The Fire Tabulatur von The Avett Brothers

[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?