Tom: Am
INTRO:
Am G Am G Am G G Am
VERSE:
Am C G Em
Just a little general hospital, in a little factory town.
Em G Am D
The board put me in charge for mainly keeping prices down.
C F G Em
I hadn't touched a patient since 1982,
Am F Em Am
But the day of the explosion I remembered what to do.
F Am G E
At eleven in the morning, we all heard the factory blow.
Am F D E
The blast took out the windows, and the shrapnel fell like snow.
F G Em Am
We could get no help from out of town for half a day or more.
F D G Am
We had near a thousand casualties and beds for ninety-four.
CHORUS:
Am G Am G
And can you keep your head, your backbone, or your heart?
Am G Am Am Am
We all found out the answer on the day it fell apart.
VERSE:
Am C G Em
It was worse than combat medicine; supplies were draining fast.
Em G Am D
Bandages ran out and antiseptics wouldn't last.
C F G Em
I took all the able-bodied I could catch inside the door
Am F Em Am
And made them help the doctors to go scrounge supplies and more.
F Am G E
I invented laws to tell them saying in such emergency
Am F D E
Forget your usual job and boss, your orders come from me.
F G Em Am
I sent the cops to commandeer anything in reach:
F D G Am
Food or disinfectant cloth or alcohol or bleach.
CHORUS:
Am G Am G
And can you keep your head, your backbone, or your heart?
Am G Am Am Am
We all found out the answer on the day it fell apart.
VERSE:
Am C G Em
The janitor ran cleanup squad, the cook maintained supplies,
Em G Am D
The garbageman removed the ones who died before our eyes.
C F G Em
The clerks burned all our papers to boil water on the fire
Am F Em Am
For sterilizing instruments, as the body count went higher.
F Am G Em
A local healthfood herbalist brought everything he had.
Am F D E
The painkillers were useful, and the poultices weren't bad.
F G Em Am
A smack and cocaine pusher handed us his whole supply.
F D G Am
The quality was lousy, but a few more didn't die.
CHORUS:
Am G Am G
And can you keep your head, your backbone, or your heart?
Am G Am Am Am
We all found out the answer on the day it fell apart.
VERSE:
Am C G Em
We did triage in the parking lot, ranked minor, major, grave.
Em G Am D
A sad-eyed fireman gave the stroke to those we couldn't save.
C F G Em
Then sometime in the chaos, a director wandered in
Am F Em Am
To tell us we were breaking rules, what trouble we'd be in.
F Am G Em
But if we'd swear the factory was not the fire's cause,
Am F D E
And the harm was accidental, he'd forget the broken laws.
F G Em Am
The staff sneaked up and grabbed him, and tied him to a door.
F D G Em Am Am Am
He gave them blood transfusions 'till he hadn't any more.
INSTRUMENTAL: (Play VERSE chords)
C G Em
Em G Am D
C F G Em
Am F Em Am Am
F Am G Em
Am F D E
F G Em Am Am
F D G Am
CHORUS:
Am G Am G
And can you keep your head, your backbone, or your heart?
Am G Am Am Am
We all found out the answer on the day it fell apart.
VERSE:
Am C G Em
When that day was over, and we'd saved all that we could,
Em G Am D
We saw that law and politics would hang us where we stood.
C F G E
We'd saved eight hundred lives but shattered all authority.
Am F Em Am
I told them, "People, save yourselves, put all the blame on me."
F Am G Em
I took my books and instruments, and a few supplies beside,
Am F D E
Packed my car and ran away to open countryside.
F G Em Am
So now I live an outlaw, condemned by righteous men,
F D G Am
But for all the lives I saved that day ... I'd do it all again.
CHORUS:
Am G Am G
And can you keep your head, your backbone, or your heart?
Am G Am
We all found out the answer on the day it fell apart.
Am G Am G
Can you keep your head, your backbone, or your heart?
Am G Am Am Am
You'll all found out the answer on the day it falls apart.
