We Americans - The Avett Brothers

We Americans chords

[Intro]
 
C G C
C G F
C G F
 
 
[Verse 1]
 
  G                              C
I grew up with reverence for the red, white, and blue
         F                G                      C
Spoke of God and liberty, reciting the pledge of allegiance
        G                       C
Learned love of country from my own family
     F                   G                          C
Some shivered and prayed approaching the beaches of Normandy
    G                          C
The flag waves high and that's how it should be
   F                    G                    C
So many lives given and taken in the name of freedom
        G                       C
But the story's complicated and hard to read
F                 G                             C     G
Pages of the book obscured or torn out completely

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[Chorus]
 
       C      G     C
I am a son of uncle Sam
      C   G       F              C    G   F
And I struggle to understand the good and evil
        C         G      C
But I'm doing the best I can
     C     G        F                C  G   F
In a place built on stolen land with stolen people
 
 
[Post-Chorus]
C                          G
Blood in the soil with the cotton and tobacco
G                          C
Blood in the soil with the cotton and tobacco
F                          G                   F
Blood in the soil with the cotton and tobacco
 
 
[Verse 2]
 
  G                     C
A misnamed people and a kidnapped race
F                       G                          C
Laws may change, but we can't erase the scars of a nation
   G                     C
Of children devalued and disavowed
F                          G                     C
Displaced by greed and the arrogance of manifest destiny
G                             C
Short-sighted to say it was a long time ago
    F                        G                        C
Not even two life times have passed since the days of Lincoln
    G                           F
The sins of Andrew Jackson, the shame of Jim Crow
    F                        G                    C            G
And time moves slow when the tragedies are beyond description
 
 
 
[Chorus]
 
       C      G     C
I am a son of uncle Sam
      C   G       F              C    G   F
And I struggle to understand the good and evil
        C         G      C
But I'm doing the best I can
     C     G        F                C  G   F
In a place built on stolen land with stolen people
       Am   G        C          F
We are more than the sum of our parts
          Am     G         C      F
All these broken homes and broken hearts
              Am   G  C           F
God, will you keep us wherever we go?
            Am   G      C           F
Will you forgive us for where we've been?
   G
We Americans
 
 
[Post-Chorus]
C                           G
Blood on the table with the coffee and the sugar
G                           C
Blood on the table with the coffee and the sugar
F                           G                     F
Blood on the table with the coffee and the sugar
 
 
[Verse 3]
     G                       C
I've been to every state and seen shore to shore
    F                        G
The still open wounds of the Civil War
G                    C
Watched blind hatred bounce back and forth
F                   G                         C
Seen vile prejudice both in the south and the north
    G                 C
And accountability is hard to impose
   F                   G                         C
On ghosts of ancestors haunting the halls of our conscience
        G                     C
But the path of grace and goodwill is still here
    F                      G                    C       C C/B Am G
For those of us who may be considered among the living
 
 
[Chorus]
       C      G       C
I am a son of God and man
      C   G     F              C    G   F
And I may never understand the good and evil
      C      G         C
But I dearly love this land
C       G  F               C  G   F
Because of and in spite of We The People
       Am   G        C          F
We are more than the sum of our parts
          Am     G         C      F
All these broken bones and broken hearts
              Am   G  C           F
God, will you keep us wherever we go?
           Am   G      C           F
Can you forgive us for where we've been?
   G          F
We Americans
   G
We Americans
 
 
[Post-Chorus]
C                           G
Love in our hearts with the pain and the memory
G                           C
Love in our hearts with the pain and the memory
F                           C
Love in our hearts with the pain and the memory
G
Love
C                           G
Love in our hearts with the pain and the memory
G                           C
Love in our hearts with the pain and the memory
F                           C                    G
Love in our hearts with the pain and the memory
C                           G
Love in our hearts with the pain and the memory
G                           C
Love in our hearts with the pain and the memory
F                           C
Love in our hearts with the pain and the memory
G
Love
C                           G
Love in our hearts with the pain and the memory
G                           C
Love in our hearts with the pain and the memory
F                           G                    F
Love in our hearts with the pain and the memory