Car Seat Headrest - The Ballad of the Costa Concordia
Transcribed for solo guitar by Ali Saeed.
The entire song is in 4/4 common time.
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CHORDS
E-A-D-G-B-e
D5/A x-0-0-2-3-x
Dm7/A x-0-0-5-6-0
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[INTRO]
| C F F C | C Em Em Am | Am Em Em Am | Am G G C | x2
[VERSE 1]
C F F C | C
I used to like the mornings
Em Em Am | Am
I’d survived another night
Em Em Am | Am
I’d walk to breakfast through the garden See the flowers
G G C | C
stretching in the sunlight
F F C | C
Now I wake up in the mornings And all the kindness
Em Em Am | Am
is drained out of me
Em Em | Am
I spend hours just wincing And trying
G
to regain some sense of peace
[CHORUS]
F C D
If only I could sustain my anger
Dm C G
Feel it grow stronger and stronger
F C D
It sharpens to a point and sheds my skin
Dm C
Shakes off the weight of my sins
G F
And takes me to heaven
[VERSE 2]
C F F C | C
I stay up late every night
Em Em Am | Am
Out of some general protest But with no
Em Em Am | Am
one to tell you to come to bed
G G C | C
It’s not really a contest
F F C | C
And maybe you think I’ll learn
Em Em Am | Am
from my mistake
Em Em | Am
But not this time
G
It’s just gonna break me
[CHORUS]
F C D
If only I could sustain my anger
Dm C G
Feel it grow stronger and stronger
F C D
It sharpens to a point and sheds my skin
Dm C
Shakes off the weight of my sins
G F
And takes me to heaven
[BRIDGE]
C F F C | C
And if I’ve lost you for good Could it have been
Em Em Am | Am
any other way? Was the water
Em Em Am | Am
filling up for years Or did I
G G C | C
wreck it all in a day?
F F C | C
I’m going to bed now I’ve sunk
Em Em Am | Am
into my sorrows And it’ll take
Em Em Am | Am
three hundred million dollars To get
| D | Dm | C G
me up tomorrow -oh
D5/A | Dm7/A | C G
Oh
F C
I won’t go down with this shit
Dm Am
I will put my hands up and surrender
F C
There will be no more flags above my door
G Dm
I have lost, and always will be
[BREAKDOWN]
|: F Am F C | G :| x16
It was an expensive mistake
It was an expensive mistake
My horse broke his back to get me here
I have his blood on my hands for no reason
But what was I supposed to do?
How was I supposed to know how to use a tube amp?
How was I supposed to know how to drive a van?
How was I supposed to know how to ride a bike without hurting myself?
How was I supposed to know how to make dinner for myself?
How was I supposed to know how to hold a job?
How was I supposed to remember to grab my backpack after I set it down to play basketball?
How was I supposed to know how to not get drunk every
Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and — why not — Sunday?
How was I supposed to know how steer this ship?
How the hell was I supposed to steer this ship?
It was an expensive mistake
You can’t say you’re sorry and it’s over
I was given a body that is falling apart
My house is falling apart
And I was given a mind that can't control itself
And I was given a ship that can't steer itself
And what about the pain I’m in right now?
And what about a vacation?
And what about a vacation to feel good?
My horse broke his back and left me here
How was I supposed to know?
And God won’t forgive me
And you won’t forgive me
Not unless I open up my heart
And how am I supposed to do that
When I go to this same room every night
And sleep in the same bed every night?
The same fucking bed
Red comforter with the white stripes
And the yellow ceiling light makes me feel like I’m dying
This sea is too familiar
How many nights have I drowned here?
How many times have I drowned?
[CHORUS]
|: F F Am Am F F C C | G :| x2
I give up
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CHORDS for VERSE 3 & VERSE 4
E-A-D-G-B-e
Asus2/E 0-0-2-2-0-0
Dsus2/E 0-0-0-2-3-0
Aadd9 x-0-7-6-0-0
Dmin x-0-7-7-6-x
D 5-5-7-7-7-x
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[VERSE 3]
|: Em Asus2/E Dsus2/E Asus2/E :| x2 (pianissimo, palm-muted)
|: Em Asus2/E Dsus2/E Asus2/E :| x8 (fortissimo)
e|----------------------------------|----------------------------------|
B|----------------------------------|----------------------------------|
G|----------------------------------|----------------------------------|
D|----------------------------------|-------------------<5>-<7>-<5>-<7>|
A|----------------------------------|----------------------------------|
E|-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5--|-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5--|
P.M.-----------------------------------------------------------------|
e|:----------------------------------:|
B|:----------------------------------:|
G|:----------------------------------:|
D|:---<5>-<7>-<5>-<7>-<5>-<7>-<5>-<7>:| x2
A|:----------------------------------:|
E|:-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5--:|
P.M.------------------------------|
Aadd9
Let us take you back to where we came in
Dmin
We were united, an undivided nation
D G
We got divided, it was something inside us
A A
And it was not us
Aadd9 Dmin
We were so naive, we were just like animals
D
Told what to believe by the beasts who took control
G A A
We wanted control too, but that was normal
Aadd9
Cause our life was one of survival
Dmin
The decisions we've made, if you can call it deciding
D G A A
With your life on the line, it'd be social suicide to change your mind
Aadd9
So we got mad and we split the scene
Dmin
Now we download all of our shit for free
D G A A
It's the new economy, we have nothing to offer and we sleep on trash
[CHORUS]
|: D5/A D5/A A A | D5/A D5/A C# C# | E | G :| x2
I give up
[VERSE 4]
Aadd9
Let us take you back to where you came in
Dmin D
A man clinging to the cliff of revelation
G
So scared of what he would find, he started crying
A A
"It was not me"
Aadd9
Stopped at the borderline they stripped his disguise
Dmin
So he read a book that won a Pulitzer prize
D
It was about death
G
It didn't help
A A
He saw himself in it
Aadd9
And he was disturbed at the conclusions it led to
Dmin
But he couldn't say what because the author was dead too
D G A A
And so though he made fun of us, he has now become one of us
[CHORUS]
|: D5/A D5/A A A | D5/A D5/A C# C# | E | G :| x4
I give up
|: A | % | % | G | % | F#min | % | F G :| x2
|: A | % | % | G | % | F#min | % | F G :| x3 | A |
I give up
[OUTRO]
A
e|------5-----------5------------5-----------5-----|
B|---5-----5-----5-----5------5-----5-----5-----5--|
G|-------------------------------------------------|
D|7-----------7------------7-----------7-----------|
A|-------------------------------------------------|
E|-------------------------------------------------|
Asus4
e|------5-----------5------------5-----------5-----|
B|-------------------------------------------------|
G|---7-----7-----7-----7------7-----7-----7-----7--|
D|7-----------7------------7-----------7-----------|
A|-------------------------------------------------|
E|-------------------------------------------------|
Aadd9
e|------7-----------7------------7-----------7-----|
B|---5-----5-----5-----5------5-----5-----5-----5--|
G|6-----------6------------6-----------6-----------|
D|-------------------------------------------------|
A|-------------------------------------------------|
E|-------------------------------------------------|
Gadd9 Asus4
e|------5-----------5------------5-----------5-----|
B|---3-----3-----3-----3---------------------------|
G|4-----------4---------------7-----7-----7-----7--|
D|-------------------------7-----------7-----------|
A|-------------------------------------------------|
E|-------------------------------------------------|
A
e|------5-----------5------------5-----------5--7--|
B|---5-----5-----5-----5------5-----5-----5--------|
G|-------------------------------------------------|
D|7-----------7------------7-----------7-----------|
A|-------------------------------------------------|
E|-------------------------------------------------|
And you wake up trembling
Asus4
e|------5-----------5------------5-----------5--7--|
B|-------------------------------------------------|
G|---7-----7-----7-----7------7-----7-----7--------|
D|7-----------7------------7-----------7-----------|
A|-------------------------------------------------|
E|-------------------------------------------------|
From a dream where I swam into the
Aadd9
e|------7-----------7------------7-----------7--9--|
B|---5-----5-----5-----5------5-----5-----5--------|
G|6-----------6------------6-----------6-----------|
D|-------------------------------------------------|
A|-------------------------------------------------|
E|-------------------------------------------------|
river I reach out and hold you in my
Gadd9 Aadd9 E5 D6
e|------5~----------7------------7-----------7~----|
B|---3~----------5-----5------5-----5--------7~----|
G|4~----------6------------4--------------7--------|
D|-------------------------------------7-----------|
A|-------------------------------------------------|
E|-------------------------------------------------|
arms I love you, I love you, I love you
***********************************
| N.C. No chord
| % Repeat the previous measure
| ~ Vibrato
| <> Harmonic
***********************************
