• Song:

    Away When You Were Here

  • Artist:

    Ben Folds Five

Standard Tuning, Capo 1

Most chord changes align to the up-beat.

Verse 1:
A                   E4        E
Dad I know you were sad when you died 

          A              D              A     E
And I was young it's the way I kept you in my mind 

    A                         E4  E
The mess that was left and my mother cried 

                   A          D               A      E
And when she stood up she was nobody's mother I'd be fine 

Chorus 1:
      D          A
But I missed you then 

      D        A
And I miss you now 

            F#m           A       E
Liked you'd missed things I might say 

             D       A
You're still lost in clouds 

        D     A
But I'm older now 

      F#m         A       E
I can see through lifting haze 

     Bm                               A    E    D
That you were away even when you were here 

Verse 2:
A                       E4         E
Sometimes a phrase or a manner that's you 

              A                D
Comes through me, it goes in a flash 

                     A          E
It's a frame, it's a blink like life 

       A                      E4       E
Oh and how much now should we pay for the past 

                A        D                    A     E
Cause you could age with grace if I freed you in my mind 

Chorus 2:
      D         A
But I loved you then 

      D        A
And I love you now 

        F#m      A          E
All the things I wished I'd asked 

     D           A
When I'm lost in clouds 

    D      A
I remember how 

      F#m        A     E
I was robbed and I was blessed 

    Bm                               Bm
And you were away even when you were here 

Bridge:
                     F#m      E       Bm
Cause it's not about you, not you, anymore 

                    F#m        E
It's about what I'd do with it all 

    C#7                   D      A     D    A   F#m   A   E
And I, I'll never let you let me down 

Break:
D A D A F#m A E

Outro:
     A                    E4      E
This morning I wake to be older than you were 

           A         D                     A       E
fresh like snow, for miles, every footstep will be mine 

           D         A                  D       A
You'd have lost that weight, you'd have gone so straight 

           F#m     A       E
You'd have made my wedding day 

           D        A               D        A
You'd have saved my youth from that point of truth 

           F#m        A         E
You'd have kept those wolves at bay 

    Bm                                D             A
But you were away, you were away even when you were here
Show more