The Examined Life
Released in 2010 by Kitchenware Records
Transpose
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