“The City and the River”- The Rescues
Transcribed by Robin Young
Note: The way that the chords are played varies a lot. There are different
inversions in the verses (C-/G, Eb/Bb, Eb/G) as well as chords being played
without thirds (C-5, Ab5, Eb5). It wouldn’t be possible to articulate all of these
differences from line to line, but it’s a cool sound to vary it up sometimes.
INTRO:
C- Ab Eb (2x)
VERSE 1:
C-
Two centuries
Ab Eb
Since I first saw you weave
C- Ab Eb
Like a dance around my heart
C-
You grew wild when it rained
Ab Eb
I dug deep into the slate
C- Ab Eb
So we’d never be apart
CHORUS:
Bb Ab Eb
You, you always stayed by me
Bb Ab Eb
You, you wander but never leave
C- Bb Ab Eb
And I’m the one who watches over you
F-7
That’s what I was built to do
C- Ab Eb (2x)
VERSE 2:
C-
Laid the track, poured the streets
Ab Eb
Ties of glass and concrete
C- Ab Eb Eb9 Eb
In silence, you watched what I became
C-
You lifted me up
Ab Eb
Said I’d stand at the top
Eb9 C- Ab Eb
And all the world would know my name
(CHORUS)
BRIDGE:
F-7 Eb Bb (2x)
F-7 Eb
Love, don’t you weep
Bb
You know we cannot keep
F-7 Eb Bb
This moment here together
F-7 Eb
If you could only see
Bb
The beauty that I see
F-7 Eb Bb
We’d go on forever
VERSE 3:
C-
And as I turn to rust
Ab Eb
Start to crack, betray us
C- Ab Eb
You, you haven’t aged a day
C-
When it’s time for me to go
Ab Eb
Promise me that you’ll flow
Ebmaj7/G C- Ab Eb
Until the ocean washes you away
CHORUS:
Bb Ab Eb
You, you always stayed by me
Bb Ab Eb
You, you wander but never leave
C- Bb Ab Eb
And I’m the one who watches over you
C- Bb Ab Eb
I’m the one who watches over you
C- Bb Ab Eb
I’m the one who watches over you
F-7
That’s what I was built to do
C- Ab Eb