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Was He Ever Alive? chords by
Swans
Swans
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N/A•
Key: E major•
Verse 1
D
D

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Dm
Dm

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D
D

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When I die let me down

In the field in the ground
Dm
Dm

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D
D

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Where the water runs beneath me
Dm
Dm

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D
D

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And the sky's red and falling down
Dm
Dm

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D
D

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Round my eyes that I closed
Dm
Dm

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D
D

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And the world that I know
Dm
Dm

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D
D

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Is a shadow of a dream
Dm
Dm

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D
D

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That left me in my loneliness
Dm
Dm

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D
D

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Without a life behind me

That I can say I ever knew

That I can say I ever knew
Dm
Dm

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D
D

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Dm
Dm

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That I can say I ever lived at all
D
D

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Verse 2

Dm
Dm

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D
D

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Now I'm a drunken man
Dm
Dm

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D
D

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and I'm killing time
Dm
Dm

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D
D

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From what was mislaid
Dm
Dm

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D
D

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i've never been alive
Dm
Dm

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D
D

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I was never born in blood
Dm
Dm

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D
D

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I've nev er breathed a word
Dm
Dm

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D
D

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And the people that I knew
Dm
Dm

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D
D

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The women and the thieves
Dm
Dm

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D
D

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They left my body bleeding
Dm
Dm

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D
D

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On this piece of fallow ground
Dm
Dm

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D
D

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They left my body bleeding
Dm
Dm

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D
D

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On this piece of closing in
Dm
Dm

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D
D

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They left my body bleeding
Dm
Dm

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D
D

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Dm
Dm

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D
D

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Dm
Dm

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On this piece of
D
D

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Dm
Dm

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emptiness
D
D

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Dm
Dm

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D
D

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They left my body bleeding

On this piece of fallow ground

Where famine comes before me

And cuts my people down

Where the brown cloud

shuts the sun
Dm
Dm

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D
D

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And locusts eat our food

And the blood of lamb is spilled
Dm
Dm

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D
D

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And smeared across the altar

And the colors red and gold
Dm
Dm

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D
D

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Put their flavor in our soul

And the children are born blind
Dm
Dm

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D
D

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And the water turns to blood

And we're sheltered by our god

Who's hand is strong and bloody

And we're walking
Dm
Dm

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D
D

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earth that's filled

With the bodies that he's killed

To get our people free to get

our people out

To get our people free

to get our people out

He'll drown em in black waters
Dm
Dm

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D
D

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He'll send a swarm of flies

Yeah, he'll slaughter those that kill us

And he'll punish them that hide
Dm
Dm

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D
D

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Where was it decided? Where
Dm
Dm

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D
D

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was it described
Dm
Dm

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D
D

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That a man he gets no substance

That as he lays there as he dies

He ceases to believe
Dm
Dm

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D
D

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He was ever born in blood
Dm
Dm

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D
D

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That his eyes have ever seen

That his hands have ever held
Dm
Dm

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D
D

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Dm
Dm

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D
D

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That his lungs have ever breathed

That he's ever been alive

was he ever live?
Dm
Dm

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D
D

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Was he ever live? Was he ever live?

Was he ever live?
D
D

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An acoustic guitar head with tuning pegs

Tuning:Standard Open Tuner
Chords

  • D

  • Dm

Capo: 2

Transpose: 0

0

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Frequently asked questions

The original key of Was He Ever Alive? by Swans is E major.

The primary chords used in Was He Ever Alive? are E, Em.

To play in the original key, place your capo on the 2 fret.

Yes, this version uses open chords like E, Em, making it a great song for beginner guitarists.

The tempo of Was He Ever Alive? is approximately 49 beats per minute.

You can easily change the key of Was He Ever Alive? using our Transpose button located in the toolbar. This will automatically update all chord diagrams on the page to match your new key.

Yes! Click the Print icon to generate a clean, one-page version of the chords and lyrics for Was He Ever Alive?. This is perfect for practicing offline or adding to a physical songbook.

Yes, we have integrated a Mini-Tuner directly on this page. Use it to quickly check your string pitch (Standard Tuning: E A D G B E) before you start playing along with Swans.

Absolutely. Click the Save or Heart icon to add Was He Ever Alive? to your account. You can access all your saved songs under My Library at any time.

You can view the full chord sheet and lyrics for Was He Ever Alive? by Swans on this page for free. We provide high-quality, verified chords to help you start playing immediately.