Intro
G#
[Verse 1]
G# F#
Well they crowned me with thorns on the day I was born
C# G#
By the light of a cold television
G# F#
And I remember the bars on his uniform
C# G#
As he marched from the field of vision
G# F# C# G#
[Verse 2]
G# F#
When he didn't come home, it was just us alone
C# G#
The brat and the widowed civilian
G# F#
Then one April night after Ma took her life
C# G#
I fell down the street to oblivion
[Chorus 1]
F# C# G#
And I took what the dumpsters were giving
F# C# G#
And I did my best to survive
F# C# G#
'Cause I figured that life's for the living
D#
While you're alive
G#
While you're alive
[Verse 3]
G# F#
Bring out the gin and the small violins
C# G#
I'm a raging success as a failure
G# F#
And it's colder than hell in this cardboard hotel
C# G#
Which I share with a chronic embezzler
[Verse 4]
G# F#
So I beat my retreat down Collister Street
C# G#
To one of my holy places
G# F#
And they tangled my wings with wire and string
C# G#
But I'm spinning in a whirlpool of faces
[Chorus 2]
F# C# G#
And I'll take what the dumpsters are giving
F# C# G#
And I'll do my best to survive
F# C# G#
'Cause I still think that life's for the living
F# C# Fb C#
Yes I still think that life's for the li---ving
[Instrumental Build]
Fb F# G#
[Singing comes back in]
G# F# C# G# [x4]
[Chorus 3]
F# C# G#
And I'll take what the dumpsters are giving
F# C# G#
And I'll pray every night to St. Giles
F# C# G#
But I still think that life's for the living
D#
At least for a while
G#
At least for a while
[Outro]
G# F# C#
End on D