• Song:

    Amused To Death

  • Artist:

    Roger Waters

  • Album:

    1999: Milwaukie, WI, US...

THE BALLAD OF BILL HUBBARD
--------------------------

Gm Eb Gm Eb Eb Cm7 D7 Gm Ebmaj7 Cm7 D7 Gm Gm/F Eb Cm Bb/D Eb F 

Gm

F Eb Cm7 D7 Gm

Eb Cm7 D7


WHAT GOD WANTS PART I
---------------------
    Gm
The kid in the corner looked at the priest
And fingered his pale blue Japanese guitar

The priest said,
God wants goodness
God wants light
God wants mayhem
God wants a clean fight
What God wants God gets
      Em
Don't look so surprised
          F    C
It's only dogma
Em                F    C
The alien prophet cried
    F              F/E
The beetle and the springbok
         F/Eb
Took the Bible from its hook
    Dsus4
The monkey in the corner Wrote
    D
the lesson in his book
Gm
What God wants God gets 
What God wants God gets
God wants peace
God wants war
God wants famine
God wants chain stores
What God wants God gets
God wants sedition
God wants sex
God wants freedom
God wants semtex
What God wants God gets
      Em
Don't look so surprised
         F	C
I'm only joking
Em			F    C
The alien comic cried
    F			  F/E
The jackass and hyena
	    F/Eb
Took the feather from its hook
    Dsus4
The monkey in the corner
		D
Wrote the joke down in his book
Gm
What God wants God gets
God wants boarders
God wants crack
God wants rainfall
God wants wetbacks
What God wants God gets
God wants voodoo
God wants shrines
God wants law
God wants organized crime
God wants crusade
God wants jihad
God wants good
			F C F C  F C F  C F C 
God wants bad
Gm					F C F C  F C F  C F C
What God wants God gets


PERFECT SENSE PART I
--------------------

C F Bb Eb
F
Bb Eb Ab C#
Eb
Ab
The monkey sat on a pile of stones
C#
And stared at the broken bone in his hand
F#
And the stains of a Viennese quartet
					B  C#
Rang out across the land
C#
The monkey looked up at the stars
F#
And thought to himself
			B
Memory is a stranger
History is for fools
E
And he cleaned his hands
In a pool of holy writing
A
Turned his back on the garden
				B
And set out for the nearest town
			E
Hold on hold on soldier
When you add it all up
				   A
The tears and the marrowbone
There's an ounce of gold
						D
And an ounce of pride in each ledger
And the Germans killed the Jews
And the Jews killed the Arabs
		G
And the Arabs killed the hostages
And that is the news
A
And is it any wonder
That the monkey's confused
	   D
He said Mama Mama
The President's a fool
Why do I have to keep reading
			G
These technical manuals
And the joint chiefs of staff
And the brokers on Wall Street said
C
Don't make us laugh
You're a smart kid
Time is linear
Memory is a stranger
F
History is for fools
Man is a tool in the hands
Of the great God Almighty
		G
And they gave him command
Of a nuclear submarine
And sent him back in search of
			C
The Garden of Eden

PERFECT SENSE PART II
---------------------
           C
Can't you see
It all makes perfect sense
Expressed in dollars and cents
				G
Pounds shillings and pence
Dm
Can't you see
   F   F     C/E Dm   C
It all makes perfect sense
Gm7							C
Little black soul departs in perfect focus
Gm7								C
Prime time fodder for the News at Nine
Bb
Darling is the child warm in the bed tonight
Cm
Hi everybody I'm Marv Albert
And welcome to our telecast
Eb
Coming to you live from Memorial Stadium
It's a beautiful day
					F
And today we expect a sensational matchup
But first our global anthem
		Bb
Can't you see
It all makes perfect sense
Expressed in dollars and cents
				F
Pounds shillings and pence
Cm
Can't you see
   Eb  Eb    Bb/D Cm  Bb
It all makes perfect sense
And here come the players
Fm
As I speak to you now the captain
						Bb
Has his cross hairs zeroed in on the oil rig
It looks to me like he's going to attack
Fm
By the way did you know that a submarine
Captain earns 200,000 dollars a year
Bb
Oh that's less tax Marv yeah less tax
Uh thank you Emery you're welcome
Ab							Bbm Ebm/Bb Bbm Ebm/Bb
Now back to the game he fires one yes
There goes two both fish are running
C#
The rig is going into a prevent defense
			 Eb
Will they make it I don't think so
		Ab
Can't you see
It all makes perfect sense
Expressed in dollars and cents
				Eb
Pounds shillings and pence
C#
Can't you see
    C# C#    Ab/C Bbm Ab
It all makes perfect sense
C#
Can't you see
    C# C#    Ab/C Bbm Ab
It all makes perfect sense

THE BRAVERY OF BEING OUT OF RANGE
---------------------------------

D    A/D   G/D   D    
Dsus4    D   Dsus2    D     
Em  G   D      
Em  G   D

           D                     A/D
You have a natural tendency, to squeeze off a shot
        G/D                     D
You're good fun at parties, you wear the right masks
       Dsus4                      D
You're old, but you still like a laugh in the locker room
      Dsus2                                       D
You can't abide change, you're at home on the range
    D                         A/D
You opened the suitcase, behind the old workings
    G/D                      D
To show off the magnum, you deafened the canyon
  Dsus4             D                      Dsus2
A comfort a friend, only upstaged in the end

By the Uzi machine gun
         D
Does the recoil remind you...
              Em
Remind you of sex
                 G                    D
Old man what the hell you gonna kill next
Em        G                   D    
Old timer who you gonna kill next

(repeat chord pattern)

I looked over Jordan and what did I see
Saw a U.S. Marine in a pile of debris
I swam in your pools and lay under your palm trees
I looked in the eyes of the Indian
Who lay on the Federal Building steps

And through the range finder over the hill
I saw the frontline boys popping their pills
Sick of the mess they find
On their desert stage
And the bravery of being out of range
Yeah the question is vexed

Old man what the hell you gonna kill next
Old timer who you gonna kill next

Bridge
D     F/D     Em         A
G           F           A    
Bm      C      D
Ooh.............

Hey bartender, over here
Two more shots and two more beers
Sir, turn up the TV sound
The war has started on the ground 
Just love those laser guided bombs
They're really great for righting wrongs
You hit the target and win the game from bars
3,000 miles away
3,000 miles away

   Em                        G                        D               
We play the game    with the bravery of being out of range
We zap and maim     with the bravery of being out of range
We strafe the train with the bravery of being out of range
We gain terrain     with the bravery of being out of range
We play the game    with the bravery of being out of range

LATE HOME TONIGHT PART I
------------------------

D Gmaj7 
D Gmaj7 Gm6
D
Standing at the window
  Gmaj7
A farmer's wife in Oxfordshire
D   
Glances at the clock it's nearly time for tea
She doesn't see
	Gmaj7				 Gm6
The phantom in the hedgerow dip its wings
Doesn't hear the engine sing
Em7
But in the cockpit's techno glow
			A
Behind the Ray Ban(R) shine
Bdim
The kid from Cleveland
In the comfort of routine
		Gmaj7
Scans his dials and smiles
Bdim							Gmaj7
Secure in the beauty of military life
Em7
There is no right or wrong
Only tin cans and cordite and white cliffs
				D/A		  A7
And blue skies and flight flight flight
D/A
The beauty of military life
   A7									D
No questions only orders and flight only flight
Em7
What a beautiful sight in his wild blue dream
      A7
The eternal child leafs through his War magazine
And his kind Uncle Sam feeds ten trillion in
					D
Change into the total entertainment
Combat video game
Em7
And up here in the stands
The fans are goin' wild
     A7
The cheerleaders flip
When you wiggle your hip
And we all like the bit when you take
The jeans from the refrigerator and
				 D
Then the bad guy gets hit
					Em7
And were you struck by the satisfying
Way the swimsuit sticks to her skin
      A7
Like BB gun days
When knives pierce autumn leaves
But that's okay see the children bleed
A7aug
It'll look great on the TV

Bm7   Gmaj7 Gm6 
       D		Gmaj7
And in Tripoli another ordinary wife
Em7 
Stares at the dripping her old man hadn't
A7
Time to fix
Too busy mixing politics and rhythm
	  D6
In the street below

LATE HOME TONIGHT PART II
-------------------------
D
Hark the wire service sing 
Em7
Clear the satellite link 
Check the fax machine 
A7
Hold the lead story boys 
					  D
There's some great pictures coming in 
Now the pilot's heartbeat slows 
Em7
Palms dry out 
No questions only orders
	   A7 
And the F-1 glides in nose-up 
Through the cloudbase and the 
Ground crew cheers as he puts down 
     D
His landing gear
Bb               F               Eb    D7 
Hey boy you're a hero take this cigar 
G		   C
Back home in Cleveland
	   A 
All the papers and local TV stations 
				D
Will be calling your ma
	   Em7 
And the farmer's wife 
Shoos the cat off the chair
		A7 
She says sit down my dear 
Was the milking all right
							D 
Our American friends are late home tonight 

TOO MUCH ROPE
-------------

Gmaj7  G7  Gmaj7 G7  Gm7  Gm6  Gm7  Gm6 
G  G7  G6  Cmaj7 
Am7  Fmaj7  Dm6  G7 G  
C C7
When the sleigh is heavy, and the timberwolves are getting bold,
Am7
You look at your companions and test the water of their friendship
D
With your toe.
F C G/B Am
And they significantly edge closer to the gold...
F G
Each man has his price, Bob...and yours was pretty low.
C C7
Now history is short, the sun is just a minor star.
Am7 D
And the poor man sells his kidneys in some colonial bazaar
F C G/B Am
Que sera sera, is that your new Ferrari car?
F Am7 D
Nice... but I think I'll wait for the F-fifty
G G7
You don't have to be a Jew...to disapprove of murder
G6 Cmaj7
Tears burn my eyes;
Am7
Muslim or Christian, Mullah or Pope,
Em Dm6
Preacher or poet, who was it wrote, "Give any one species
G7 C
Too much rope and they'll fuck it up?
C C7
Last night on TV, a Vietnam vet took his beard and his pain
Am D
And his alienation of 20 years...back to Asia again.
F C G/B Am
Sees the monsters they made in formaldehyde floating 'round.
F
Meets a gook on a bike...a good enough guy,
Am7 D
With the same soldier's eyes.
G  G7  G6  Cmaj7 
Am7 Em
What does it mean, this tear-jerking scene beamed into my home?
Dm6
That it moves me so much, why all the fuss?
G C C7 C6 Fmaj7
It's only two humans being...it's only... two humans being;
Dm7 Am Gm
Tears burn in my eyes...what does it mean? This tender TV?
C C7
This tear-jerking scene beamed into my home?
F F7
And you don't have to be a Jew to disapprove of murder
F6 Bb Gm
Tears burn my eyes....Muslim or Christian, Mullah or Pope,
Dm
Preacher or poet, who was it wrote:
Cm6 F
"Give any one species too much rope and they'll fuck it up?”
Bb  Bb7  Gm7  Gm6  Eb  Bb F/A  Gm
Gm7  Gm6  Gm7  Gm6  Gm6  Eb/G Gm6  Eb/G

WHAT GOD WANTS PART II
----------------------

TV Evangelist:]"Do you believe in a better day? 
Do you have faith in a golden way? 
If you do, then we must come together this day 
Come together as one, united television audience 
Brought together by the sound of my voice 
United, united financially, united socially, 
United spiritually, and all possible ways 
Through the power of money 
And the power of prayers...." 
Gm
What God wants God gets God help us all 

God wants dollars 
God wants cents
God wants pounds, shillings, and pence 
God wants guilders 
God wants Kroner 
God wants Swiss francs 
God wants French francs 

(Oui il veut des francs francais) 

God wants escudos 
God wants pesetas 
Don't send lira 
God don't want small potatoes 
God wants small towns 
God wants pain 
God wants clean up rock campaigns 
God wants windows 
God wants solutions 
God wants TV 
God wants contributions 

What God wants God gets God help us all 

God wants silver 
God wants gold 
God wants his secret 
Never to be told 
God wants gigolos 
God wants giraffes 
God wants politics 
God wants a good laugh 

What God wants God gets God help us all 

God wants friendship 
God wants fame 
God wants credit 
God wants blame 
God wants poverty 
God wants wealth 
God wants insurance 
God wants to cover himself 

What God wants God gets God help us all 


WHAT GOD WANTS PART III
-----------------------
Em                         Csus4     C
Don't be afraid, it's only business
Em                Csus4    C
The alien prophet sighed
    F               F/E
The vulture and the magpie took
     F/Eb
The cash box from its hook
    Dsus4 
The monkey in the corner
          D
Wrote the figures in his book
Em                          Em/D
Crazed the checkout lady's fingers
Flash across the till
F                        C
And the captain posts the menu of the day
       Em
And in banks across the world
Christians, Moslems, Hindus, Jews
                Dm6          F
And every other race, creed, colour, tint or hue
                            C
Get down on their knees and pray
    F                 F/E
The raccoon and the groundhog neatly
F/Eb
Make up bags of change
        Dsus4
But the monkey in the corner
                 D
Well he's slowly drifting out of range
Gm Gm/F Ab/Eb Eb Gm Gm/F Ab/Eb Eb Ab Ab/G Ab/F# F#
Fsus4 F Bbm Ab Eb/F# F# Bbm Ab Eb/F# F# Eb Eb/Bb Eb/A A Absus4 Ab
             C# 
Christ, it's freezing inside
            C#/Eb
The veteran cries
      D/A
The hyenas break cover
     A
And stream through the meadow
        C#
And the fog rolls in
                 D#/D#
To his bottle of gin
      D/A
So he picks up a stone
                  A
That looks like a bone
        D
And the bullets fly
And the rivers run dry
        D/C#
And the fat girls sigh
                        D/C         C
And the network anchor persons lie
         Bsus4 
And the soldier's alone
In the video zone
        B
But the monkey's not watching
He's slipped out to the kitchen
To pile the dishes
               Em
And answer the phone

WATCHING TV
-----------

*D   **Ddim5  
(repeat as necessary)

                  G                Em7
We were watching TV,     Watching TV
                  G                Em7
We were watching TV,     Watching TV   

Cadd9     A7
Cadd9     A7
Cadd9     C/B     A7      D

                 G                     Em7
In Tiananmen Square,     Lost my baby there
           G                                   Em7    
My yellow rose,          In her bloodstained clothes
          Cadd9        A7                     
She was a short order pastry chef
     Cadd9                    A7
In a Dim Sum dive on the Yangtze tideway
        Cadd9        G/B
She had shiny hair
           A7                      D
She was the daughter of an engineer
                 G                      Em7
Won't you shed a tear,   For my yellow rose
            G                                Em7 
My yellow rose,          In her bloodstained clothes
        Cadd9                    A7      
She had perfect breasts, She had high hopes
        Cadd9                    A7
She had almond eyes,     She had yellow thighs
          C      C/B   A7      D  
She was a student of philosophy
                      G   G/f#    Em7
Won't you grieve with me, for my yellow rose,      
            G    G/f#   Em7                     D
Shed a tear,             For her bloodstained clothes
        G        G/f#            Em7
She had shiny hair,      She had perfect breasts
       Cadd9       C/B          A7          D
She had high hopes,      She had almond eyes
        G           G/f#
She had yellow thighs
            Em7                    D
She was the daughter of an engineer
                G                          C
So get out your pistols, Get out your stones
               G                           C
Get out your knives,     Cut them to the bone
             G        G/f#       Em7
They are the lackeys of the grocer's machine
               G                 C   
They built the dark satanic mills
         G                    C
That manufacture hell on earth
                G        G/f#        Em7 
They bought the front row seats on Calvary
         C                D
They are irrelevant to me

     **D              **Ddim5    
And I grieve for my sister

People of China
Do not forget do not forget
The children who died for you
Long live the Republic
Did we do anything after this
I've a feeling we did
    
                  G                Em7
We were watching TV,     Watching TV
                  G                Em7
We were watching TV,     Watching TV
           Cadd9                      A7                    
She wore a white bandanna that said 'Freedom now'
               Cadd9
She thought the Great Wall of China
        A7
Would come tumbling down
G               G/f#
She was a student
     Em7               D
Her father was an engineer
                  G                     Em7      
Won't you shed a tear,   For my yellow rose
            G                                  Em7
My yellow rose,          In her bloodstained clothes
    Cadd9               A7
Her grandpa fought old Chiang Kai-shek
    Cadd9               A7
That no-good low-down dirty rat
    C                 C/B
Who used to order his troops
    A7                   D
To fire on the women and children

Imagine that imagine that
  G                    Em7
And in the spring of '48
  G                       Em7
Mao Tse-tung got quite irate
  G               G/f#         Em7
And he kicked that old dictator Chiang
           D
Out of the state of China
  G                           Em7
Chiang Kai-shek came down in Formosa
G                             A7
And they armed the island of Quemoy
        G
And the shells were flying across the China Sea
         Em7                   C           C/B    A7    D
And they turned Formosa into a shoe factory called Taiwan
           G                   Cadd9   
And she is different from Cro-Magnon man
      G               Cadd9
She's different from Anne Boleyn
       G         G/f#        Em7
She is different from the Rosenbergs
     D
And from the unknown Jew
G                        Cadd9          G        
She is different from the unknown Nicaraguan
Cadd9          G           G/f#     
Half superstar half victim
        Em7           Cadd9         D
She's a victor star conceptually new
G                             Cadd9
And she is different from the Dodo
G                    Cadd9 
And from the Kankanbono
G                G/f#        Em7
She is different from the Aztec
     D
And from the Cherokee
  G               Cadd9
She's everybody's sister
 G                       Cadd9
She's symbolic of our failure
     G          G/f#       Em7     
She's the one in fifty million
        Cadd9              D
Who can help us to be free
                      G
Because she died on TV


THREE WISHES
------------

Cm   Eb/F  Ab Ab/Bb Cm
Cm   Eb/F  Ab Ab/Bb Cm  (Repeat Trough lyric until change)

Reached back for the bottle
And rubbed against the lamp
Genie came out smiling
Like some Eastern tramp
He said, hey boy what's happening
What is going on
You can have three wishes
If you don't take too long
If you don't take too long

I said well
I wish they were all happy in the Lebanon
Wish somebody'd help me write this song
And I wish when I was young
My old man had not been gone
Genie said consider it done
        Eb
There's something in the air
        Bb
And you don't know what it is
        Eb
You see someone through the window
         Bb
Who you've just learned to miss
A      Ab
And the road leads on to glory but
    Eb                   
You used up your last wish
          Bb
Your last wish

And you want her to come home
                Cm
Bring her home

Genie said I'm sorry
That's the way it goes
Where the hell's the lamp sucker
It's time for me to go
Bye
Cm   Eb/F  Ab Ab/Bb Cm
Cm   Eb/F  Ab Ab/Bb Cm
Cm   Eb/F  Ab Ab/Bb Cm
Cm   Eb/F  Ab Ab/Bb Cm

        Eb
There's something in the air
        Bb
And you don't know what it is
        Eb
You see someone through the window
         Bb
Who you've just learned to miss
A      Ab
And the road leads on to glory but
    Eb                   
You used up your last wish
          Bb
Your last wish

And you want her to come home



ITS A MIRRICAL
--------------

   Bm                            F#m
Miraculous you call it babe, you ain't seen nothing yet.
         Em                             F#m
They got Pepsi in the Andes, they got McDonalds in Tibet.
Bm                                       F#m
Yosemite's been turned into a golf course for the Japs,
    Em            F#m
The Dead Sea is alive with rap.
            Bm                              F#m
Between the Tigris and Euphrates, there's a leisure centre now
         Em                                               F#m
They got all kinds of sports, they got Bermuda shorts
          Bm                       F#m
They had sex in Pennsylvania, a Brazilian grew a tree
   Em                          F#m
A doctor in Manhattan, saved a dying man for free
       Bm
It's a miracle
       F#m
It's a miracle
       D
It's a miracle
        F#
Another miracle
       G
By the grace of God Almighty

And the pressures of the marketplace
    Em             Em6           F#
The human race has civilized itself
       Bm            F#m         Em
It's a miracle
F#sus4    F#  Bm         F#m        Em
F#sus4    

Verse 2
(continue chord pattern)
We got warehouses of butter, we got oceans of wine.
We got famine when we need it, we got designer crime.
We got Mercedes, we got Porsche, Ferrari and Rolls Royce,
Yeah, we got choice.
She said meet me in the Garden of Gethsemene my dear,
The Lord said Peter I can see your house from here.
An honest man finally reaped what he had sown.
And a farmer in Ohio has just repaid a loan.
It's a miracle
It's a miracle
It's a miracle
It's a miracle
Another miracle

       G
By the grace of God Almighty and the pressures of the marketplace
    Em            Em6            F#
The human race has civilized itself
       Bm         F#m         Em          F#sus4   F#     
It's a miracle

Verse 3
We cower in our shelters
With our hands over our ears
Lloyd-Webber's awful stuff
Runs for years and years and years and years
An earthquake hits the theatre
But the operetta lingers
Then the piano lid comes down
and breaks his fucking fingers
It's a miracle.


AMUSED TO DEATH
---------------

Bm         		A          G        Em
Doctor Doctor what is wrong with me
Bm			A          G        Em
This supermarket life is getting long
Bm			A	G        Em
What is the heart life of a colour TV		
Bm		        A		G        Em  C
What is the shelf life of a teenage queen

D   Dsus2  D G
Ooh Western woman
D   Dsus2  D G
Ooh Western girl

Bm
New hounds sniff the air
	     A           G		Em
When Jessica Hahn goes down
Bm					  A  G  Em			
He latches onto that symbol of detachment
Bm             A      G			Em
attracted by the peeling away of feeling
Bm                A     G			  Em  C
The celebrity of the abused shell the belle

D     Dsus2 D G
Ooh Western woman
D    Dsus2  D   G
Ooh Western girl

D    Dsus2  D G
Ooh Western woman
D    Dsus2  D   G
Ooh Western girl

D
And the children of Melrose 
D  Dsus2
Strut their stuff
  G
Is absolute zero cold enough
D		        Dsus2  D
And out in the valley warm and clean
   G
The little ones sit by their TV screens
D	        Dsus2  D
No thoughts to think
G
No tears to cry
G     A	   Bm
All sucked dry
	        A         G	
Down to the very last breath
Em		    A 
Bartender what is wrong with me?
Em		       A	
Why am I so out of breath?
Em		    A
The captain said excuse me ma'am
Em		      A
This species has amused itself to death

(intro notes comes in full force)

D        Dsus2  D   G	
Amused itself to death
D        Dsus2  D   G
Amused itself to death
D	        Dsus2    D       G
We watched the tragedy unfold

We did as we were told
	D
We bought and sold
	       Dsus2   D      G
It was the greatest show on earth

But then it was over
D
we ohhed and aahed
	         Dsus2   D
we drove our racing cars
G
We ate our last few jars of cavier
D
And somewhere out there in the stars
    Dsus2       D
A keen-eyed look-out
G
Spied a flickering light
             D
Our last hurrah
             G
Our last hurrah

Em			          A
And when they found our shadows
Em			    A
Grouped around the TV sets
Em			A
They ran down every lead
Em			A
They repeated every test
Bm			            G 
They checked out all the data on their lists
          Bm
And then the alien anthropologists
G		      Em	     
Admitted they were still perplexed
D					         
But on eliminating every other reason
Dsus2  D   G
For our sad demise
D                      Dsus2  D    G
They logged the explanation left
G		         Bm
This species has amused itself to death

Bm   A   G   Em	       
Bm   A   G   Em
repeat and fade
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