G   C   D   G   C   D


[Verse]
    G
Well some people they claim
                                 C
They never had a fair roll of the dice
               D
They could be right
     G
But that's not me, see I was lucky
                                   C
And just had everything fall in my plate
                      D
Call it fate if you want to
  C                                   D
But for all the elaborate setup and maneuver
         Em                       Dm
Being wheeled into position to deliver some saccharine
  C                       A7
Punch to the guts of a world screaming out
 D
For whatever the hell they think it is that I've got


[Chorus]
  G
Every time I was given a chance
                   C
To stand on my own two feet
     D
Oh I fell, yah
  G
And every time I was given a chance
                    C
To stand on my own two feet
     D
Oh I fell, yah
 G
And every time opportunity knocks on my door
          C                        Cm
I just send it on straight down to hell
G                               Em
'cause every time I was given a chance
    D          C          D      Em
To stand on my own two feet I fell


[Verse]
  G
Well some people they imagine
                               C
The disappointment must tear me apart
           D
Break my heart
   G
And presume I'm disgusted
                         C
By all the injustice I've seen
                           D
But that's not me and I tell you
   C                         D
I bear no resentment to millionaire pop singers
  Em                         E
Barely literate poets and guitar stock gunslingers
     C
And I smile so politely
A
At the well-meaning ignorance
D
Of the people who tell me I'm gonna make it someday


[Chorus]
  G
Every time I was given a chance
                   C
To stand on my own two feet
     D
Oh I fell, yah
  G
And every time I was given a chance
                    C
To stand on my own two feet
     D
Oh I fell, yah
 G
And every time opportunity knocks on my door
          C                        Cm
I just send it on straight down to hell
G                               Em
'cause every time I was given a chance
    D          C          D      Em
To stand on my own two feet I fell

[Instrumental]
D G D C G D


[Verse]
 G
Well the sun's going down on what's left of today
 C                                             D
And the tide drags what's left of this moment away
  G
And so I kick through the dirt and the red autumn leaves
  C                                            D
What I had and what I lost and what I still believe
  G
And I have no regrets for the time that I spent
  C                                        D
Barely paying my dues and barely paying the rent
 G
For a simple pursuit of more honest a life
 C                                      D
Yah I don't cheat on my taxes, I don't cheat on my wife
 G
Now the fire's burning out and the walls closing in
 C                               D
And I'm dragged by the gravity into the sin
 G
Of obedient service of some twisted machine
 C                                 D
Blowing smoke in our faces of each little scene
 G
Set to form a distraction just to buy up some time
 C                                 D
Misdirected by swagger and beaten by rhyme
 G
Telling tales of a life you might one day attain
 C                                      D
If you just keep your focus relentlessly trained
 G
On the things you can get and not who you can be
 C                                   D
No the innocent dream of the sky and the sea
 G
And the word and the truth and the spirit of man
 C                                   D
And a history that promises one day we can
 G
With a love for your brother and your sister and yourself
 C                                     D
Get there one day together in good cheer and good health
 G
But it comes at a cost, yah there's a price that you pay
 C                                      D
For a sweet bowl tomorrow you gotta give up today
 G                            Em
It's a sacrifice way beyond mortals like me
       C                            D
For an age that never was and never could ever be
 G
So I don't dwell on the past, I don't rue my mistakes
 C                                        D
And I'm proud that I never had whatever it takes
 G
Now I'm stood on the deck of this leaky old boat
 C                                    D
With just a shirt on my back and a song in my throat
 G                                          Em
And I'm the luckiest boy on the face of the earth
 C                               D
'Cause I know about love and I know what it's worth
 G                              Em
So I'm not giving up, and I'm not giving in
 C                                  D
Though I know it's a fight that I'm not gonna win
  G
And I still scream in the face of more powerful men:

I choose this, motherfucker, and I choose it again!


[Chorus]
  G
Every time I was given a chance
                   C
To stand on my own two feet
     D
Oh I fell, yah
  G
And every time I was given a chance
                    C
To stand on my own two feet
     D
Oh I fell, yah
 G
And every time opportunity knocks on my door
          C                        Cm
I just send it on straight down to hell
G                               Em          D          C        D
'cause every time I was given a chance to stand on my own two feet
G                               Em          D          C        D
Yah every time I was given a chance to stand on my own two feet
G                               Em          D       C      D
Oh, every time I was given a chance to stand on my own two feet I fell