Empire Liquor Mart 9127 S Figueroa St

When the black and whites arrive I am lifeless on the floor Crumpled dollars in my hand In my hand, in my hand F#m B The lady in the fishing vest F# B Has dropped the gun C#m Who wears a fishing vest A When they're working at a liquor store? C#m F#m B I float up to the corner c#m F#m Just above the ice cream B And the frozen food A G#m C# I perch beside the surveillance Camera... F#7 F# A F# Only days after the trial E G#m You could feel the tension rise E In the streets and in the rhythm F# A Of despair, of despair A F# It was war after a while C#m In each neighbor's tired eyes G#m E There was nothing to persuade them F# A To stand down, to stand down A B I float higher and higher C#m F#m Friendly with the clouds B That cover Southland... F# Bbm Bbm D#m I watch the tender skyline G# Dancing, oh the terror - C# F# On the long night Bbm On the long flight G# Blood, glass, burnt hair D# These angry armies F# Bb D C# Quick advancing in position: F# D# On the rooftops, in the culverts F# Stores are sacked while there's no one there Bbm G# Now two kinds of light C# From fires and fixtures F# They fill the sky C# G# C# It was never so bright when I was young F# I was too young to die Bbm D#m On TV sets, in houses G# Effortlessly done in fancy colors C# F# Bbm All the righteous, all the newsmen G# Speak of end times D# F# Why should they give a f**k Bb Dm Some angry little black girl took a bullet? C# F# D# Lord have mercy, Lord have mercy F# On the ones who've done the crime Bbm G# Now two kinds of light C# From fires and fixtures F# They fill the sky C# G# C# It was never so bright when I was young F# I was too young to die Bbm D#m G# C# F# Bbm G# D# F# Bb Dm C# F# D# F# Bb D# If I float even higher C F# Pattern and procession are uncovered C# D# Bm Flood and fire, flood and earthquake D# Keep folks unmoored Bb D# C And the occasional celebrity car chase F# Woo woo woo woo! C# D# E F# Just to keep God, Just to keep God from getting bored, from getting bored Bbm G# Now two kinds of light C# From fires and fixtures F# They fill the sky C# G# C# It was never so bright when I was young F# I was too young to die F# Bb C G C A F#m E C#m B A Em A C C Dm Em F F G G Gm Dm Am When my grandma was a young woman East St. Louis Em Bm She thought the town was no good to us F Am She took a Greyhound just as far as it could take her Em Felt her maker in the waves D You know, how God moves through us Dm Am Em Bm F#m Am C D Dm I was six years old when we followed Am My mother was twenty-two Em Bm The light was magic, the light was true F She thought we'd moved Am Beyond a sharecropper's debt Em D But we were just a pawn in the accuser's bet F Am Nobody reads from the Book of Job G Dm At the church where me and my grandma go F Am Nobody sees the trouble I know G C But I know that trouble's gonna find me Dm Am Em Bm F#m Am C D Dm Three years later on a Thanksgiving Am The light turned bitter Em Bm My grandmother didn't know what hit her F Am We got a chill from the cold white sun C Momma found herself staring D At the barrel of a gun Dm Am That weren't enough, my uncle died too Em Shot through the chest back in East St. Louis F#m Am So one fine day my grandma lost two Em Took me in her arms and said D D It's just me and you F Am Nobody reads from the Book of Job G Dm At the church where me and my grandma go F Am Nobody sees the trouble I know G C But I know that trouble's gonna find me (2x) G# F C# C It'll find me, it'll find me, it'll find me, it'll find me (6x) G# F C# it'll find me, it'll find me, it'll find me C Fm C# (2x) Bbm C G# So when I say that my untimely death C# Was something certain F# What I mean is that these tragedies Bbm G# Are a kind of a family tradition D# F# Bb So when I walk into the liquor store Dm C# That morning, bright and angry F# D# In a daydream of a boyfriend F# Bb I was fifteen D B Pick up a bottle of orange juice G#m And put it into my backpack Gm Dm Head toward the counter with dollar bills B G# And she accuse me of stealing that F C# She pull my sweater and so I hit her Bb B Put down the bottle don't want no trouble C# G# Now two kinds of light C# From fires and fixtures F# They fill the sky G# C# It was never so bright when I was young F# I was too young to die C# G# Now two kinds of light C# From fires and fixtures F# They fill the sky G# C# It was never so bright when I was young F#m I was too young to die G# G#m C#m B A F#m A I suppose it's no surprise F# C#m G#m To find myself about to die E But how long that silver moment F# From the bullet A To the floor That right there was a lifetime E Bm F# A C# La da da da da, da da da da