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Starry Stairs

Okkervil River
Version1
90

Chords in this song

Strum
D-DU-UDU
 They asked for more.
 (What do you think  this fan club is for?)
 I slithered up  each rose corridor.
 I kept a warm,  safe place at my core,
 before I lost  it.
 They asked for blood.
 What do you think  this woman's made of?
 I stuck a small,  thin pin in my thumb.
 They dreamt a low,  long line to be crossed--
 and I crossed  it.
 I'm alive,  but a different kind of alive
 than the way I used to be.
 I retire  to a split white smile to be seen
 in an old stag magazine.
 (VERSE)
 And this girl's eyes,
 when they were roughly wrenched open, I
 could see a starry stair up your thigh.
 You hid behind your hair (oh, but I
 saw you were smiling),
 (CHORUS)
 while all these guys,  all these curious sets of eyes,
 safe behind a TV screen,
 I let them pry,  pick apart and hang up to dry
 almost every piece of me.
(If  you don't love me, I'm sorry.)
 (VERSE)
 Oh, what a trip.
 Oh, what a shimmering silver ship.
 Oh, what a hot half-life I half-lived.
 And the stripes and stars, how they stripped
 off of the siding
 when my life ripped
 off from the part that played as a kid
 into the part that blazed through your lids
 to find a warm, safe place and to sit,
 curled up, inside it.
 (CHORUS)
 So here's "goodbye," from the part that's staying behind
 to the part that has to leave,
 to the sublime lips that were never spoiled by a line,
 to the face inside the beam,
 who wasn't me.
 Who wasn't me, oh  no  no,
 She's not me, oh oh.

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Readable chord sheet for Starry Stairs by Okkervil River

[E]   [E]   [Abm]   [Abm]
[C#m]   [B]   [A]   [A]
[F#m]   [F#m]   [C#m]   [C#m]
[B]   [B]   [C#m] [B]   [A]

They asked for [E]more.
(What do you [Abm]think this fan club is [C#m]for?)      [B]
I slithered [A]up each rose corri[F#m]dor.
I kept a [C#m]warm, safe place at my [B]core,  [C#m]        [B]
before I [A]lost it.
They asked for [E]blood.
What do you [Abm]think this woman's made [C#m]of?        [B]
I stuck a [A]small, thin pin in my [F#m]thumb.
They dreamt a [C#m]low, long line to be [B]crossed-- [C#m]       [B]
and I [A]crossed it.

I'm a[B]live, but a different kind of alive [C#m]
than the way I used to be. [B]     [C#m]           [B]               [A]
I re[B]tire to a split white smile to be seen [C#m]
in an old stag magazine.   [B]       [C#m]             [B]                 [A]

(VERSE)
And this girl's eyes,
when they were roughly wrenched open, I
could see a starry stair up your thigh.
You hid behind your hair (oh, but I
saw you were smiling),

(CHORUS)
while all these [B]guys, all these curious sets of eyes, [C#m]
safe behind a TV screen,   [B]       [C#m]             [B]                 [A]
I let them [B]pry, pick apart and hang up to dry  [C#m]
almost every piece of me.  [B]      [C#m]            [B]                [A]                           [B]                               [C#m]                                     [B]                                         [A]
[N.C.](If you don't love me, I'm sorry.)

[SAME AS INTRO / VERSE]

(VERSE)
Oh, what a trip.
Oh, what a shimmering silver ship.
Oh, what a hot half-life I half-lived.
And the stripes and stars, how they stripped
off of the siding
when my life ripped
off from the part that played as a kid
into the part that blazed through your lids
to find a warm, safe place and to sit,
curled up, inside it.

(CHORUS)
So here's "goodbye," from the part that's staying behind
to the part that has to leave,
to the sublime lips that were never spoiled by a line,
to the face inside the beam,

who wasn't me. [B]     [C#m]           [B]               [A]
Who wasn't me, [B]oh n[C#m]o no, [B]     [A]
She's not me,  [B]    [C#m]      [B]oh  [A]oh.

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