Am  G  C

[Verse 1]
C                          E
The animals laugh from the dark of the wilderness.   
Am                       F        G 
baby cries hard in an apartment complex,     
C                         E     
As I pass in a car buried under the influence.           
Am                      F
The city's driving me out of my mind.             
C                           E
I 've seen a child is caught in the sad trap of gravity.   
Am                       F             G
He falls from the lowest branch of the apple tree,     
C                          E
And lands in the grass and weeps for his dignity.            
Am                   F
Next time he will not aim so high.         
Am          G         C    
Yeah, next time, neither will I.

[Verse 2]
C                                     E
A mother takes loans out, sends her kids off to colleges.
Am                         F          G
Her family is reduced to names on a shopping list.
C                                       E
Meanwhile, a coroner kneels, beneath a great, wooden crucifix.
Am                                              F
He know that there are worse things than being alone.
C                                    E
So, I've learned to retreat at the first sign of danger.
Am                                F           G
I mean, why wait around, if it's just to surrender? 
C                          E
Ambition, I've found, can only lead to failure.
Am                  F
I do not read the reviews. 
Am             G          C
No, I am not singing for you.

[Interlude]
C  E  Am  F  G x4
Am  G  C

[Verse 3]
C                                 E
I stood dropping a coin into the pit of a well. 
Am                                         F               G
And I would throw my whole billfold if I thought it would help.
C                                       E
With all these wishes I make, I should buy something real, 
Am                         F
At least a telephone call home.
C                                      E
Well, my teachers, they built the retaining wall memory, 
Am                             F           G
All those multiple choices I answered so quickly.
C                               E
And I got my grades back and forgot just as easily, 
Am                     F
But as least I got an 'A'.
Am               G        C
So I don't have them to blame.

[Verse 4]
C                                   E 
I should stop pointing fingers; reserve my judgment 
Am                                        F          G
Of all those public action figures, the cowboy president.
C                                 E
So loud behind the bullhorn, so proud they can't admit 
Am                      F
When they've made a mistake.
C                               E
While poison ink spews from a speechwriter's pen, 
Am                                      F             G
He knows he don't have to say it, so it don't bother him. 
C                                       E
"Honesty" "Accuracy" are really just "Popular Opinion."
Am                         F
And the approval rating's high.
Am                 G     C
And so someone's gonna die.

[Verse 5]
C                E
Well, ABC  NBC  CBS: Bullshit.
Am                                       F     G
They give us fact or fiction? I guess an even split. 
C                                     E
And each new act of war is tonight's entertainment.
Am                                F
We are still the pawns in their game. 
C                                    E
As they take an eye for an eye until no one can see,
Am                                            F      G
And we must stumble blindly forward, repeating history.
C                                                      E 
Well, I guess that we all fit into your slogan on the fast food marquee:
Am                                      F
Red blooded, White skinned oh and the Blues.
Am                            G            C
Oh, and the Blues? I got the Blues! That's me! That's me!

[Interlude]
C  E  Am  F  G x4
Am  G  C

[Verse 6]
C                                        E
Well, I awoke in relief. My sheets and tubes were all tangled.
Am                                F        G
Weak from whiskey and pills,in a Chicago hospital. 
C                           E
My father was there, in a chair by the window,
Am              F
staring so far away.
C                                        E
I tried talking, just whispered, "...so sorry...so selfish..."
Am                                 F         G
He stopped me and said, "Child I love you regardless 
C                                        E
And there is nothing you could do that would ever change this.
Am                  F
I'm not angry. It happens. 
Am                  G      C
But you just can't do it again.

[Verse 7]
C                                         E
So now I try to keep up, I have been exchanging my currency.
Am                              F          G
While a million objects pass through my periphery. 
C                                              E
So now I am rubbing my eyes because they are starting to bother me. 
Am                                 F
I've been staring too long at the screen.
C                                         E
But where was it when I first heard that sweet sound of humility? 
Am                                 F         G
It came to my ears in the goddamn loveliest melody. 
C                              E
How grateful I was then to be part of the mystery;
Am               F
To love and be loved. 
Am                   G    C
Let's just hope that is enough.

[Outro]
C  Em  Am  F  G x4
Am  G  C