The Adoptees by Cathal Coughlan
From Cathal Coughlan’s 2006 Foburg album. Written by Cathal Coughlan. No capo.
INTRO
[Bb7]
VERSE 1
[Cm] They dress our [Bm] prostitute as [Gm] Isis [G7sus4]
[Cm] They pour out [Bm] drink and push you [Cm7] in [Cm6]
The [Cm] gunmen see off Saturday with [Abm] needles and with pills
By [Cm] Sunday afternoon you’re hauling [Abm] wagons up a hill
Your [Cm] brow is sweating razors and you [Abm] bite down on the chill
[Cdim] That’s what you get, having [Ab] borrowed from a bank which [F7] kills [Dm7]
VERSE 2
[Cm] Some of us [Bm] used to like to [Gm] gamble [G7sus4]
[Cm] Some made in [Bm] vestments in their [Cm7] veins [Cm6]
[Cm] Some desired deliverance from [Abm] starving foreign bogs
[Cm] Others had big plans but only [Abm] shaky little jobs
[Cm] Now we’ve been adopted, and we’re [Abm] watered, fed and shod
And we [Cdim] hack and we haul and we [Ab] sicken and we fight like [F7] dogs
CHORUS 1
[Cm] We adop [Gm7] tees, [Cm] digging for [Gm7] cameras
[Cm] Hunger and [Gm7] freeze, [Cm] first sign and [Gm7] read
[Cm] Last will and [Gm7] testament, [Cm] live and a [Gm7] gree
[Dm] Biogra [Am7] phies
[Dm] Failed and re [Am7] classified
[Dm] Like your new [F6/A] destiny?
[Ab7] [D7/F#]
[Ab7] [Gm]
[Ab7] [G7]
VERSE 3
[Cm] We fill those [Bm] sacks with dust we’ve [Gm] pounded [G7sus4]
[Cm] Each grain’s a [Bm] camera when [Cm7] charged [Cm6]
[Cm] Back home in the cities there are [Abm] fortunes being made
From [Cm] selling such devices so that [Abm] life can be replayed
For [Cm] law enforcement, entertainment, [Abm] “adult” little games
The [Cdim] irony is nothing, you [Ab] laugh or cry, it ends the [Fm6] same
CHORUS 2
[Cm] We adop [Gm7] tees, [Cm] digging for [Gm7] cameras
[Cm] No win no [Gm7] fee, [Cm] write home and [Gm7] plead
[Cm] “Family, [Gm7] ransom me” – [Cm] interest [Gm7] bleeds
[Dm] Living, they [Am7] leave
[Dm] mostly re [Am7] turning with a [Dm] brother or [F6/A] three
[Ab7] In [D7/F#] tow
[Ab7] now [Gm] owned
[Ab7] [G7]
INTERLUDE
[Emaj7] [Ebmaj7]
You owe more for those tight boots
And more for the sickening food
You owe more for poor old Isis
And for your adoptive daddy’s mood
He comes to visit on a Thursday
He brings his governent man
Office doors are closed and the champagne’s poured
And the scheme is spic-and-span
VERSE 4
[Am] Poor Cousin [Fm] Gregory
Would [Eb6] stop this if he [F#6] could [Gm]
[Am] But ’cause of [Fm] the red tape
[Eb6] He cannot do [Dm7] good
[Bb7]
CHORUS 3/OUTRO
[Cm] We adop [Gm7] tees, [Cm] digging for [Gm7] cameras
[Cm] Noblemen, [Gm7] thieves, [Cm] tough men and [Gm7] weeds
[Cm] Credit and [Gm7] infamy [Cm] made them all [Gm7] mean
[Dm] Empty this [Am7] seam, [Dm] empty a [Am7] thousand seams
[Dm] Where can it [F6/A] lead
[Ab7] Your [D7/F#] word
[Ab7] My bond [Gm]
[Ab7] Nowhere [G7]