Volunteers chords by Mark Erelli

Chords with lyrics

• Capo on 4th

Mark Erelli - Volunteers


CAPO: 4th fret


Intro:
A minorAm FF C majorC G+G FF

Verse 1:
       C majorC       FF       C majorC
I played with army men as a boy in my backyard
                     G+G
I was eighteen when I joined the National Guard
 FF                   C majorC
I cakewalked basic, and they paid for my degree
    FF                    G+G
All for filling up sandbags and clearing storm debris

Verse 2:
     A minorAm          FF       C majorC
And I had just re-upped on the base in my hometown
                              G+G
When the whole deal changed on the day that the planes went down
    E minorEm                FF
Just a casual soldier, twelve weekends a year
       C majorC           G+G      C majorC   FF A minorAm G+G
I was Baghdad bound when they called up the volunteers


Verse 3:
     C majorC          FF      C majorC
We’d seen more than enough to know war is hell
                             G+G
But we were thinking that we had it made once the capital fell
   FF                    C majorC
So we partied in the palaces and waited to withdraw
   FF                      G+G
'Til things started going south both sides of the wall


Verse 4:
     A minorAm          FF         C majorC
First the looting, the suicide bombers and the IED's
                              G+G
Then the prisons and the torture and all those pictures on TV
  E minorEm                      FF
The kickbacks, the blackouts, the martyrs and the fear
    C majorC          G+G        C majorC   FF A minorAm G+G
And now everyone in Babylon blames the volunteers

Verse 5:
      C majorC         FF        C majorC
There was a roadside bomb on a convoy late one night
                            G+G
I was fine, but this buddy of mine probably should have died
    FF                     C majorC
So they radioed a medevac and I tried to keep him warm
       FF                       G+G
Now he’s back home learning how to feed himself with two new arms


Verse 6:
      A minorAm            FF           C majorC
And all the others, they suffer from wounds that you can’t see
                                  G+G
So they try to forget and go back home to their jobs and their families
      E minorEm               FF
Yeah we got paid, no one made us come over here
       C majorC        G+G          FF
But it ain't close to an even trade for the volunteers


Instrumental:
A minorAm C majorC G+G A minorAm FF C majorC G+G FF


Verse 7:
      C majorC        FF      C majorC
Maybe we’ll all be judged by history and god
                              G+G
Maybe the best way to honour the departed is to finish the job
        FF                        C majorC
But while they argue who is winning and whether we should go or stay
   FF                          G+G
Over here it’s a victory just to make it through another day


Verse 8:
      A minorAm          FF            C majorC
And me I’m long past making any sense of the blood I've spilled
                            G+G
But it's hard to believe this is all part of any God’s will
      E minorEm                    FF
And if you find I’ve fallen after all the smoke has cleared
        C majorC  G+G    A minorAm
Let the record show I volunteered
        C majorC  G+G    A minorAm
Let the record show I volunteered


Outro:
FF A minorAm G+G A minorAm FF C majorC G+G C majorC