| D | D | D | D |
| D |
[Verse 1]
A Bm7 G
I am not a crutch, although my knees are rife with woodworm
G A Bm7 G
And the mealworms I misheard for lunch are rotting in my guts
G A Bm7 G
With a childhood of fingernails that ripped my throat to shreds
G A Bm7 G G
A walk that chimes like church bells from all these loose joints in my legs
Em7
These three lions that were sitting on my chest
D/F#
Are clawing hard into my skin as I am gasping for my breath
G
And as they each play noughts and crosses on the scratches they have left
D/F#
I have to screw up both my eyes as it goes into sudden death
Em7
They whisper, "Really all these noughts are circles holed, bereft
D/F#
And all these crosses, crucifixes spreading guilt and sense of dread"
G
And as we stumbled homeward up the hill to where you used to live
D/F#
The cold makes ice upon our cheeks from all the tears that we have shed
[Pre-Chorus]
Em7
These things rattle 'round my head
Em7
If he hasn't blown the whistle then it isn't quite the end
[Chorus]
G Em7
Every defeat a divorce
G D
Although I look surprised, it's par for the course, I guess
G Em7
Every defeat a divorce
G D
Although I look surprised, it's par for the course, I guess
Em7 D/F#
And I don't really know now what I thought I knew then
G D/F#
You can lead a horse to water, but it won't drown itself
[Instrumental]
| D C | Bm |
| D C | Bm |
[Verse 2]
A Bm7 G
This one family photograph always floats to the top
A Bm7 G
Like a beaming, bloated corpse, though having been made up
A Bm7 G
My memories are sepia, but the photograph is not
A Bm7 G
An historian is fucking with them, as deadly as garrotte
Em7
Where they're standing in the kitchen with his arms around her waist
D/F#
With no idea of what's to come and with a smile across your face
G
And all the fittings are the same but every other thing has changed
D/F#
Must forget everything you know as though your mouth and tongue estranged
Em7
Small comforts found in ABBA Gold and electronic chess
D/F#
When West Clewes was my Waterloo, my most dramatic test
G
Now I've been walking down the shortcuts and the alleys in the dark
D/F#
Because I'm not scared of the shadows, they're no blacker than my heart
[Pre-Chorus]
Em7
These things rattle 'round my head
Em7
If he hasn't blown the whistle then it isn't quite the end
[Chorus]
G Em7
Every defeat a divorce
G D
Although I look surprised, it's par for the course, I guess
G Em7
Every defeat a divorce
G D
Although I look surprised, it's par for the course, I guess
G D
But how could I ever refuse?
G D
I feel like I lose when I lose
Em7 D/F#
And I don't even know now what I thought I knew then
G D/F#
You can lead a horse to water, but it won't drown itself
[Outro]
| D C | Bm |
| D C | Bm |
| D C | Bm |
| D C | Bm | D | D |
