Intro:
B Bb A E
E F#m G# F#m
Verse I
B F# A E*
You climb six lonely sad stairs to your apartment
E F#m G# F#m
After another graveyard shift in the cold dull light of morning.
B Bb G# F#m
You walked in just in time to catch her as she's leaving
E F#m G# F#
But the schedules and the conflicts kept the roof over our heads.
Pre-Chorus
E F#m
You said you were strong and naive and
B F# E*
If you were scared, well, I would understand.
B F#m
I don't think I would have had the guts to handle it.
B F#m E F#m
All we had were hand-me-downs.
B F#m E F#m
And all we had was good will
G# A E*
And you always said it would get better.
B F#m
"When you're young and you're poor, they hang on your failures."
G# A E*
And you always said it would get better.
Post-Chorus
B Bb A E
E F#m G# F#m
Verse II
B F#m G# F#m
We bought our first house at the advent of the 90s
E F#m G# F#m
A Cape Cod on a busy street that we swore we'd fix eventually.
B F#m G# F#m
Winter of '93, we got by with kerosene
E F#m G# F#m E
A heater in the living room, we huddled around shivering and me
F#m B
Trying to get to sleep.
F# E*
My clothes will smell of smoke for weeks.
B
Just trying to get to sleep.
B
To sleep,
F#m
To sleep...
B F#m E F#m
All we had were hand-me-downs.
B F#m E F#m
And all we had was good will
G# A E*
And you always said it would get better.
B F#m
"When you're young and you're poor, they hang on your failures."
G# A E
And you always said it would get better.
B F#
I'm sick of seeing ghosts. I won't be here forever.
Bridge
E* F#
My mother wore a sundress on the day that she got married.
E* F#
They held the wedding in a backyard near the city.
E*
I was just one then, I would never remember it
F# E*
But I heard the voices and implications
G# F#m
Telling me who I could never be.
Break
B F# E* B
All we had were hand-me-downs.
E* B F# B F#
And all we had was good will.
B F#m E F#m
All we had were hand-me-downs.
B F#m E F#m
And all we had was good will
G# A E*
And you always said it would get better.
B F#m
"When you're young and you're poor, they hang on your failures."
G# A B E* F#
And you always said it would get better.