Intro (starting at :31 with the piano):

D5 A5 (x2)

D5                                                                A5
So we start with my father as a boy barely spoke a word of english fell in

                                                               D5
love from a distance he watched her working from the back fence

He learned some words and some clever turns of phrase from his father's

             A5                                 E5
book of poets, she wasn't taken in that instant, but grew impressed with

his persistence.

D5                                   E5                         A5
They met each other out by moonlight, made love in the nearby woods, then

                            C#5                                  D5
her folks became suspicious when her cycle broke and (?). They stole

                           E5                          A5
away without their goodbyes, got married in a foreign town, made their way

                      C#5                     D5                        
 E5
as best as they could. Found jobs and settled down. And then time moved on.

Interlude:

D5 A5 (x2)

D5                                                            A5
I was born in a river of blood on sheets from the wedding day. The room was dark and the 
stench was thick my father couldn't stand the smell of it.

D5
Mama died in the night cause the nearest doctor couldn't stem the blood

      A5                                   E5
loss. Father cried out on the back porch. My sister held me at the

                  D5                           E5
neighbor's house. Oh my there was a storm then, there was a flood of a

          A5                                      C#5
different kind. Father's eyes were often vacant, but his hands were rarely

D5                                          E5
quiet. Sister learned to take her hits well, both from life and the

         A5                                    C#5
physical kind, but I was never one to lie down, despite who picked the

D5                         E5
fight. So we designed our hells.

Interlude:

A5 D5 E5 (x2)

D5                            E5                             A5
Father turned into a drinker, a dark bastard with a wooden heart. Sister

                      C#5                                    D5
learned to be a mother, before she ever played another part. And I became a

              E5                           A5
little terror, I lashed out at whatever's around. Took some time before I

C#5                                       D5                         E5
settled, to find a mind that was somewhat sound. And like it always does,

            A5            D5       E5
time rushed on.

A5                                                     D5
Six years later father died in the very same bedroom. Many said it was the

                  E5                                         A5
grief that did it, I have to say it's cause he hung himself. To be honest

                                                       D5
neither sister nor myself ever much regret his passing. But I admit it was

             E5                                             A5
a nice thing, to always know that we could feed ourselves.

-Ben Malley