Butchered Tongue

Intro Bm D Gmaj7 [Verse 1] Bm D As a child it was the place names Gmaj7 Singin' at me as the first thing Bm A F#m How the mouth must be employed in every corner of itself G D Gmaj7 To say "Appalacicola" or "Hushpukena", like "Gweebarra" Em A D A promise softly sung of somewhere else Chorus G Bm And as a young man blessed to pass so many road signs G A F#m And have my foreign ear made fresh again on each unlikely sound G D Bm F#m But feel at home, hearin' a music that few still understand Em A D A butchered tongue still singin' here above the ground [Verse 2] Bm D G The ears were chopped from young men if the pitch cap didn't kill them Bm A F#m They are buried without scalp in the shattered bedrock of our home G D You may never know your fortune G Em A Until the distance has been shown between what is lost forever D And what can still be known Chorus G Bm So far from home to have a stranger call you, "Darling" G A F#m And have your guarded heart be lifted like a child up by the hand G D In some town that just means 'Home' to them Bm F#m With no translator left to sound Em A D A butchered tongue still singin' here above the ground Bm D Gmaj7 F#m Bm D Gmaj7 Bm