Chords for Jackson Browne "Before the Deluge” – Downstream 2021

Hi, I'm Jackson Brown, and this is my friend Val McCallum, _ _ and we're happy to be here to sing for
_ Tennessee Riverkeepers and all the water keepers and all the water protectors throughout the land
Who are working to protect the natural [F] world
_ clean up our waterways _
for future generations
_ This _ is called
before the deluge
Some _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ of them were dreamers _ _
[Bb] _ Some of them were [F] fools
[Dm] Who were making _ [Bb] plans and thinking [F] of the future?
_ [Bb] _ _ [F] _ _ and with the energy of the innocent
_ [Bb] They were gathering the [F] tools
They [Dm] would need to make [Bb] their journey
[F] back to nature
_ _ _ _ _ [Dm] while the sand
slips [F] through the opening
[Bb] And their hands reach [F] for the golden ring
_ [Dm] With their hearts [C] they turn [Bb] to each other's [F] hearts for [C] refuge
And [Dm] _ _ [C] _ [Dm] the troubled [C] [Bb] years that came
_ [F] before the deluge
_ Some _ _ _ _ of them knew pleasure
_ some _ [Bb] _
of [F] them knew pain
[Dm] And for some of them [Bb] it was only the moment [F] that mattered
_ And _ _ on the brave and crazy wings of youth
[Bb] They went flying around in [F] the rain
_ [Dm] And their feathers [Am] went so [Bb] fine and grew [F] torn and tattered
_ _ _ _ And [Dm] in the end they traded their [F] tired wings [Bb] for the
resignation of [F] the living brain
_ [Dm] And [C] exchanged love's [Bb] bright and fragile glow [F] for the [C] glitter and the rue
[Dm] In _ [C] _ [Dm] a moment [E] they were [Bb] swept
_ [F] before the deluge
[Bb] _ [F] _ Let the music keep our spirits high
[Bb] _ _ _ [F] Let _
_ _ [Bb] _ the buildings [F] keep our children's right
Let _ _ _ creation [C] reveal its secrets [F] by and by
_ [Gm] _ [Bb] _ By [F] and by
_ [Gm] _ [Bb] _ When [F] the light that's lost [Bb] within us [F] reaches the sky _
_ _ [F] _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ [Dm] _ _
_ _ [Bb] _ _ _ _ _ [F] _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ [Bb] _
_ [F] _ _ _ _ _ _ [Dm] _
_ _ [Bb] _ _ _ _ _ [F] _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ [Dm] _
_ _ _ [F] _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
[Dm] _ _ [Bb] _ _ _ _ _ [F] _
[C] _ _ _ _ [F] _ _ [C] _ _
[E] _ [D] _ _ [F] _ _ [Bb] _ _ [G] _
[F] _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ Some of them were angry _ _
[Bb] At the way the earth was [F] abused
[Dm] By the men who had [Bb] learned how to force her beauty [F] into power
_ [Bb] _ [F] _ _ _ And they struggled to protect her from them
_ [Bb]
Only to be [F] confused
_ [Dm] By the magnitude [C] of her [Bb] fury in the [F] final hour
_ [Bb] _ [F] _ _ _ When [Dm] the sand was [F] gone and the time arrived
In [Bb] the naked dawn [F] only a few survived
_ [Dm] And in attempts [F] to [Bb] understand a thing so [C] simple and so [Dm] huge
_ [F] _ [C] [Dm] Believed that they were meant to [C] [Bb] live
_ [C] After [F] the deluge
[Bb] _ [F] _ Let the music keep our spirits _ [Dm] [Bb] high
_ [Dm] Let _
[Bb] _ _ _ the buildings [F] keep our children's [C] _ [Gm] [Bb] right
_ _ [F] Let creation [C] reveal its secrets [F] by and by
_ [Bb] _ _ _ By and [F] _
by
[Gm] _ [Bb] _ _ [F] When the light that's [Bb] lost within us reaches [F] the sky
Let _ _ [C] _ _ [F] _ _ _
_ [Bb] _ [F] _ _ _ _ _ _
_ [Bb] _ _ _ _ _ [F] _ _
_ [Bb] _ _ _ _ _ [F] _ _
_ _ [C] _ _ _ [Gm] _ [F] _ _
_ _ [Gm] _ _ _ _ [F] _ _
_ _ [Bb] _ _ _ [Am] _ [F] _ _
_ _ _ _ [Bb] _ _ [F] _ _
_ _ _ [C] the music [F] keep our spirits _ [Bb] high
_ _ [Dm] _ _
[Bb] _ _ _ Let the [F] buildings keep our children's [Bb] right
Let _ [F] _ _
_ creation [C] reveal its secrets [F] by and _ by
[Dm] _ [Bb] _ By [F] and _ by
[Gm] _ _ [Bb] When [F] the light that's [Bb] lost within us
When [F] the light that's [Bb] lost within us
When [F] the light that's [Dm] lost within [Bb] us
[F] Reaches the sky
_ _ _ [F] _ [Bb] _ _ _ _
_ [F] _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ [N] _ _