Em   C     G
Em   C     G
Em   C     G
Em C  D  G
Em C  D  G

[Verse 1]
          Em       C        G
There was smoke up to my eyeballs
Em     C         G
Poison burned my throat
      Em       C        G
But I said I'd keep on going
     Em       C     G
When everyone said don't
        Em     C       G
With my bony-chested t-shirt
     Em     C       G
Some stolen guitar licks
Em         C        G
Navigating by dead reckoning
Em  C     G
In 1976
             Em     C            G
And when the mighty chains of darkness
Em     C      G
Had me on the ropes
Em       C         G
Everyone said quit now
Em     C            G
That's when I found hope.

[Chorus]
   Em     C            G
So please don't tell Columbus
      Em       C          G
Don't tell his queen for sure
     Em          C       G
That I had the accurate compass
    Em  C        D     G
And I discovered America
    Em  C         D     G
Yeah I discovered America

[Verse 2]
Em       C                   G
Well the guy in the five and dime store
Em      C                 G
Said it ain't anywhere around here
Em        C             G
Take your business elsewhere
Em       C          G
Along with your mad idea
Em      C               G
So I looked inside your closet
Em       C        G
And your broken tv set
Em       C             G
You said that you were born here
Em      C               G
But you hadn't found it yet

[Chorus]
   Em     C            G
So please don't tell Columbus
      Em       C          G
Don't tell his queen for sure
     Em          C       G
That I had the accurate compass
    Em  C        D     G
And I discovered America
    Em  C         D     G
Yeah I discovered America

[Bridge]
       C                         G
Well I knew one day she'd let me in
D                  G
I knew I'd get the girl
C                            G
And live in a town called Veteran
     D
Pork capital of the world

[Chorus]
   Em     C            G
So please don't tell Columbus
      Em       C          G
Don't tell his queen for sure
     Em          C       G
That I had the accurate compass
    Em  C        D     G
And I discovered America

Hamonica Break
Em   C     G
Em   C     G
Em   C     G
Em C  D  G
Em C  D  G

[Bridge]
             C                    G
Well they've dammed the Yangtse River
D                   G
There'll be hell to pay
      C                     G
But I guess that's what you do
         D
When the Yangtse River gets in your way

[Verse 3]
Em      C                    G
But I had that positive feeling
Em     C                    G
I knew I was on the right track
Em      C                     G
When a flat earth society member
Em      C             G
Told me I must turn back
Em      C                G
He said I’d reach the abyss
Em       C         G
And keep on going down
Em       C                G
So I gave him my last pencil
Em      C                      G
And I flattened him to the ground
Em      C                       G
Then an army of Christian soldiers
Em     C                        G
Broke through the ranks and charged
Em       C                     G
With their ice cream vendor buddies
Em        C                  G
And their milquetoast rearguard
Em       C                     G
They had wheelbarrows full of elastic
Em       C           G
And paper mache hearts
Em      C                   G
And things I did not recognize
Em      C             G
Impaled upon their darts
Em       C                     G
And when the mighty chains of darkness
Em     C         G
Had me on the ropes
Em       C          G
Everyone said quit now
Em      C              G
That's when I found hope
Em        C               G
Yeah that's when I found hope

[Chorus]
   Em     C            G
So please don't tell Columbus
      Em       C          G
Don't tell his queen for sure
     Em          C       G
That I had the accurate compass
    Em  C        D     G
And I discovered America
   Em     C            G
So please don't tell Columbus
      Em       C          G
Don't tell his queen for sure
     Em          C       G
That I had the accurate compass
    Em  C        D     G
And I discovered America
    Em  C        D     G
And I discovered America
    Em  C        D     G
And I discovered America
    Em  C        D     G
And I discovered America