Buttons chords by Josh Pyke

Intro:
Am Bm C D


Verse 1:
Am         Bm        C
 In my mind, not enough birds have died
    D            Am
In the shadow of this once cast stone
    Bm          C
And I'm not unwell, but I am ill at ease
       D           Am
With all the buttons still left to sew
    Bm   C      D          Am   Bm
Through needles eyes, see me sharper than I see myself

Refrain:
       G     D   Am      C
So you should stitch me in to stop me from bleeding


Verse 2:
Am           Bm      C
 And education can be fickle I think
       D
Sometimes the more you learn
  Am       Bm             C
The more you lose a sense of what you think you know
       D           Am
About all the buttons still left to sew
  Bm   C      D          Am   Bm
And I'm outside myself more and more these days


Refrain:
       G     D    Am      C
So you should stitch my skin to stop me from bleeding
               Am
All over this fresh song and I
          Em
Acknowledge all the corners
          G    D      Am       C
And all the freshly painted walls, that bear no former scars
                 Am
Since they're patched up and over now
         Em
But I was born of miners
          G   D   Am      C
And I'm designed to chip away, tunnel into the dark


Chorus:
C          G            D
 But why must it always come down to some unseen contender?
Am Bm   C
I  don't know
            G           D        Am
When hatchlings all we are just battling the whitewash birds above
Bm    C
Sharks below
         G                 D
Though I feel empathy towards the ones who threaten me
             Am       Bm    C    G/F#
I'd still leave them soft-shelled to the beaks of crows


Bridge:
Em             G
 But every now and then a tempest blows
Em            B7
 And the veneer I keep becomes unsewn
  C           G
But will you ever read me well?
 C
I can only assume so
Em            G
 And I'm buoyant like a flotsam man
Em         B7
 Relegated by the waves to land
   C           G
They dry me like a brittle bone
 C          Am  C  G  D  Em G/F#
Paraded like a polished stone


Chorus:
C          G            D
 But why must it always come down to some unseen contender?
Em G/F#  C
I  don't know
            G           D        Em
When hatchlings all we are just battling the whitewash birds above
G/F#   C
Sharks below
         G                 D
Though I feel empathy towards the ones who threaten me
             Em       G/F#   C  G  D  Em G/F#
I'd still leave them soft-shelled to the beaks of crows


Chorus:
C          G            D
 But why must it always come down to some unseen contender?
Em G/F#  C
I  don't know
            G           D        Em
When hatchlings all we are just battling the whitewash birds above
G/F#   C
Sharks below
         G                 D
Though I feel empathy towards the ones who threaten me
             Em       G/F#   C  G  D Em
I'd still leave them soft-shelled to the beaks of crows
          G/F#   C  G  D Em
And that's what you ought to know
              G/F#  C  G  D Em   G/F#  C  G  D Em
I'd see them smashed on the reefs below