[Intro]
| Dm    | Dm
 
[Verse 1]
   Dm                    Am
So you'll be an Austrian nobleman
   Dm           C           G
Commissioning a symphony in C
        Bb                  F
Which defies all earthly descriptions
             Bb                       F
You'll be commissioning a symphony in C
 
[Verse 2]
     Dm                         Am
With money you squeeze from the peasants
        Dm             C            G
To your nephew you can give it as a present
        Bb                   F
This magnificent symphony in C
             Bb                       F
You'll be commissioning a symphony in C
 
[Interlude]
|(F) C  | Dm G  | C     |
| F  C  | Dm G  | C     | C
 
[Verse 3]
           Dm                    Am
Completely filling the palace concert hall
              Dm             C             G
It's warm and golden like an oven that's wide open
         Bb                    F
It has a melody both happy and sad
      Bb                  F
Built on victorious young triads
 
[Verse 4]
       Dm                        Am
You've entered the room with great caution
       Dm            C            G
Though no one in the hall is even watching
         Bb                                      F
They are transfixed, they are forgetting just to breathe
            Bb                           F
They are so taken by your symphony... in C
 
[Instrumental]
|(F) C  | Dm G  | C     |
| F  C  | Dm G  | C     |
| F  C  | Dm G  | C     | C     |
 
| Dm    | Am    |
| Dm C  | G     |
| Bb    | F     |
| Bb    | F
 
[Verse 5]
       Dm                          Am
You're sitting there thinking your thoughts
         Dm             C              G
They are not about what is but what is not
        Bb                             F
You are sitting there breathing in your breath
        Bb                           F
You are seldom breathing life but mostly death
 
[Verse 6]
   Dm                    Am
So you'll be an Austrian nobleman
   Dm           C           G
Commissioning a symphony in C
        Bb                 F
Which defies all earthly descriptions
             Bb                          F
You'll be commissioning a symphony... in C
 
[Outro]
|(F) C  | Dm G  | C     |
| F  C  | Dm G  | C     | x3
| F  C  | Dm G  | C