Amanda Shires

Wasnt I Paying Attention

Amanda Shires


Tom: Dm

Dm Bb Dm Bb Dm
                              Bb
I just had the strangest day of my life
Dm                               Bb
Worse than the last week with my first wife
          Gm
I let John borrow my truck
            F
He said he needed to get some stuff
            Gm
To pay some bills


[Verse 2]
Dm                      Bb               Dm
Nome ain't a city, it's barely a town
                                         Bb
For a place so pretty, it could bring you way down
                    Gm
He kept his huntin' knife titanium-clipped
           F
To a nylon belt set high on his hip
         Gm        A
For self-defense


[Chorus]
         Dm  C  Bb
It was a regular mornin'
   Dm  C        Bb
No red flags or warnings
    Gm
No, nothin' suspicious
        A
Wasn't I payin' attention?


[Verse 3]
Dm                                     Bb              Dm
  I didn't see the full gas can he'd set in the seat
                         Bb
I just nodded and tossed him the keys
          Gm
Did I see shakin' in his hands?
       F
Was he makin' darker plans
Gm
Than usual?


[Verse 4]
Dm                            Bb
John had been clean for over a year now
Dm                            Bb
We all thought he was in the clear now
              Gm
But it wasn't God talkin' to him that day
               F
It was a beast that never goes away
                  Gm           A
It sleeps in your brain


[Chorus]
        Dm    C  Bb
It was a regular mornin'
     Dm       C  Bb
No red flags or warnings
    Gm
No, nothin' suspicious
         A
Wasn't I payin' attention?

Dm   Bb  Dm  Bb

[Verse 5]
Dm                       Bb
Every Sunday was another doomsday
Dm                            Bb
He'd say "Last Judgement's not far away"
                Gm
He talked about evil in his blood
            F
He spoke of fire, he spoke of floods
              Gm
That's how he was


[Chorus]
        Dm    C   Bb
It was a regular mornin'
     Dm       C  Bb
No red flags or warnings
    Gm
No, nothin' suspicious
        A
Wasn't I payin' attention?
         Dm   C   Bb
It was a regular mornin'
   Dm       C     Bb
No red flags or warnings
     Gm
No, nothin' suspicious
         A                      Dm
Wasn't I payin' attention?

[Verse 6]
                         Bb
John drove my truck down to the square
Dm                               Bb
  He thought he would end it all right there
                Gm
He took off his coat, doused himself in gas
             F
Slit his own throat, climbed back into the cab
            Gm       A
And lit the match