We Americans chords by The Avett Brothers

Chords with lyrics

• Capo on 5th

Tuning: Standard (E MajorE A augmentedA D MajorD G+G BB E MajorE)

Difficulty: Novice

Intro:

C majorC G+G C majorC
C G+G FF
C majorC G+G FF


Verse 1:

 G+G               C majorC
I grew up with reverence for the red, white, and blue
     FF        G+G           C majorC
Spoke of God and liberty, reciting the pledge of allegiance
    G+G            C majorC
Learned love of country from my own family
   FF          G+G             C majorC
Some shivered and prayed approaching the beaches of Normandy
  G+G             C majorC
The flag waves high and that's how it should be
  FF          G+G          C majorC
So many lives given and taken in the name of freedom
    G+G            C majorC
But the story's complicated and hard to read
FF         G+G               C majorC   G+G
Pages of the book obscured or torn out completely

Chorus:

    C majorC   G+G   C majorC
I am a son of uncle Sam
   C majorC  G+G    FF       C majorC  G+G  FF
And I struggle to understand the good and evil
    C majorC     G+G   C majorC
But I'm doing the best I can
   C majorC   G+G    FF        C majorC G+G  FF
In a place built on stolen land with stolen people


Post-Chorus:
C majorC             G+G
Blood in the soil with the cotton and tobacco
G+G             C majorC
Blood in the soil with the cotton and tobacco
FF             G+G          FF
Blood in the soil with the cotton and tobacco

Verse 2:

 G+G           C majorC
A augmentedA misnamed people and a kidnapped race
FF            G+G             C majorC
Laws may change, but we can't erase the scars of a nation
  G+G           C majorC
Of children devalued and disavowed
FF             G+G           C majorC
Displaced by greed and the arrogance of manifest destiny
G+G               C majorC
Short-sighted to say it was a long time ago
  FF            G+G            C majorC
Not even two life times have passed since the days of Lincoln
  G+G              FF
The sins of Andrew Jackson, the shame of Jim Crow
  FF            G+G          C majorC      G+G
And time moves slow when the tragedies are beyond description


Chorus:

    C majorC   G+G   C majorC
I am a son of uncle Sam
   C majorC  G+G    FF       C majorC  G+G  FF
And I struggle to understand the good and evil
    C majorC     G+G   C majorC
But I'm doing the best I can
   C majorC   G+G    FF        C majorC G+G  FF
In a place built on stolen land with stolen people
    A minorAm  G+G    C majorC     FF
We are more than the sum of our parts
     A minorAm   G+G     C majorC   FF
All these broken homes and broken hearts
       A minorAm  G+G C majorC      FF
God, will you keep us wherever we go?
      A minorAm  G+G   C majorC      FF
Will you forgive us for where we've been?
  G+G
We Americans


Post-Chorus:
C majorC              G+G
Blood on the table with the coffee and the sugar
G+G              C majorC
Blood on the table with the coffee and the sugar
FF              G+G           FF
Blood on the table with the coffee and the sugar


Verse 3:
   G+G            C majorC
I've been to every state and seen shore to shore
  FF            G+G
The still open wounds of the Civil War
G+G          C majorC
Watched blind hatred bounce back and forth
FF          G+G             C majorC
Seen vile prejudice both in the south and the north
  G+G         C majorC
And accountability is hard to impose
  FF          G+G             C majorC
On ghosts of ancestors haunting the halls of our conscience
    G+G           C majorC
But the path of grace and goodwill is still here
  FF           G+G          C majorC    C majorC C/BC/B A minorAm G+G
For those of us who may be considered among the living


Chorus:
    C majorC   G+G    C majorC
I am a son of God and man
   C majorC  G+G   FF       C majorC  G+G  FF
And I may never understand the good and evil
   C majorC   G+G     C majorC
But I dearly love this land
C majorC    G+G FF        C majorC G+G  FF
Because of and in spite of We The People
    A minorAm  G+G    C majorC     FF
We are more than the sum of our parts
     A minorAm   G+G     C majorC   FF
All these broken bones and broken hearts
       A minorAm  G+G C majorC      FF
God, will you keep us wherever we go?
      A minorAm  G+G   C majorC      FF
Can you forgive us for where we've been?
  G+G     FF
We Americans
  G+G
We Americans


Post-Chorus:
C majorC              G+G
Love in our hearts with the pain and the memory
G+G              C majorC
Love in our hearts with the pain and the memory
FF              C majorC
Love in our hearts with the pain and the memory
G+G
Love
C majorC              G+G
Love in our hearts with the pain and the memory
G+G              C majorC
Love in our hearts with the pain and the memory
FF              C majorC          G+G
Love in our hearts with the pain and the memory
C majorC              G+G
Love in our hearts with the pain and the memory
G+G              C majorC
Love in our hearts with the pain and the memory
FF              C majorC
Love in our hearts with the pain and the memory
G+G
Love
C majorC              G+G
Love in our hearts with the pain and the memory
G+G              C majorC
Love in our hearts with the pain and the memory
FF              G+G          FF
Love in our hearts with the pain and the memory