Chords for Bob Bennett - My Heart Across the Ocean

You know, it's a tough thing because _ _ once your son _ comes home _ with photographs of a mass grave,
you don't spend a whole lot of time wondering whether it's okay to take down the guy who did that.
The part that's confusing is just [Am] how messy it is sometimes and how you wonder what the endgame's going to be
and _ [F] what is it morphed into and what will it become and why are [Cm] we consistent and inconsistent and all that stuff.
So the politics of it is kind of confusing, but _ _ _ it's a no-brainer that _ I'm supportive of the men and women who wear the uniform. _
[G] And they [Cm] did their job so well that I never even thought a thing about them until my son became one.
My son comes to me and says, I'm going to join the Marines.
This is like the beginning of 2001, before 9-11, any of that stuff. _ _
And he's going to go off to boot camp and I'm thinking, you are in deep trouble, son,
because there is no skill set that I've given you that's going to prepare you for what you're going to go through now.
_ Man, I'm telling you, [Gb] I couldn't even do the [G] obstacle course in junior high school.
You know, good luck, pal.
[Ebm] And sure enough, man, he graduates [Cm] boot camp and goes to the School of Infantry and, man, he comes out a Marine.
[F] And I told him, I said, as much as I would like to piggyback on this achievement as your father,
you need to understand man to man, this is your deal.
This is fully yours.
You own this.
It's yours.
No one can take it away.
_ And I am unspeakably proud of you.
And it's an odd thing for me to say, but if I make a list of the men that I [B] respect most in this life, my son is on that [F] list.
_ [C] So I wrote this song for [E] him because I wanted [G] to communicate what it feels like to be a [C] parent _ in combat conditions. _ _
And so this is called My Heart Across the Ocean. _
_ _ _ _ [Am] _ _ _ _
[G] _ _ [C] _ _ _ _ _ _
[Am] _ _ _ _ [G] _ [C] I am an [Em] American [C] father, _ _ _ and as countless [Dm] fathers have done [Bm] before, _ _
[G] _ [C] I hide my [Am] tears in the middle of the night, _ _ _ [F] for I've sent [C] my American son to war.
_ _ [A] _
Far from this fruited [F] plain, [C] to the eye of a [Dm] desert storm, _ [D] so proud of the man [F] he's made of himself.
_ [Bb] Semper Fi [Em] and uniform, _ _ [G] _ [C] planes and tanks in satellite form. _ _ _ _ _
_ Flashing across [Dm] on our [Bm] TVs, _
_ [G] _ but [C] we still have [Am] commercials in between.
_ _ _ [F] The Wall [C] Street scores and the casualties.
_ _ _ So I pray my prayers [G] as best [C] I can, hold on tight [A] to the notion.
_ _ But all [C] of life [G] is in _ [Am] God's _ [C] hands, and my heart is [A] across [G] _ the [C] ocean. _ _
_ _ [A] _ _ _ _ [G] _ _
[C] _ _ _ _ [B] _ [A] _ _ _
_ _ [C] I was never in the military.
_ _ _ [F] My [C] father served [Dm] and now my [G] son.
_ _ [G] _ Sometimes [C] I wonder [Am] if it had to be. _ _ _
Could [F] I ever do what they have [C] done? _
_ _ _ [G] But every day I look for hope.
[C] My [Dm] fear's under my breath, [G] for all parents share [F] the same nightmare. _
_ [Bb] That we might follow [Em] our child in death.
_ _ _ [C] So many [G] mothers and [C] fathers now.
_ _ At the [F] very start [Dm] they were just like [Bm] me. _ _
[G] Now [C] their sons and daughters [Am] are standing _ watch.
_ [F] On the other [C] side of eternity.
_ _ _ _ So I pray for them, _ [G] and I pray [C] for myself.
With faltering _ _ _
[A] devotion.
_ To [G] the one who shares our _ [Am] sorrows and cares.
[C] For my [A] heart is across [G] the _ [F] ocean.
_ [B] My [C] heart is across [G] the [C] ocean. _ _
[Am] My heart [Am] is across _ _
_ [E] _ the [C] _ ocean. _
_ _ _ _ _ [A] _ _ _
[G] _ _ [C] _ _ _ _ [Em] _ _
[Am] _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _