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            A Hand to Take Hold of the Scene - Okkervil River
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Tabbed by: A. Maheu

Tuning: Standard

/   / = 1 measure

/ Ebm  /... / = 2 measures of Ebm 





*Intro*


  /Ebm             /  ...             / ...                 /  ...           



*Verse 1*


      /Ebm                   /  ...                    /C#            / ...
I'm a band in a show about a man holding hands with his wife 

     /Ebm                        / ...                     / ...            
on a therapist's couch, with his face to the ground (after fucking around
/C#         / ...    
countless nights) 

             /B                    / ...                   /C#        / ...
and, in this one episode, close-up cameras are showing him crying, 

       /Abm     /B      /C# 
his red head and his red eyes. 




*Verse 2*


     /Ebm                    /  ...           /C#            / ...
I'm a band in a show about a boy being buried alive, 

        /Ebm                    / ...                                 / ... 
from his head to his toes, by a criminal (but with a sensitive soul!) with
 /C#         / ...         
a set of raccoon eyes, 

                 /B                       / ...                   
and there's this scene in the show when a hustler knows 
           /C#         / ...
he's gonna die. 

           /Abm     /B        /C# 
The ground opens and he climbs inside. 




*Chorus*


/F#                      /C#                            /Abm                
And as he speaks his last line, a thought falls from his mind and I pick it
    /B                /C#     / ...     
 up right through the TV: 

    /Abm     / ...   /B      /...       /C#   
Oh   oh                       Is there a hand to take hold of the scene? 




*Post-Chorus*


/F#     / ...    /Abm     / ...     /C#        / ...       /B        / ...




*Verse 3*

     /Ebm                       /  ...                /C#            / ...
I'm a man in a dream and there, dancing in front of my eyes,

    /Ebm                                   / ...                   / ...    
is a queen - formed out of flaws, with her eyes all gone odd and a rod
                /C#           / ... 
bolted into her spine. 

          /B                          / ...                   / ...         
She rises up like a yawn. She grips my heart like a claw. She splits apart
                     /C#          / ...
 like a jaw, like an eye.

       /Abm    /B     /C# 
And she asks me with a sigh, 




*Chorus*


/F#                   /C#                          /Abm                     
When we're so far from right, when we're losing the fight, when we're
             /B              /C#     / ... 
 letting the light weaken its beam - 

    /Abm     / ...   /B       /...         /C#   
Oh   oh                       Is  there  a  hand to take hold of the scene? 




*Post-Chorus*


/F#     / ...    /Abm     / ...     /C#        / ...       /B        / ...


 /F#       / ...      /Abm                         / ...                /
I want a smile like a glistening shard. I want a kiss that's as sharp as a
C#        / ...       /B          / ...
knife.   The   day     expires, and the 

/F#   / ...   /Abm                  / ...                 /C#        / ...  
dry, cracked, trembling lips God saw fit to put this kiss inside,     I 
         /B     /F#   
lift them up to you. 

                /Abm      /C#      
I'd like to bear witness   to   a 




*Verse 4*


/Ebm                      /  ...                /C#            / ...
light that is fine and is filling the cryingest eyes, 
/Ebm                      / ...            
grace in each face that is making the wastedest, 
/ ...                /C#       / ... 
brokenest ones fairly fly, 

/B                            / ...                            /C#   /...
love that is innocent of that old cynical, covetous, cancerous vibe, 

     /Abm     /B        /C# 
and a beauty      that annihilates all 




*Chorus*


/F#                          /C#                         /Abm               
life like it's lived in these nights, holding your hatred tight like a sign
             /B       
 that you're right or you're strong. 


/F#                     /C#                     /Abm                        
When your doors are shut tight, I will dream you tonight, and my dream will
      /B   
 just sweep you along. 


/F#                /C#                             /Abm                     
When all fires are fanned, when we're shucking our plans, when we're too
 /B      /C#     / ...     
 weak to stand on our two feet 


    /Abm     / ...   /B       /...      /C#   
Oh   oh                       Is there a hand to take hold of the scene? 



/B      / ...        / ...        / ...        / ...      / ...       /




Ends on a B