The Life And Death Of An Oak Tree chords by Careful Gaze

Tuning: Standard (E A D G B E)

🎸 Intro:

G   C G   C G   C G



🎸 Verse 1:
N.C.   G         C G                 C G
I am a seedling,     whatever you do,
    D        Em        D            G      C G
wherever you plant me, do it in the shade
        G    C G                         C G
Keep me safe     under your careful gaze,
D         Em                         D            G     C G
let every naïve leaf that stems be a memory we've made

Refrain:
      A                C                 G     C G   C G   C G
Every autumn night the memories start to fade


🎸 Verse 2:
N.C.   G       C G                C G
I am a sapling,    water my roots,
     D           Em          D         G    C G
take pictures of me, you can give me a name
       G       C G                       C G
Keep a journal,    write in it every day,
D          Em
say that I look like a stubborn tree,
D          G     C G
staking my claim


Refrain:
       A                C                    G     C G   C G   C G
If the children come to crush me, send them away


🎸 Verse 3:
N.C.    G        C G                  C G
I am an oak tree,    strong and tall,
   D          Em       D          G     C G
providing you shelter, giving you hope
   G           C G                           C G
If anyone ever     hangs themselves from me,
          D        Em        D         G     C G
Would you cut them down, but leave the rope


Refrain:
       A                      C                  G     C G   C G   C G
May it represent that I stood proud while others choked


🎸 Verse 4:
N.C.          G        C G                  C G
Ohhhh, I am a bad tree,    you cut me down,
     D       Em               D         G     C G
take your ax to me, curse the day I was born
         G        C G                      C G
Stand on my trunk,    victorious and happy,
          D            Em         D             G     C G
while the tree-huggers sit on the sidelines and mourn


Refrain:
          A                C                        G     C G   C G   C G
Tell them all that I'll be prettier once my bark is shorn


🎸 Verse 5:
N.C. G        C G                         C G
I am kindling,    stripped of my strength,
D       Em                   D        G     C G
used to start the fires that keep you warm
     G       C G               C G
I am rotten,     sad, and damp
         D            Em                       D          G     C G
from the day that you left me in a pile in the midst of a storm


Refrain:
          A                     C                           G     C G   C G   C G
Read your journal, look at your pictures, and let the tears form