The Graduates chords by Speedy Ortiz

• Difficulty: Intermediate 💪

Tuning: Standard (E A D G B E)

Intro:
E F C
E F C
E F C
E F C



Verse 1:
            E            F       C
We were the French club dropouts
        E           F           C
But we never got excused from class
     E         F             C
The secretary must have been high
                E           F           C
To turn a blind eye on us sneaking out back
             E               F       C
And we were pregnant on the balcony
         E               F     C
And you caught me with a cigarette
   E             F           C
I never put the thing on my lips
                      E              F             C
Just crushed it and spit on where I laid it to rest

E F C
E F


Chorus:
B         C         G
I was the best at being second place
     D                D#     A#
But now I'm just the runner-up
    G#        F#    E             F         A
At being the second one you think of every day
           A#         F
Before you go back to one


Verse 2:
E F C
E F C
             E          F       C
We were the law school rejects
        E                F      C
So we quarrelled at the bar instead
 E                F        C
Shot out in four words or less
                             E                  F              C
You want a jail, you want a mess, you have the right to drink less
               E            F     C
Then we were floating on a balcony
       E            F      C
And I fell into a trampoline
   E               F            C
I never should've looked for a hand
                     E           F           C
From an invisible pushmi-pullyu pushin' on me

E F


Chorus:
B          C         G
I was the best at being second place
     D                D#         A#
But now I'm just the silver you dread
     G#       F#            E
And only in the shape of a bullet
     F         A                 A#            F
Am I ever the shape you see when you wake up dead

Bridge:
B G
D              C                         A#
  So will you cauterize the bleeding or bastardize the meaning?
Am
I'm the one worth seeing
D               C                            A#
  As a waif, a friend, I guess that's the extent
                            Am              F
More than assisted when you cut inside the paper
       B                G             D                      B    C G
To project it from the lighthouse and eject it out into the void

D D# A#
B C G
D D# A#

Outro:
B          C       G
I was the best at being second place

D D# A#

    B          C        G
Oh, I was the best at being second place

D D# A#

B          C        G
I was the best at being second place

D D# A#

    B          C        G
Oh, I was the best at being second place

D D# A#

B          C        G
I was the best at being second place
    D                 D#     A#
But now I'm just the runner-up
    G#        F#    E                F     A   A# F
And only the second one you think of every day