slowed [C] down
Maybe my [G] eyes started dartin' a[D]round
Maybe my [G] hands started coverin' my [C] face
Maybe I [G] rambled all over the [D] place

To hide a little [Em] thought
A [D] little vaga[Em]bond
A [D] sprite in the [Em] dark
that [D] wouldn't move a[Em]long

I don't say each thing on my [F#m] mind
[Bm] To say each thing would be un[A]kind
But with someone I know so [F#m] well
[Bm] it's so unlike me not to [A] tell

[A] Usually I like confrontations, I [F#m] do
I get this [A] thrill out of sayin' what's [E] true
I look so [A] lifeless when I try to [F#m] lie
That's why it's [A] easy to tell when I [E] try

[E] To hide a little [F#m] thought
A [E] little vaga[F#m]bond
A [E] sprite in the [F#m] dark
That [E] wouldn't move a[F#m]long

Lyrics

I tried to hide a little thought
The more I tried the worse things got
It started out so meek and small
But in a wink pervaded all

Just a stray little stray, stray, stray
By tryin' to hide if I'd asked it to stay
By tryin' to hide if I'd made it a bed
From which to rule the world unsaid

To hide a little thought
A little vagabond
A sprite in the dark
That wouldn't move along

Many thoughts they come and go
This too shall pass, she'll never know
But since my way is bold and free
She noticed somethin' strange in me

Maybe my voice speeded up or slowed down
Maybe my eyes started dartin' around
Maybe my hands started coverin' my face
Maybe I rambled all over the place

To hide a little thought
A little vagabond
A sprite in the dark
That wouldn't move along

I don't say each thing on my mind
To say each thing would be unkind
But with someone I know so well
It's so unlike me not to tell

Usually I like confrontations, I do
I get this thrill out of sayin' what's true
I look so lifeless when I try to lie
That's why it's easy to tell when I try

To hide a little thought
A little vagabond
A sprite in the dark
That wouldn't move along

Surrender To Jonathan

Lyrics

Well I tried to hide a little thought
And the more I tried the worse things got
It started out so meek and small
But in a wink pervaded all

Just a stray little stray, stray, stray
By tryin' to hide it I'd asked it to stay
By tryin' to hide it I'd made it a bed
From which to rule the world unsaid

To hide a little thought
A little vagabond
A sprite in the dark
That wouldn't move along

So many thoughts they come and go
This too shall pass, she'll never know
But since my way is bold and free
She noticed somethin' was strange in me

Maybe my voice speeded up or slowed down
Maybe my eyes started dartin' around
Maybe my hands started coverin' my face
Maybe I rambled all over the place

Trying to hide that little thought
That little vagabond
That sprite in the dark
That wouldn't move along

Guitar

Well I don't say each thing on my mind
If I said each thing well that would be unkind
But with someone I know so well
It's unlike me not to tell

Usually I like confrontations, I do
I get this thrill out of telling what's true
I look so lifeless if I try to lie
That's why it's easy to tell if I try

To hide a little thought
A little vagabond
A sprite in the dark
That wouldn't move along

Cicero's St. Louis

Lyrics

Well I tried to hide a little thought
And The more I tried the worse things got
It started out just meek and small
But in a wink pervaded all

Just a stray little stray, stray, stray
By tryin' to hide it, it was like asking it to stay
By tryin' to hide it, I'd made it a bed
From which to rule the world unsaid

To hide a little thought
A little vagabond
A sprite in the dark
That wouldn't move along

So many thoughts they come and go
This too shall pass, she'll never know
But since my way is bold and free
She noticed somethin' strange in me

Maybe my voice speeded up or slowed down
Maybe my eyes started dartin' around
Maybe my hands started coverin' my face
Maybe I rambled all over the place

Trying to hide that little thought
That little vagabond
That sprite in the dark
That wouldn't move along

Well I don't say each thing on my mind
To say each thing would be unkind
But with someone I know so well
It's unlike me not to tell

Usually I like confrontations, I do
I get this thrill when I'm telling what's true
I look so lifeless if I try to lie
That's why it should be easy to tell when I try

To hide a little thought
A little vagabond
A sprite in the dark
That wouldn't move along

[Hey John, could I have 2% more volume on that vocal microphone?]

The Knitting Factory 1997 (2)

Lyrics

I tried to hide a little thought
But the more I tried the worse things got
It started out so meek and small
But in a wink it pervaded all

Just a stray little stray, stray
In tryin' to hide if I'd asked it to stay
By tryin' to hide if I'd made it a bed
From which it could rule the world unsaid

To hide a little thought
A little vagabond
A sprite in the dark
That wouldn't move along

So many thoughts they come and go
This too shall pass, she'll never know
But since my way is bold and free [usually]
She noticed somethin' wrong in me

Maybe my voice speeded up or slowed down
Maybe my eyes started dartin' around
Maybe my hands started coverin' my face
Maybe I just rambled all over the place

To hide that little thought
That little vagabond
That sprite in the dark
That wouldn't move along

I don't say each thing on my mind
To say each thing was unkind
But with someone that I know so well
It's unlike me if I don't tell

Usually I like confrontations, I do
I get a thrill out of telling what's true
And I usually look lifeless if I try to lie
That's why it is easy to tell if I'm trying

To hide a little thought
A little vagabond
A sprite in the dark
That wouldn't move along
No

The Knitting Factory 1997 (1)

Lyrics

Well I tried to hide a little thought
And the more I tried the worse things got
It started out meek and small
But in a wink pervaded all

Just a stray little stray, stray
Me tryin' to hide it was like asking it to stay
By tryin' to hide it I'd made it a bed
From which it could conjure the world unsaid

To hide my little thought
A little vagabond
A sprite in the dark
That wouldn't move along

[Guitar]

I don't say each thing on my mind
If I said each thing that's unkind
But with someone I know so well
It's not like me not to tell

Usually I like confrontations, well I do
And I get this thrill when I think I'm telling what's true
But I look lifeless if I'm trying to lie
That's why it should be easy to tell if I try

To hide a little thought
A little vagabond
A sprite in the dark
That wouldn't move along

Bowery Ballroom 2000

Lyrics

I tried to hide a little thought
And the more I tried the worse things got
It started out so meek and small
But in a wink pervaded all

Just a stray little stray, stray, stray
In tryin' to hide it I'd asked it to stay
In tryin' to hide it it was like making it a bed
From which it could conquer the world unsaid

To hide that little thought
That little vagabond
That sprite in the dark
That wouldn't move along

So many thoughts they come and go
This too shall pass, she'll never know
But since my way is usually bold and free
She noticed somethin' wrong in me

Maybe my voice speeded up or slowed down
Maybe my eyes started dartin' around
Maybe my hands started coverin' my face
Maybe I just rambled all over the place

Trying to hide that little thought
That little vagabond
That sprite in the dark
That wouldn't move along

I don't say each thing on my mind
To say each thing would be unkind
But with someone I know so well
It's so unlike me not to tell

Usually I like confrontations, I do
I get this thrill out of telling what's true
I look lifeless if I try to lie
That's why it should be easy to tell if I try

To hide a little thought
A little vagabond
A sprite in the dark
That wouldn't
(I thought I could fool them
I thought, hey this thought's gonna
I'll talk about something else
But no, she saw it)

Alternate Version

Chords

At shows 'thought' starts with F#m
try: the following intro notes and notice that
they are part of the F#m BAR chord played at the 2nd fret

e- 2 0
b- 2 0
g- 2
d-
a-
E low-

Almost anyone can play the above 5 notes even if you know no chords

try this

I tried to hide a little [F#m] thought
[Bm] The more I tried the worse things [A] got (accent bar chord w/ pinky here)
It started out so meek and [C#m] small
[Bm] But in a wink pervaded [A] all (accent w/ pinky)

External Links