Desert Island Questionnaire chords by Conor Oberst

Desert Island Questionnaire (Upside Down Mountain, 2014)

Standard Tuning

Chords Used:
G     - 320003
G/B    - x20002
C     - X32010
D     - XX0232
Em    - 022000
Am    - x02210

I tabbed out the intro riff as well since it comes back to tie all the verses together. The xxxxxx chords are
rakes; just lightly mute the strings with your fretting hand and them strum for the amount of beats.

Listen to the recording for the strumming pattern.

Intro Riff:
  Gadd9  G        Gmaj7     G Gadd9  Gadd9  G        Gmaj7
e|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
B|--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--x-x--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--x-x--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--x-x--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0-----|
G|--2--2--2--0--0--0--0--x-x--0--0--0--0--0--0--2--x-x--2--2--2--0--0--0--0--x-x--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0-----|
D|--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--x-x--4--4--4--4--4--0--0--x-x--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--x-x--4--4--4--4--4--4--4--4-----|
A|--2--2--2--2--2--2--2--x-x--2--2--2--2--2--2--2--x-x--2--2--2--2--2--2--2--x-x--2--2--2--2--2--2--2--2-----|
E|--3--3--3--3--3--3--3--x-x--3--3--3--3--3--3--3--x-x--3--3--3--3--3--3--3--x-x--3--3--3--3--3--3--3--3-----|

G
Say that you were stranded on a desert island
G                        G/B C
What books you gonna bring what friends would tag along
G
Say you had a month and you knew you were dying
G
How would you spend your time
G            G/B C
What goodbyes would take too long
D
You don't like this game and you take exception
D                     Em
Who wants all this trouble even hypothetical
     Am
With the charging sky above
Am               D
And the ground below that could swallow everyone

Intro Riff

G
Staring at your phone at another party
G                    G/B C
Spend a lot on clothes got a lot of skin to show
G
People in the pool like the drowning army
G                   G/B C
Smoke along the moats and the hotel lobby glows
D
Wish that you can dance but you've got no partner
D                            Em
Keep tapping on your glass because you want to make a toast
    Am
To the ennui of our times
Am          D
To the selfishness in everyone you know

G  D   Em

C               D
Made a lot of friends but they can't be trusted
G            D/F# Em
Don't know what their angle  is
C             D
Post up at the bar and I'm double fisted
G        D/F# Em
Talking to a mannequin
C                 D
I don't know what it means when he takes my pulse
  G          D/F# Em
And says that I'm a lot like him
C                    D
I say that's fair enough that's why I'm trying to loosen up

Intro Riff

G
Every lunatic must be well intentioned
G                  G/B C
Sets himself apart he's an instrument of god
G
Took her from the playground to the farmhouse cellar
G                       G/B C
Kissed her while he killed her like a good Samaritan
D
They finally found her body many Autumns after
D                       Em
Interviewed her mother who said she'd now be 21
  Am
And although we lost her young
Am             D
I know the good lord has a plan for all of us

G   D   Em

C              D
Mormons at the door they are clean and handsome
G         D/F# Em
Always have a good sales pitch
C                    D
Your little sisters swears that she can read my aura
G           D/F# Em
But I can't take her serious
C
Need something to bring
     D        G         D/F# Em
For this human nature is not what this condition is
C                 D
I'm so bored with my life but I'm still afraid to die
C             D
Everyone's asleep in this burning building
G            D/F# Em
And I can't wake them up in time
C            D
You go on ahead I'll be right behind you
G          D/F# Em
I'm headed to the finish line
    C              D
I can't ignore the sun until this is over

Intro Riff

G
Pretend that you were stranded on a desert island
G                         G/B C
What would be the message that you'd spell out for the plane
G
Say the engine failed when that plane was flying
G                       G/B C
If you were the pilot would you curse or would you pray
D
No one's gonna cry at this John Doe funeral
D                   Em
Not a lot to say did it even have a name
    Am
Light a candle just in case he was someone's friend
Am     D
Throw some flowers on the grave

Outro Riff:
  Gadd9  G        Gmaj7     G Gadd9  Gadd9  G        Gmaj7
e|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
B|--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--x-x--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--x-x--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--x-x--0--------------------------|
G|--2--2--2--0--0--0--0--x-x--0--0--0--0--0--0--2--x-x--2--2--2--0--0--0--0--x-x--0--------------------------|
D|--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--x-x--4--4--4--4--4--0--0--x-x--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--x-x--4---let ring---------------|
A|--2--2--2--2--2--2--2--x-x--2--2--2--2--2--2--2--x-x--2--2--2--2--2--2--2--x-x--2--------------------------|