Chords for Joey Ryan shares the pain of the father during childbirth

[N] _ [C#] Thank you very much.
[F] _ _ I get very [C#] jealous of my bandmate Kenneth.
[C] _ _
[C#] He can play guitar, he always gets all the [F#] applause.
_ [D] _ _ In the middle [F#m] of the songs, I never really get any [F#] recognition.
[Bm] _ _ _ [G] _
_ _ _ [C] _ [Bm] _ [F#m] _ _ _
[G#] _ _ _ [F#] _ _ [Em] _ _ _
_ [D#] _ _ Thank [B] you.
_ [F#] _
_ [E] I really wasn't [Fm] asking for that, although it [C] seemed obvious [E] that I was.
_ [B] _ _ _ [Fm] _
_ [Bm] _ _ _ [A] _ _ [G#] _
[C#] I can do other things that Kenneth can't do, though.
[F#] _ _
_ _ I'm really fine with it.
[B] _ _
Like, I have a kid. _ _ _
_ _ _ _ [E] _ _ _ _
[B] _ _ [Fm] _ _ [B] _ _ [Fm] I make my [G#m] own people.
_ [F#] _ _ _ _
_ _ [C#m] _ _ [G#] _ _ _
Having a kid has been [D#] the greatest thing I've ever done in my [F#] life.
And I've already [E] played [F#] in Hardly Strictly Bluegrass [B] twice [F#] now.
_ [Bm] _
_ _ [F#] _ _ [B] _ _ _ [F#]
But having a kid is [C#] better.
_ _ [F#] _ _
_ _ _ [G#] _ _ _ _
Having the [F#] kid, you know, this last year and a half has been a [G#] magnificent experience.
And [C#] having the kid that day that we had [F#] him, _ that childbirth, _ _ [F#m] was the _ longest, [D] most difficult, and most painful [F#m] day of my life.
_ _ _ [F#] _
_ _ _ [G#m] _ _ _ [F] And I know that I [D] didn't even really do [C#] most of the heavy lifting.
[D] _ _
[F#] _ _ But the pain [F#m] and suffering of the mother in [G#] childbirth is well documented.
Whereas _ the [F#] _ [E] sacrifice _ _ of [F#] the father in childbirth is actually an [C#] underrepresented voice in [F] our society.
_ [B] _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ [D#] I think it's important that we [C#] break the [E] silence _ and come [C#m] together, _ raise our voices and give [F#] each other strength. _
_ _ _ _ _ [B] _ _ _
[C#] Tell our [E] stories.
My story, everybody's story is different.
My [F#] story begins _ about two weeks before the [C#] actual due date.
[F#] And it's set right here in the Bay Area.
We were playing in Berkeley, [F#m] in the East Bay.
We had two shows.
[B] _ And [F#m] my _ _ son [F#] was supposed to be born two weeks later, but [Fm] he _ [C#] came on [F#] the day of the [G#] last show.
So we [C] had to cancel _ [E] our second show at the Freight and [Em] Salvage.
_ [G#] _ _ _
[B] So, you know, [F] right [D#] off the bat, my son [F#] was born in debt to Kenneth about 400 bucks.
[B] _ _
_ _ [F#] _ _ And I [Dm] got to cover [Fm] that.
_ _ [D] _ [F#] _ _ _ [F#m] And also the [Fm] labor [Dm] started in the middle of the night.
My wife [F#] is down in Southern California.
[B] _ _ And she calls me [F#] about two in the morning on [D] FaceTime as I'm about to go to sleep [F#m] drunk from the show the night before.
_ [B] And she [F#] says, I'm in labor.
_ _ I'm going, oh, [B]
great.
_ [F#] _ Like, are you sure? _
_ _ _ _ We got a show tomorrow.
Do you think you can hold it? _ _ _ _
_ _ _ [F] We had a contract, so [F#] I didn't want to break it.
_ _ _ But she clearly needed [Fm] me there as quickly as [E] possible.
So I did.
I booked myself [C#] on the 7 a.m. from Oakland down to Burbank.
And we did the [D] first five hours of labor together on [F#] FaceTime _ [C#] over the phone.
So just immediately, my entire [F#] month of data is shot. _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ And I knew it was going to be a big day, so I wanted to get some sleep.
But she kept me up the whole time, staying with her. _
[C#] And I'm pretty sure she got a few minutes, you know, there on the floor [F#] between contractions throughout the night.
So she was [F] ahead of me on the sleep front when I got [F#] home that next morning at 8 a.m. and drove to the hospital.
Just keeping a tally here.
_ _ _ [F#m] _ _ And then the drive to the hospital was very scary, because at that time, it had been [F#] a while, and the contractions were really close together.
[F#m]
And [E] we didn't know if we [F] would make it, but we [F#] finally got there.
And we got into the hospital, we got to [F#m] the doctors, and then we thought, everything's going to be OK.
Now you think everything's going [F#] to be OK.
_ _ [C#] But it's not this _ magical, _ [F#m] beautiful, _ natural _ experience that some people make it out to be.
This is a [C#] violent, _ dangerous, disgusting medical emergency [F] for like 18 hours straight. _
And I got [F#] to watch the person that I love most in the world go through the most horrible pain that a human being can endure.
And it was [D] really hard [Fm] on me.
_ [F#] _ _ [D#] _
_ _ _ [G#m] _ _ _ [B] _ _
_ _ _ [F#] And we had all the drugs, too.
[B] _ _ _ We had [F#] all, if they offered it, we took it.
And I know _ we're up here in San Francisco, _ _ and our [D] audiences, festival audiences, our audiences are self [C#]-selecting, progressive crowds.
_ _ [F#] Some people nowadays, you [F#m] tell them you had the drugs during childbirth, they look at you [F#] like you just vaccinated your kid. _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ [D#] _
_ [E] _ _ _ We had [C#] all the drugs, and it didn't make it any better.
_ [E] _ _ [F#] And finally the kid was born, right?
[C#] And now I think, [G#] OK, it's been 40 [C#] hours, now I can finally get some [G#] sleep.
_ [F#] _ _
_ They show me to the room where I'm supposed to sleep in the hospital, and I'm [C#] sharing it for some reason with my wife.
[F#] _ _ Some sort of shortage [F#m] at the hospital.
_ _ And they wheel in [C] this [F#m] cot _ for me, _ which is about [C] 5 1⁄2 feet long with [F#] a paper-thin mattress and _ actual paper sheets.
_ _ [C#]
Meanwhile, my wife is in this big, [F#] beautiful, electric, _ adjustable bed.
[F#m] She's got her head up, she's got her feet up, the doctors are in and out bringing her juice, [F#] water, helping her walk. _ _
_ [Bm] _ _ Just leaving me [F#m] to fend entirely for myself, how very neglected.
_ _ That [C#] entire first night, and again, I got no sleep.
I'm on two full nights of no [C] sleep at this point, and it's not looking good.
_ [A#] _
_ _ [D] _ If my wife [F#] wouldn't have switched beds with me on the second night, I don't think I would have.
[A] _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ [F#] But we made it through together, [D] and I think it's important, it feels good to have told you this story, to get it off my chest.
Thank you for listening. _