American reckoning
G ~ ~
G
1. America's on fire, there's protests in the
street,
C
her
conscience has been looted, and her soul is under siege.
Am - C
Another mother's crying, as history repeats,
G
I can't breathe.
G
2. God damn those 8 long
minutes,
lying
face down in cuffs on the ground,
C
Bystanders pleaded for
mercy,
as
one cop shoved a kid in the crowd.
Am - C
When did a judge and a jury become a badge and a knee
G
on these
streets ?
C
- G - Am - G
Stay alive, stay alive, shine a light, stay alive,
Em G C G
use your voice and you remember
me, American reckoning.
G
2. I'll never know what it's like to walk a mile
in his shoes,
C
and
I'll never have to have the talk, so it don't happen to you.
Am
Three little words written 'cross the chest
- C
of
a twelve year old who hasn't lived life
yet :
G
"Am I next
? Am I next ?"
C - G - Am - G
Stay alive, stay alive, shine a light, stay alive,
Em G
C G
use your voice and you remember
me, American reckoning.
+ Em - C - D (2x) +
Am - C - G
G
+ Is this a moment or movement
? Is this the tide or a flood ?
C
Is our American reckoning, our story written in blood,
Am C
- G
or in
love, or in peace ?
C
- G - Am - G
Stay alive, stay alive, shine a light, stay alive,
Em G C
use your voice and you remember
me !
C - G - Am - G
Stay alive, stay alive, shine a light, stay alive,
Em G C G
use your voice and you remember
me, American reckoning.
G
+ In our American
reckoning.
(orig. = capo 1st) (Bon Jovi)