Birds Without Wings - by David Gray
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from the album A Century Ends (Caroline Records, 1993)
Transcribed by Tower Kountze

David Gray is an incredible songwriter with a great voice.  He has three CDs out,
but for some reason no one knows him.  I would love to see more of his work
transcribed here, especially his more difficult stuff.

It's basically C and G with a slight variation on G (G*), and an A thrown in toward the end.
(note: G* is just G played with your finger taken off the A string)

The Cords are C, G, G*, except for one part shown below, where an
A is thrown in when "birds without wings" is repeated

Wishing that something would happen 
a change in this place 
'cause I'm tearing off the fancy wrapping
find an empty package 

Take for a while your trumpet from your lip 
loosen your hold, loosen your grip 
on your old ways that have fallen out of step
in a changing time 
hoist a new flag 
hoist a new flag 

Angry sun burn down 
judging us all
guilty of neglect and disrespect
and thinking small 
And death by boredom 
and death by greed 
if we can't stop taking 
more than we need 

Across the fractured the landscape 
I see the same things 
tired ideas 
birds without wings 

[Change in chords: A, C, G]
Birds without wings 
birds without wings 

But these are just thoughts 
on lackluster times 
and I've no interest 
in excuses you can find 

Like you've had a hard day 
now you're too tired to care 
now you're too tired to care 
you've had a hard day 

Well across the fractured landscape 
I see the same things 
tired ideas, broken values 
many with the notion 
that to share is to lose 
a hollow people bound by a lack 
of imagination and too much looking back 
without the courage 
to give a new thing a chance 
grounded by this ignorance 

[Change in chords: D, Am]
When the cat comes 
we're just 
[A, C, G]
birds without wings 

Birds without wings
birds without wings