Democracy chords by Leonard Cohen

Tuning: Standard EBGDAE

Difficulty: Novice


Democracy by Leonard Cohen


    D        G      A
It's coming through a hole in the air,
       D     A    D
from those nights in Tiananmen Square.
    G
It's coming from the feel

that this ain't exactly real,
     D
or it's real, but it ain't exactly there.
     F#
From the wars against disorder,
     Bm
from the sirens night and day,
     F#
from the fires of the homeless,
     Bm
from the ashes of the gay:
  A        G      D
Democracy is coming  to the U.S.A.

    D       G       A
It's coming through a crack in the wall;
    D    A     D
on a visionary flood of alcohol;
       G
from the staggering account

of the Sermon on the Mount
     D
which I don't pretend to understand at all.
   F#
It's coming from the silence
    Bm
on the  dock of the bay,
      F#
from the brave, the bold, the battered
     Bm
heart of  Chevrolet:
  A        G      D
Democracy is coming  to the U.S.A.


    D        G       A
It's coming from the sorrow in the street,
   D      A       D
the holy places where the races meet;
      G
from the homicidal bitchin'

that goes down in every kitchen
    D
to determine who will serve and who will eat.
      F#
From the wells of disappointment
      Bm
where the women kneel to pray
     F#
for the grace of God in the desert here
     Bm
and the desert far away:
  A        G      D
Democracy is coming  to the U.S.A.


 A    G
Sail on, sail on
  D
O mighty Ship of State!
     A
To the Shores of Need
      G
Past the Reefs of Greed
        D
Through the Squalls of Hate
 A         G    D
Sail on, sail on, sail on, sail on.


    D     G    A
It's coming to America first,
   D      A        D
the cradle of the best and of the worst.
   G
It's here they got the range

and the machinery for change
     D
and it's here they got the spiritual thirst.
   F#
It's here the family's broken
     Bm
and it's here the lonely say
     F#
that the heart has got to open
    Bm
in a fundamental way:
  A        G      D
Democracy is coming  to the U.S.A.


    D        G      A
It's coming from the women and the men.
  D        A      D
O baby, we'll be making love again.
      G
We'll be going down so deep

the river's going to weep,
      D
and the mountain's going to shout Amen!
    F#
It's coming like the tidal flood
 Bm
beneath the lunar sway,
 F#
imperial, mysterious,
   Bm
in amorous array:
  A        G      D
Democracy is coming  to the U.S.A.


 A    G
Sail on, sail on ...


    D        G       A
I'm sentimental, if you  know what I mean
       D     A          D
I love the country but I  can't stand the scene.
     G
And I'm neither left or right

I'm just staying home tonight,
     D
getting lost in that hopeless little screen.
      F#
But I'm stubborn as those garbage bags
   Bm
that Time cannot decay,
   F#
I'm junk but I'm still holding up
    Bm
this little wild bouquet:
  A        G      D
Democracy is coming  to the U.S.A