Chords for Sting - The Empty Chair - Nashville TN - 02/28/2017

_ _ So it's always my practice to leave you with something quiet and thoughtful _ so you can
go home quiet and [B] thoughtful and not too rowdy.
[D] _ _ [G#] On _
[G] _ Sunday I performed at [G#] the Academy Awards, [N] _
_ _ _ _ which was a great honor for me and I really
enjoyed doing it.
I sang a song called Derby Chair and it was written for a documentary about a young [B] American
photojournalist called James [G#] Foley.
James [D] Foley, if you remember, [D#] was the man who was [G] beheaded publicly by ISIS in [B] 2014
in northern [N] Syria.
So it was a heavy subject to write a song about.
The producer showed me the [C] film.
He [C#] said, would you do it?
I said, no, I can't possibly [E] write a song at the end of this film.
I'm too emotionally destroyed.
There's no [C#m] way.
It's beyond my powers to write [F] this song.
He [G] said, well, think about it.
So I went home that night.
It was Thanksgiving [B] last year.
[E] And I sat with Judy, my wife, [B] and some of my [C#] kids.
And I had this thought.
I thought, you know, if [G#] one of my kids was in captivity, [Cm] in grave [N] danger somewhere far
away, what would I feel like?
What would I do?
[F] I would probably have some [D] kind of [G#m] ritual at a dinner table.
I'd probably leave a place for them [G#] or leave an empty chair.
[G] Hopefully, one day they'd come back and fill it.
And once I had that thought, [C#] I realized the empty [G] chair was, of course, a metaphor which
I could write the song around.
[N] And so the next day I [D#] sent them the song.
[N] And it was nominated for an Oscar.
So we didn't win, but I was happy to _ [B] honor [G#] this man who really gave his [N] life to tell the truth.
He gave up his life to tell the truth.
And he demands our respect.
_ Thank _ _ _ you.
_ [E] _ _ _
_ _ _ _ [A] _ _ [E] _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ [B] _ _
_ _ [E] _ _ _ _ _ _
_ [A] _ [C#] _ _ _ [E] _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ [G#m] _ _
_ [B] _ _ [E] _ _ _ _ _
_ [C#m] _ _ _ _ _ _ [E] _
_ _ _ _ _ _ And [A] somehow [B] I'll [E] be there. _ _ _
_ Just put a concrete floor [C#m] where my head [E] will lay.
Though the walls in this [B] prison [G#m] are as cold [B] as clay.
[E] But there's a shaft of light where [C#] I count my days.
So don't [E] despair.
_ [A] The empty [Em] chair.
And somehow [B] I'll [E] be there. _ _ _ _ _
Days I'm [A] strong, some [E] days I'm weak.
_ [C#m]
Days I'm [A] so broken I can [E] barely speak.
So place in [A] my head where my [E] thoughts are warm.
_ [F#m] _ [B]
Somehow I've come.
[E] _ _ And when the winter _ comes and the trees lie bare.
And you just stare out the window in the [B] darkness there.
[E] Well, I was always late [C#m] for every meal you'll swear.
_ [A] But keep my [E] place in the empty _ [Em] chair.
[E] And somehow I'll [C#] be there.
[A] And somehow [E] _ [B] I'll [E] be there. _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ [Em] _ _ _ _ [N] _ _
Thanks for coming tonight.
Thanks for listening.
Good night.
God bless you.
Brazil!
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