Okkervil River - A Hand To Take Hold Of The Scene

I've lost where I got this from. Transposed up a few semitones, too.


*Verse 1*


/Gm / ... /F / ...
I'm a band in a show about a man holding hands with his wife

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

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

/Cm /D# /F
his red head and his red eyes.




*Verse 2*


/Gm / ... /F / ...
I'm a band in a show about a boy being buried alive,

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

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

/Cm /D# /F
The ground opens and he climbs inside.




*Chorus*


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

/Cm / ... /D# /... /F
Oh oh Is there a hand to take hold of the scene?




*Post-Chorus*


/A# / ... /Cm / ... /F / ... /D# / ...




*Verse 3*

/Gm / ... /F / ...
I'm a man in a dream and there, dancing in front of my eyes,

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

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

/Cm /D# /F
And she asks me with a sigh,




*Chorus*


/A# /F /Cm
When we're so far from right, when we're losing the fight, when we're
/D# /F / ...
letting the light weaken its beam -

/Cm / ... /D# /... /F
Oh oh Is there a hand to take hold of the scene?




*Post-Chorus*


/A# / ... /Cm / ... /F / ... /D# / ...


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

/A# / ... /Cm / ... /F / ...
dry, cracked, trembling lips God saw fit to put this kiss inside, I
/D# /A#
lift them up to you.

/Cm /F
I'd like to bear witness to a




*Verse 4*


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

/D# / ... /F /...
love that is innocent of that old cynical, covetous, cancerous vibe,

/Cm /D# /F
and a beauty that annihilates all




*Chorus*


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


/A# /F /Cm
When your doors are shut tight, I will dream you tonight, and my dream will
/D#
just sweep you along.


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


/Cm / ... /D# /... /F
Oh oh Is there a hand to take hold of the scene?



A# F / ... A# F / ... A# F / ... A#