American Spirits Chords

[Verse 1]
        D                         Em
I was raised on a Jesus who was white and prestigious
         G                              D
Said he never would leave our little country behind
            D                             Em
Said the pledge of allegiance, said I'd never smoke weed
             G                            D
And that my Bible, I'd read it, when I couldn't decide
           D                      Em
But the sermons were telling me Hell was a felony
        G                           D
And heaven's the guilty plea that keeps me alive
         D                                Em
So my friend went and shot himself, the Jesus he asked for help
       G                              D
Was probably somewhere else, said, "son, get in line"
 
 
[Chorus]
     D
Oh lord, can you hear it?
        Em
The American spirit
          G
I don't wanna go near it
           D
You can smoke one outside
         D
You can try to veneer it
        Em
The American spirit
           G
Oh, but something will smear it
           D
Just you give it the time
 
 
[Verse 2]
       D                        Em
I was born in a city built on homes of the Cherokee
      G                     D
And named after Muskogee words to describe
      D                   Em
We hijack the narrative, say that it's heritage
  G                              D
Tell them how good it is that history's white
   D                           Em
Leave out the stolen land, replace it with Dixieland
         G                            D
And everyone claps their hands and sings its delight
          D                        Em
You can face it or just forget, I ask for a cigarette
      G                      D
You hand me a silhouette smoking a pipe
 
 
[Chorus]
    D
Oh lord, can you hear it?
       Em
The American spirit
          G
I don't wanna go near it
          D
You can smoke one outside
         D
You can try to veneer it
        Em
The American spirit
            G
Oh, but something will smear it
           D
Just you give it the time
 
 
[Verse 3]
      D                            Em
I believed in a master plan, the natural good in man
     G                           D
Eventually shows its hand and takes home the pot
            D                           Em
But I'm holding my hopes within, get fooled once get fooled again
           G                      D
You're bleeding American for something it's not
 
 
[Chorus]
     D
Oh lord, can you hear it?
        Em
The American spirit
           G
I don't wanna go near it
          D
You can smoke one outside
         D
You can try to veneer it
        Em
The American spirit
            G
Oh, but something will smear it
           D
Just you give it the time
 
 
[Chorus/Outro]
         D
You can try to steer it
         Em
The American spirito
            G
Oh, but something commandeers it
           D
Like the wind in the pines
           D
You can face it or just forget
   Em
I ask for a cigarette
     G
You hand me a silhouette
   D
Smoking a pipe