Silent Key
By Frank Turner
From 'Positive Songs for Negative People'
Capo 2
EADGBe
A x02220
A7 x02020
Bm x24432
Bsus4 x22452
C# x42000 *
D xx0232
Em 022000
Em7/D xx0030
G 320033
Gm 3x0333
*Not entirely sure what this chord is.
-INTRO-
e|------------------------0--
B|------------------------0--
G|--7---9---11--2---3---4-4--
D|--x---x---x---x---x---x-x--
A|--5---7---9---0---1---2-2--
E|---------------------------
In the acoustic version he also occasionally plays the riff like this:
e|-------------------------0---
B|-------------------------0---
G|--7---9---11--2---11--12-12--
D|--x---x---x---x---x---x--x---
A|--5---7---9---0---9---10-10--
E|-----------------------------
-VERSE 1-
D A G Em D
On the 28th of January 1986 Christa McAuliffe
A G
Gazed in horror as the O-rings failed,
Em
And she died, and she died, and she died.
D A G Em
For the next agonising two minutes and forty-five long seconds
D A G
She called out the truth on a broken radio:
Em
"I'm alive, I'm alive, I'm alive".
-CHORUS-
A C# D
It came as some surprise to realise that
G
As she lost everything
A C# D
The world was revealed in a transmission so real
G
That she understood everything:
You're still alive.
(INTRO RIFF)
You're still alive.
-VERSE 2-
D A G
Four thousand nautical miles as the crow flies away
Em D A G
A home-made ham radio in the loft of a Hampshire family home
Em
Came alive, came alive, came alive.
D A G
And so the four year old amateur operator thus became
Em D A G
The only person to hear Christa's last desperate communique:
Em
"We're alive, we're alive, we're alive".
-CHORUS-
A C# D
It came as some surprise to realise that
G
As she lost everything
A C# D
The world was revealed in a transmission so real
G
That she understood everything:
You're still alive.
(PLAY FIRST CHORD FROM INTRO RIFF)
And Christa said:
-OUTRO-
-It was a little tricky to decipher exactly how he plays this part but I reckon these chords work pretty well.
-Please comment if you can figure it out a little better.
D Gm
"The darkness up above
Em7/D D
Led me on like unrequited love,
Bm Bsus4
While all the things I need
A A7
Were down here in the deep blue sea."
D Gm Em7/D D Bm
At four years old I heard the truth on my radio,
Bsus4 A A7
So now I keep a moment's silence for my Silent Key.
(END ON INTRO RIFF)