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A Hand to Take Hold of the Scene - Okkervil River
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Tabbed by: A. Maheu
Tuning: Standard
/ / = 1 measure
/ Ebm /... / = 2 measures of Ebm
*Intro*
/Ebm / ... / ... / ...
*Verse 1*
/Ebm / ... /Db / ...
I'm a band in a show about a man holding hands with his wife
/Ebm / ... / ...
on a therapist's couch, with his face to the ground (after fucking around
/Db / ...
countless nights)
/B / ... /Db / ...
and, in this one episode, close-up cameras are showing him crying,
/Abm /B /Db
his red head and his red eyes.
*Verse 2*
/Ebm / ... /Db / ...
I'm a band in a show about a boy being buried alive,
/Ebm / ... / ...
from his head to his toes, by a criminal (but with a sensitive soul!) with
/Db / ...
a set of raccoon eyes,
/B / ...
and there's this scene in the show when a hustler knows
/Db / ...
he's gonna die.
/Abm /B /Db
The ground opens and he climbs inside.
*Chorus*
/Gb /Db /Abm
And as he speaks his last line, a thought falls from his mind and I pick it
/B /Db / ...
up right through the TV:
/Abm / ... /B /... /Db
Oh oh Is there a hand to take hold of the scene?
*Post-Chorus*
/Gb / ... /Abm / ... /Db / ... /B / ...
*Verse 3*
/Ebm / ... /Db / ...
I'm a man in a dream and there, dancing in front of my eyes,
/Ebm / ... / ...
is a queen - formed out of flaws, with her eyes all gone odd and a rod
/Db / ...
bolted into her spine.
/B / ... / ...
She rises up like a yawn. She grips my heart like a claw. She splits apart
/Db / ...
like a jaw, like an eye.
/Abm /B /Db
And she asks me with a sigh,
*Chorus*
/Gb /Db /Abm
When we're so far from right, when we're losing the fight, when we're
/B /Db / ...
letting the light weaken its beam -
/Abm / ... /B /... /Db
Oh oh Is there a hand to take hold of the scene?
*Post-Chorus*
/Gb / ... /Abm / ... /Db / ... /B / ...
/Gb / ... /Abm / ... /
I want a smile like a glistening shard. I want a kiss that's as sharp as a
Db / ... /B / ...
knife. The day expires, and the
/Gb / ... /Abm / ... /Db / ...
dry, cracked, trembling lips God saw fit to put this kiss inside, I
/B /Gb
lift them up to you.
/Abm /Db
I'd like to bear witness to a
*Verse 4*
/Ebm / ... /Db / ...
light that is fine and is filling the cryingest eyes,
/Ebm / ...
grace in each face that is making the wastedest,
/ ... /Db / ...
brokenest ones fairly fly,
/B / ... /Db /...
love that is innocent of that old cynical, covetous, cancerous vibe,
/Abm /B /Db
and a beauty that annihilates all
*Chorus*
/Gb /Db /Abm
life like it's lived in these nights, holding your hatred tight like a sign
/B
that you're right or you're strong.
/Gb /Db /Abm
When your doors are shut tight, I will dream you tonight, and my dream will
/B
just sweep you along.
/Gb /Db /Abm
When all fires are fanned, when we're shucking our plans, when we're too
/B /Db / ...
weak to stand on our two feet
/Abm / ... /B /... /Db
Oh oh Is there a hand to take hold of the scene?
/B / ... / ... / ... / ... / ... /
Ends on a B
