Persevere chords by Gang Of Youths

• Tuning: Standard (E A D G B E)
• Key: C

Difficulty: Novice

The chords sound best if you get the hammer-on's going on the C, Am and F chords in the verse
(Hammer-on/pull-off on the middle note in each chord)

Verse 1:
  C             G    G7  Am         F
I never got to kiss your head, ah, Emme
        C             G            F
And the call came the week I got divorced
  C               G         Am               F
I thought I had a real understanding then of loss
      C             G                   F
But I didn't know a thing 'til you were gone
        C                  G                 Am         F
And I'm tired of trying to find some sort of meaningful thing
          C             G           F
In making sense of such unspeakable loss
           C               G                   Am       F
But as I'm staring at your folks, the sweetest people I know
        C                  G        F
I get a glimpse of what it is to be strong
             C               G                 F
Just holding hands and sobbing with sunglasses on

Chorus:
F                       C       F          C
'Cause nothing tuned me in to absurdity as fast
     F                   C         Am            G
As a gravestone with the name of a baby that has passed
          F        C                     Am       G
I used to wanna be important, now I just wanna be alive
           F       G
And without fear

You got to persevere


Instrumental:
C  G  G7  Am  F
C  G  F
(x2)


Verse 2:
  C                  G     G7   Am        F
I couldn't count the times I've ragged on heaven
      C      G               F
As an opiate invented by the weak
        C          G               F                   C
It's an argument I hate 'cause I'm content to love the fates
       C                   G              F
But it comes up a lot with Emme's dad and me
      C               G                  Am           F
So I'm shotgun in the car and we're just shooting the shit
    C                G                F
And predictably, the talking turns to God
     C         G                       Am       F
So I throw him forty lines how I don't think he exists
            C                  G         F
And he just smiles and takes a dignified pause
             C           G            F
Says, "It's okay to feel unbelievably lost"


Chorus:
    F              C             F               C
But God is full of grace and his faithfulness is vast
         F             C                Am               G
There is safety in the moments when the shit has hit the fan
         F          C                    Am               G
Not some vindictive motherfucker, nor is he shitty at his job
              F      G
What words to hear

And I'm a mess by now
         F              C        F          C
'Cause nothing tuned me in to my failure as fast
   F              C                Am            G
As grieving for a friend with more belief than I possessed
               F           C           Am
"It's not some disembodied heaven," he assured me
        G                       F        G
Then he laughs and says through tears
            F    C       Am  G
"You got to persevere"
F    C      Am  G
Persevere
F    C      Am  G
Persevere
F    C      Am  G
Persevere


Instrumental break:
F  C  Am  G


Solo: (played over top of break and outro)

e|-3-5-------------------|
B|-----5-3-5---3---------|
G|-----------5---4-2-0---|  x8
D|-----------------------|
A|-----------------------|
E|-----------------------|


Outro:
           F           C         Am                G
We threw a party up in here, but God, it was bittersweet
       F                C             Am         G
I live hard 'cause I am scared that I won't mean anything
           F              C               Am              G
So now I'm praying to the ceiling, to the windows, to the walls
             F              C                    Am               G
Against this sudden sinking feeling that there's nothing there at all

And still we just persevere


Outro:
F  C  Am  G
(repeat to fade)