D                  G              A                  D
Payphones all were ringing as the crowd went roarin' by
D              G             A           D
Lovely dancers swayin' to an island lullaby
  D                 G            A                  D
Beside the southern ocean taking stock of what's to be
D                G                  A7             D
Writing you this letter that you'll probably never see

Chorus:

    G D     A
But I can't help but be
G        D    A
Ruled by inconsistencies
G               A            D
Not unique just distantly in love

Tried to phone from Paris thinking things could be arranged
Me and you would rendezvous but I found your number changed
So I drove to San Remo where the crazy painter dwells
Toasted our old photograph still up there on his shelf

Chorus:

But I can't help but be
Ruled by my antiquities
Not unique just distantly in love

F#m            G
I can't be the one to fill
     F#m                G
Your times and all your places
F#m            G
I can't be the one to fill
     E                A
Your blanks and empty spaces

I heard it from a friend of ours I saw in Timber Bay
You had a new lover who had stolen you away
That could be the reason that I never got in touch
May present slight problems if he loves you half as much

Chorus:

As I who can't help but be
Ruled by my antiquities
Not unique just distantly in love

You know I can't help but be
Part of my own philosophies
Not unique just distantly in love