By The Time You Get This chords by They Might Be Giants

Tuning: Standard (E A D G B E)

Key: A

Difficulty: Intermediate

Chorus:
    A    E    D
By the time you get this note
     Bm   E  A
We'll no longer be alive
      A    E   D
We'll have all gone up in smoke
      Bm   E  A
There'll be no way to reply
     F  G   D    E     A    C  D
You'll be wondering about the world that vanished long ago
    F#m    E     D
And the words that reach you now
     D   E  A
That were buried underground

Verse:
A  E    D      Bm    E   A
Greetings to everyone in Nineteen Thirty-Seven
     A  E    D   Bm    E    A
It seems that you were never aware that we were here
    F  G    D  E A    C   D
You're probably too busy re-joicing in the present
    F#m  E  D       D    E    A
To stop - and be reminded of the dark and troubled past


Chorus:
    A    E    D
By the time you get this note
     Bm   E  A
We'll no longer be alive
    A     E    D
But our skulls are smiling still
    Bm     E     A
At the thought of things to come
    F  G   D     E    A   C   D
We can confidently know that you'll enjoy a better world
     F#m  E    D
When the evils that we faced
    D    E    A
Will at last be laid to rest


Bridge:
     F#m      Bm
When the poisons of the Earth
    C#      F#m
Are completely neutralized
     F#m      Bm
When the hatred and the lies
    C#    F#m
Are forever put aside
     D   E   B    C#  F#m   A  B
When the voices of dissent and contradiction all abate
    D    F#m  Bm
And the peaceful air is filled
    Bm   C#  F#m
With a silent harmony


Verse:
A E    D       Bm   E    A
We can't be certain at the moment of this writing
  A   E   D         Bm E    A
But surely in the future there'll be no barking dogs
  F    G   D   E    A    C   D
The sound of crying babies will be thankfully forgotten
F#m   E    D     D    E   A
No more will the chattering classes make a noise


Chorus:
    A    E    D
By the time you get this note
   Bm E    A
A millenium from now
      A    E   D
We'll have all gone up in smoke
      Bm   E A
There'll be no way to reply
    A  E   D
And we confidently know
     Bm  E   A
You'll enjoy a better time
     A   E    D
When the evils that we faced
    Bm   E    A
Will at last be laid to rest