The Fire chords
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[Intro]
C Riff, Em, C, G
[Verse 1]
C G Bm C
A young child sits quiet, the forest is dark
C G Em
Possibilities overflow his unbroken heart
C G Bm C
I ask him well after the brush takes the spark
C Em
What do you see in the fire?
G/C G
I see light within color and color in light
Bm Em C
Trophies I'll take home and battles I'll fight
C G Bm C
A bright blue horizon with no pain in sight
C Em G/C G
I'll be there and so will my parents and you're invited too
[Verse 2]
C G
A life-sentence inmate in orange prisoner clothes
Bm Em C
Who's been told his whole life that's just how it goes
C G Bm C
Who came out swinging from poverty row
C Bm
Sits a bit close to the dangerous glow
C Em
What do ya see in the fire?
C G
I see rich people laughin' with food on their plates
Bm Em C
And neighborhood bullies imprinted with hate
C G Bm C
Moms and dads screaming at each other insane
C Bm
And hard grey redemption a little too late
Em Am
And I see myself as I might've been
C D C G
I’m handsome, and capable, and funny
[Verse 3]
C G
A young woman in college entranced by the flames
Bm Em C
Is pondering silent how perfectly strange
C G Bm C Em
A girl could be called by so many names and not one be the one she was given
C G
What do you see in the fire?
C G
I see myself in the mirror, not pretty enough
Bm Em C
And digital images reducing love
C G Bm C
My roommate enslaved by expectations above
C Em Em
And then I see the face of my mother
[Verse 4]
C G
A first-year preacher stands on his feet
Bm Em C
His love for mankind is true and complete
C G Bm C
While the frigid wind blows through the trees
C Bm
I ask as he leans away from the heat
C Em
"What do you see in the fire?"
C G
I see swirling confusion, question, and loss
Bm Em C
And I know all about Christ and the cross
C Bm
But I cannot explain the Holocaust
Em Am
I stuttered when a young man asked me to
C G
I just couldn’t find the words
[Verse 5]
C G
A woman of ninety with wisdom in spades
Bm Em C
Her mind still as sharp as her kitchen blades
C G Bm C
I ask as her memory nonetheless fades
C Em
"What do you see in the fire?"
C G
I see the touch of my husband who recently passed
Bm Em C
Our hometown before the roads got so fast
C G Bm C
And I see it now in an inpatient blur
G G
And I see how in love we were
Em Bm
I see the good Lord offering mercy
Em Bm
I see the good Lord offering mercy
C D7
I see the good Lord offering mercy
[Verse 6]
C G
Someone I care for, she sits by my side
Bm Em C
I can feel the past and the future collide
C G Bm C
She leans in and whispers, “Don't think, just decide"
C Em
What do you see in the fire?
C G
I see the faces of my victims whose hearts I once broke
Bm Em C
Calm and alive in the curling smoke
C G Bm C
All I can do is sit here and hope
C Em Em
They may find a way to forgive me
[Outro]
C G
There's something unspoken there in your eyes
Bm Em C
A pain or a love I don't recognize
C G Bm C
I better ask you now before it dies
C G
What do you see in the fire?