G              D                            Cadd9                                               
   When I was born, they looked at me and said
Cadd9
what a good boy, what a smart boy, what a strong boy.
G                     D                             Cadd9         
   And when you were born, they looked at you and said,
Cadd9
what a good girl, what a smart girl, what a pretty girl.
G                    D                         Cadd9         
   We've got these chains that hang around our necks,
Cadd9
people want to strangle us with them before we take our first breath.
G             D                            Cadd9           
   Afraid of change, afraid of staying the same,
Cadd9
when temptation calls, we just look away.

[Chorus]
G                     D
   This name is the hairshirt I wear,
           Cadd9                                 D
and this hairshirt is woven from your brown hair.
G                       D
    This song is the cross that I bear,
          Cadd9
bear it with me, bear with me, bear with me,
D                               G    G/F#   Em   C
be with me tonight,
                                     G    G/F#   Em   C
I know that it isn't right, 

but be with me tonight.

[Verse 2]
G            D                Cadd9                       
    I go to school, I write exams,
Cadd9
if I pass, if I fail, if I drop out, does anyone give a damn?
G               D                 Cadd9               
    And if they do, they'll soon forget 
Cadd9
'cause it won't take much for me to show my life ain't over yet.
G               D                 Cadd9
    I wake up scared, I wake up strange.
Cadd9
I wake up wondering if anything in my life is ever going to change.
G               D              Em                                                  
    I wake up scared, I wake up strange
       Cadd9                                  G
and everything around me stays the same.

[Chorus]
                         D
...its the hairshirt I wear,
            Cadd9                 D
and this hairshirt is woven from your brown hair.
G                        D
     This song is the cross that I bear,
        Cadd9
bear it with me, bear with me, bear with me,
D                                G    G/F#   Em   C
be with me tonight,
                                     G    G/F#   Em   C              G    G/F#   Em   C
I know that it isn't right, 

but be with me tonight.

[Verse 3]
G                D                               
    I couldn't tell you that I was wrong,
Cadd9
chickened out, grabbed a pen and paper, sat down and I wrote this song.
G                D
    I couldn't tell you that you were right,
Cadd9
so instead I looked in the mirror, watched TV, laid awake all night.

G                    D                           Cadd9
    We've got these chains, hang 'round our necks,
Cadd9
people want to strangle us with them before we take our first breath.
G                D                             Cadd9                      
    Afraid of change, afraid of staying the same 
Cadd9
when temptation calls ...

[Chorus]
G                       D
    This name is the hairshirt I wear,
            Cadd9                                               D
and this hairshirt is woven from -  is woven from - is woven from hair
G                     D
    This song is the cross that I bear,
        Cadd9
bear it with me, bear with me, bear with me,
D                                
be with me tonight,

[Verse 4]
G               D                               Cadd9
    When I was born, they looked at me and said;
Cadd9
What a good boy, what a smart boy, what a strong boy.
G                     D                                    
   And when you were born, they looked at you and said;
Em                                     Cadd9                                        G
what a good girl, what a smart girl, what a pretty girl, hey