The Examined Life

Transpose
Year: 2010
Album: Rancho Tetrahedron

INTRO
E7 
VERSE 1
E7 
Battleships cruise on the polar sea
E7 
Smoke machines made the tundra green
Em 
Smoke 
 
ma
Cadd9 
chines we  
A 
stoked for wonder and  
E7 
gain
VERSE 2
E7 
Same TV, same things to buy
E7 
Work to do, roads to drive
 
No  
Em 
taxes 
 
 
Cadd9 
here, just  
A 
pay one time for your  
E7 
claim
 
Cadd9 
Mary Anne is  
Bsus4 
sleeping
 
Self-
Am 
help book in her  
Em 
hand
 
She  
Cadd9 
rarely leaves her  
Bsus4 
sickbed
 
But she  
Am 
sees we understand  
Em 
CHORUS 1
 
The ex
Am 
amined life  
Am/B 
 
The ever-
E7 
questioned life  
C7/A# 
 
The breathing-
Am 
mindful life  
Am/B 
 
For  
Fmaj7 
which we’ve scalped and crucified
 
The ex
Am 
amined life  
Am/B 
 
Must be se
C 
rene and light  
Bb 
 
So that we  
Am 
can deny  
Am/B 
 
The  
F 
salty flood, the  
F6 
endless looming  
E7 
night
VERSE 3
E7 
Children don’t you fear, just grow and play
E7 
Fill those minds with the light of day
Em 
Keep your  
C 
handshakes 
 
 
A 
light, no joking or  
E7 
dread
VERSE 4
E7 
Ladder of wood on the creek-bed side
E7 
In baking sun, the mud caked dry
 
A  
Em 
withered 
 
 
C 
flag 
 
 
A 
fastened onto its  
E7 
head
 
As I  
Cadd9 
go to tend to  
Bsus4 
salvage
 
Make a  
Am 
mends for who I  
Em 
am
Cadd9 
Candles for my  
Bsus4 
lady
 
And a  
Fmaj7 
bowl of marjoram
CHORUS 2
 
For the ex
Am 
amined life  
Am/B 
 
The righteous,  
E7 
fragrant life  
C7/A# 
 
The dancing  
Am 
shadows strike  
Am/B 
 
Bring  
Fmaj7 
high-speed cables,  
F6 
tungsten 
 
lights
 
And the ex  
Am 
amined life  
Am/B 
 
Will not  
E7 
compromise 
 
 
C7/A# 
 
From dusk the  
Am 
land’s alive  
Am/B 
 
With  
Fmaj7 
wolves and serpents,  
F6 
ghostly 
 
tribes
INTERLUDE
G 
 
Edim/A# 
 
C7 
 
Eb 
G 
 
Edim/A# 
 
C7 
 
Bb/D 
CHORUS 3/OUTRO
 
For the ex
Am 
amined life  
Am/B 
 
Will not  
E7 
compromise 
 
 
C7/A# 
 
The ex
Am 
amined life  
Am/B 
 
On  
Fmaj7 
any soil will  
F6 
thrive and  
E7 
rise