Verso 1: Am When a man of my age shaves his face in the morning E Dm Who is it that stares back and greets him? Dm G The ghost of his father long dead all these years? Dm F Or the boy that he was, still wet in the ears? E Am Or the terrible sum of all of his fears B Am In the eyes of this stranger who meets him? Am So his glance rarely strays from his chin or his jawline E Dm To face up to the truth of his soul Dm G It's the eyes he avoids so afraid to acknowledge F G Something strange, unexpected, out of control C There are times when a man needs to brave his reflection G Am And face what he sees without fear Am F It takes a man to accept his mortality Dm E Or be surprised by the presence of a tear Am Dm It was only an arrangement, a practical arrangement B E I forgot the first commandment of the realist's handbook Am Dm Don't be fooled by illusions you created yourself B E Am And fall in love with someone, when she loves someone else Am E Like a covering of snow on a winter's night Dm C G It glistens and it sparkles in the moonlight Am C But it's gone by the morning, how quickly it melts Fm Dm Am You still love her but she loves someone else B Verso 2: Em And where does that leave you? B You self-styled man of vision G E You feel stupid, you feel angry, are you losing your mind? Am E To destroy the one she loves, does that become your mission? E Am Like a pantomime villain with an axe to grind? Dm Em To regain your self-respect, hold your head up like a man Am Dm Use the ice around your heart before it melts Am Dm Am But you're not fooling anybody, you're only fooling yourself F A#m Like a covering of snow on a winter's night G# C# It glistens and it sparkles in the moonlight F C# But it's gone by the morning, how quickly it melts Gm F# F A#m And still you still love her but she loves someone else