Explained Away

C

[Verse 1]
C
Someone told a story about a man who'd lived through Hell
                Dm                                F              G
And stumbled, orphaned, to his home, to find the servants living well
             C                                C
And how they welcomed him like family as they plotted out some deed
   Dm                                F             G
To kill him in his sleep and stay to satisfy their greed
             F               Ab           C
I thought of who it is whose story gets remembered in the end
                Dm                             F                G
And through how many careful tellings does one practice their defense
     F             Ab       C
Some nuances the narrator selectively omits
   Dm                        F              G
Or ones collective memory is destined to forget

[Chorus]
                F                                           C
Yeah, we make decisions that account for the worlds that we live in
             F                                    C
We make explanations that amount to the ones we envision
   F                            C
It isn't just the horror of the way he killed those kids
        Dm                               F               G
But the way the tale was told explained away the deed he did
              F         Ab               C
You know that everybody needs a place to live

[Verse 2]
              C                                 C
You show your willfulness to ignorance with the council that you give
         Dm                    F                   G
The testimonial performances belie the lies you've lived
        C                         C
Another actor on the podium feels slighted by the way
      Dm                              F              G
And abstractions been amended on some broken, bygone days
               F             Ab                C
Yeah but these politics have victims, they get stuck there in the space
            Dm                             F               G
Between the weight of great ideals and the narratives they shape
          F                  Ab                C
It wasn't you there with the handgun, but your fax machine and pen
     Dm                          F        G
Your personal computer, and your business acumen

[Chorus]
            F                                      C
Appeal to a notion that we all deserve what we can reach for
          F
That what sits in your sight is a God-given right, yes
   C                              G
In spite of the slights you can't speak for
     F                             C
Sees fairness as a function of the rules that you can't bend
      Dm                          F             G
Takes action over nothing but the naked will to win