Famous Tracheotomies

[ Verse 1 ] G D when i had my tracheotomy Am i was blue and had stopped breathing Em C there was something wrong with me G D doctors cut through the cartilage and skin Am at the bottom of my throat C Am D and then they snaked that trach tube in [ Chorus 1 ] Bm Em and i was one and a half Am i was my parents only kid Em C and they had lost two before that Bm Em C and growing up , i always knew how close i’d come D well , that must have been scary , mom [ Verse 2 ] G D gary coleman , he was "arnold" on tv Am Em C well , i grew up watching him and conrad bain and kimberly G D it turns out that he had a trach scar too Am where they cut into his throat C Am D and then they threaded that tube through [ Chorus 2 ] Bm Em but that was much later on Am Em C in the year that he turned forty when his fanbase was all gone Bm Em and his health was so touch - and - go C his girlfriend proposed D but they broke up on a tv show [ Verse 3 ] G D mary wells , she was known as motown’s queen Am Em C but laryngeal cancer left her unable to sing G D they tried radiation , multiple surgeries Am C Am D but she didn’t have insurance and lost almost everything poor thing [ Chorus 3 ] Bm Em but diana ross helped with her bills Am Em C aretha franklin tried her very best to help out mary wells Bm Em and dionne warwick did all she could do C and mary wells , she pulled through D for one more year or two [ Verse 4 ] G D dylan thomas looked completely pale and weak Am Em C on a trip to new york city to promote his poety G D three straight days of drinking out in greenwich and chelsea Am C Am D he was taken to the hospital , turned blue and not breathing [ Chorus 4 ] Bm Em and caitlin thomas said Am when she walked into st vincent’s Em C "is the bloody man dead yet?" Bm Em C and later that day she got so drunk she was restrained D and her husband slipped away [ Verse 5 ] G D ray davies had a tracheotomy Am Em C he was at st . thomas’ hospital in london , aged thirteen G D and during his long recovery Am nurses put him in a wheelchair C Am D and they’d wheel him out onto a balcony ( on a balcony ) [ Chorus 5 ] Bm Em and down that evening sun did sink Am Em C painting london and the river and that freaked - out future kink Bm Em waterloo lit up for one sick kid C D and , at 23 , he recorded a song about it [ Outro} G D Am C