E   - 022100
F#m - XX4222
Abm - xx6444
A   - X02220
B   - X24432

Start with fingerpicking E

          E                        F#m
There is a middle-aged woman, she's dragging her feet
           Abm                     F#m
She carries baskets of clothes to a laundromat
         E                     F#m
While the Mexican children kick rocks into the street
        Abm                         F#m
And they laugh in a language I don't understand
          A                     E
But I love them... why do I love them?

      E                         F#m
So the neighborhood's dimming, I smoke on the porch
         Abm                            F#m
Watch the people as they pass enclosed inside their cars
            E                   F#m
And on their faces just anger or disappointment
       Abm                                 F#m
I start wishing there was something I could offer them
 A                                 E
A consolation... what could I offer them?

            E                            F#m
And they are sad in their suburbs, robots water the lawn
   Abm                               F#m
And everything they touch gets dusted spotless
           E                                    F#m
And so they start to believe they've not touched anything at all
       Abm                       F#m
And the cars in the driveway only multiply

        E                                     F#m
They are lost in their houses, I've heard them sing in the shower
      Abm                             F#m
Making speeches to their sister on the telephone
               E                                  F#m
Saying you come home, you come here, don't stay so far away from me
    Abm                              F#m
This weather has me wanting love more tangible
               A                    E
Something I can hold... it's getting cold

     F#m         E          Bm            A
I say hold up our fists to a flame in the sky
  F#m           E                 Bm           A
To block out the light that's reaching for our eyes
                            E        A             E       
'Cause it... 'cause it would blind us, yeah it will blind us

         E                        F#m
Well I've locked my actions in the grooves of routine
        Abm                   F#m
So I may never be free of this apathy
     E                        F#m
But I wait for a letter that's coming to me
            Abm                         F#m
She sends me pictures of the ocean in an envelope

                 E
So there still is hope, yes, I can be healed
                F#m
There is someone looking for what I've concealed
            Abm
In my secret drawer, in my pockets deep
                 F#m
You will find the reasons that I can't sleep
                       A                             E     
And you will still want me... but will you still want me?
A                   E
Will you still want me?

           F#m          E             Bm           A
Well, I say come for the week, you can sleep in my bed
   F#m             E           Bm                A
And pass through my life like a dream through my head
                     E    A             E
It will... it will be easy, I'll make it easy

         E                        F#m
But all I have for the moment is a song to pass the time
 Abm                    F#m
A melody to keep me from worrying
    E                             F#m
Some simple progression to keep my fingers busy
   Abm                         F#m
And words that are sure to come back to me
                   A                          E
And they'll be laughing... and they'll be laughing
A          E
My mediocrity
A          E
My mediocrity

A E A E...