Long Story Short

   C   Am/F  G   G7    F   Csus2/B
E|-----------3----1----1-----------| 
B|-1----1----3----0----1----1------| 
G|-0----2----0----0----2----0------| 
D|-2----3----0----0----3----0------| 
A|-3---------2----2----3----2------| 
E|-----------3----3----1-----------| 

  G walk (G*) C walk (C*)/G walk (G*)
E|----------|---------------| 
B|----------|---------------| 
G|----------|---------------| 
D|----------|---------------| 
A|---0-2-3--|-3-2-0---0-2-3-| 
E|-3--------|-------3-------| 


[Intro]
C


[Verse 1]
                    Am/F     C
Here I am standing, ten feet between us
                    Am/F             C
Beside me, the door that I just came through
                                  Am/F      C
Where I walked past an overweight cop in an alley
                                Am/F         C
With a beer gut bursting from a bullet proof jacket
                             Am/F       C
Who thinks to himself, "I've got to get back


[Refrain]
                           Am/F    C
To the man that I was when I was a dreamer"
                              G*     C
With a partner in crime named Brandy McGill


[Verse 2]
                           Am/F        C
A girl with a love of life bigger than normal
                           Am/F      C
Who still wonders when her life will begin
                           Am/F         C
Her best friend Maria who seems to have everything
                            Am/F    C
Tells her she probably just needs a vacation
                            Am/F      C
Away from the stress of her husband's vocation
                        Am/F      C
While Maria is talking, Brandy is drifting
                    Am/F         C
Staring at John who just got the job
                         Am/F      C
Busing tables to pay for Community College
                        Am/F  C
An Associates degree in x-ray technology
G                  G7
John is too old to still be in college
   F                      G*                C
He doesn't like class and sometimes doesn't go


[Refrain]
                      Am/F       C
Long story short, his family was broken
                                   G*          C
He was freed from a past life as a kid on Skid Row


[Verse 3]
                       Am/F     C
He notices Brandy, but stares at Maria
                             Am/F      C
Her beauty well-practiced in casting a spell
                        Am/F         C
Imagining her naked, he spills dirty dishes
                         G*          C
On the lap of an elderly woman named Belle
                         Am/F        C
A lady who won't live to see her next birthday
                        Am/F          C
But shares a warm smile regardless of that


[Refrain]
                      Am/F                 C
The mess that unfolds completely surrounds her
               C*      G*         C
Not one bit of urgency enters her soul
                         Am/F    C
She reaches for Roy, her husband forever
                            G*             C
In love and connection, her small hand, he holds


[Bridge]
C Am/F C
C Csus2/B C
C Am/F C
C Csus2/B C


[Verse 4]
                              Am/F      C
And nothing comes of it but a managers' anger
                          Am/F     C
Not for the mess, but her father's remark
                           Am/F     C
About a bad grade that she had as a child
                                Am/F   C
So she takes her revenge out by firing John
                         Am/F      C
Who now wonders when his life will begin


[Refrain]
G                     G7
Ain't it confusing to search for the will
    F                           G*               C
And learn when you find it that you've lost your way?
                     Am/F  C
Long story short, he saw a commercial
                   C*          G*            C
That said that the 20s are the prime of your life


[Verse 5]
                            Am/F         C
But that doesn't seem to be true at this moment
                                Am/F           C
As he cleans out his locker and calls his best friend
                                  Am/F          C
Who's too busy to talk cause he's prepping with lawyers
                       Am/F         C
To keep money from his ex-wife, the mother
                        Am/F      C
Of their only son who's naturally drawn


[Refrain]
                              Am/F       C
To guns and sharp objects who now has no father
                        G*          C
Except for on weekends, two times a month


[Outro]
                      Am/F       C
No need to worry, I'm told we're protected
                               Am/F          C
By the men passing laws in the House and the Senate
                           Am/F      C
From people who mix up the truth and reality
                          Am/F       C
With movies and games and ridiculous scenarios
G                 G7
Long story short, best I can tell
F                      G*           C
Children can't be left to raise themselves