---------------------------------------------------------------------------- A Hand to Take Hold of the Scene - Okkervil River ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tuning: Standard / / = 1 measure / /... / = 2 measures of Ebm *Intro* / / ... / ... / ... *Verse 1* / / ... / / ... I'm a band in a show about a man holding hands with his wife / / ... / ... on a therapist's couch, with his face to the ground (after fucking around / / ... countless nights) / / ... / / ... and, in this one episode, close-up cameras are showing him crying, / / / his red head and his red eyes. *Verse 2* / / ... / / ... I'm a band in a show about a boy being buried alive, / / ... / ... from his head to his toes, by a criminal (but with a sensitive soul!) with / / ... a set of raccoon eyes, / / ... and there's this scene in the show when a hustler knows / / ... he's gonna die. / / / The ground opens and he climbs inside. *Chorus* / / / And as he speaks his last line, a thought falls from his mind and I pick it / / / ... up right through the TV: / / ... / /... / Oh oh Is there a hand to take hold of the scene? *Post-Chorus* / / ... / / ... / / ... / / ... *Verse 3* / / ... / / ... I'm a man in a dream and there, dancing in front of my eyes, / / ... / ... is a queen - formed out of flaws, with her eyes all gone odd and a rod / / ... bolted into her spine. / / ... / ... She rises up like a yawn. She grips my heart like a claw. She splits apart / / ... like a jaw, like an eye. / / / And she asks me with a sigh, *Chorus* / / / When we're so far from right, when we're losing the fight, when we're / / / ... letting the light weaken its beam - / / ... / /... / Oh oh Is there a hand to take hold of the scene? *Post-Chorus* / / ... / / ... / / ... / / ... / / ... / / ... / I want a smile like a glistening shard. I want a kiss that's as sharp as a / ... / / ... knife. The day expires, and the / / ... / / ... / / ... dry, cracked, trembling lips God saw fit to put this kiss inside, I / / lift them up to you. / / I'd like to bear witness to a *Verse 4* / / ... / / ... light that is fine and is filling the cryingest eyes, / / ... grace in each face that is making the wastedest, / ... / / ... brokenest ones fairly fly, / / ... / /... love that is innocent of that old cynical, covetous, cancerous vibe, / / / and a beauty that annihilates all *Chorus* / / / life like it's lived in these nights, holding your hatred tight like a sign / that you're right or you're strong. / / / When your doors are shut tight, I will dream you tonight, and my dream will / just sweep you along. / / / When all fires are fanned, when we're shucking our plans, when we're too / / / ... weak to stand on our two feet / / ... / /... / Oh oh Is there a hand to take hold of the scene? / / ... / ... / ... / ... / ... / Ends on a