Chords for Bruce Springsteen - Devils & Dust - The Story (From VH1 Storytellers)
Tempo:
110.6 bpm
Chords used:
F
C
Bb
G
A
Tuning:Standard Tuning (EADGBE)Capo:+0fret
Start Jamming...
All right, so where does that come from?
Well, [F] I came from, I think I wrote it towards the end of the last tour shortly after we entered Iraq.
First thing you need is a good song title.
So, Devils and Dust, a good song title gets you a long ways.
You need a strong metaphor, focuses and shapes the writing of the rest of the song.
So, Devils and Dust kind of suggests confusion.
A story about being placed into a situation where your choices are untenable.
And the price that that inflicts in [C] blood and in [F] spirit.
So, let's go.
I'll [C] give it to you line by line.
[F] I got my finger on the trigger.
I got the power of life and [C] death here.
[F] But I don't know who to trust.
I got the power of life and death here.
But I don't know who to trust.
[C]
In those first two [G] lines, that's where the personal aspect of the song and the political aspect kind of collide.
[C] I'm talking about him.
I'm talking [F] about us.
A lot of what you need to know about the rest of the song is kind of contained in those first two lines.
And has been played out over the past few years.
I got my finger on the trigger.
But I don't know who to trust.
When I look into your eyes, all I see is devils and dust.
So, when I'm looking at you, [F] I don't know if I'm seeing you.
I don't know if I'm seeing myself.
I don't know if I'm seeing my fears.
I don't know if I'm seeing my highest ideals that I've promised to sacrifice my life for.
[G] I don't know if I'm [C] seeing my death coming at me.
[F] And the [A] problem is I have to [Gm] know right now.
[F] We're a long, long way from home.
[G] Bobby, home's a long, long way from us.
I've been separated from all the things that have given my life shape and meaning till now.
My family, my home, my work.
The things that ground me and that I recognize as myself.
I feel dirty wind blowing, devils and dust.
Got God [Bb] on my side.
Who does not?
I'm just [F] trying to survive.
[Bb] What if what you do to survive kills the things you love?
That's the personal and the political crashing together again.
What if what you do to stay alive destroys some [C] part of you?
What if what we do destroys our ideals?
As [Bb] we sit here tonight, we're experiencing kind of an erosion of our civil liberties,
which is what I was thinking about when I was writing this course.
Now your [F]
skin may [F] be the right color, so it's unlikely to affect you.
And I suppose the Red Bank al Qaeda cell is in a deep sleep.
But what's [Bb] been going on is very dangerous and un-American.
Fear is a powerful thing.
Yes, it is.
It will take your God-filled soul.
Yes, it will.
And fill it with [F] devils and dust.
The second verse is I dreamed of you last night in a field of blood and stone.
That's just, that's death, it's finality, and it's price tag.
What's working against the lyrics?
The music is working against the lyrics.
That's the sound of resistance.
It's the unspoken subtext that the lyrics rest on.
So you're hearing a regular guy caught in the crosshairs of history,
and you're hearing his conversation with himself,
and you're hearing his inner struggle.
And what gives the song its power and its tension
is the tension between the lyric, what he knows is happening to him,
and his resistance, his refusal,
which is given voice in the music and the performance.
I got my finger on the trigger, but I don't know who [Bb] to trust
when I [F] look into your eyes.
So that, the music informs the lyric with so much extra information.
So much extra information, even if it's as simple as that.
Third verse, every woman and every man want to make a righteous stand.
Most of us find the love that God wills, the faith that he commands.
And I got my finger on the trigger, but tonight faith just ain't enough.
[Bb] Faith ain't enough.
[F] You got to be active in some fashion.
You've got to be in the physical world and take action.
When I look inside my heart, all I see is devils and dust.
So all of this, the singer knows, that all of this is inside.
That these are my times, and this is my house,
and this is my fight, and these are my choices.
And that we've all been bitten by the snake, but we don't have to all succumb to its poison.
So, how [C] much of this was I thinking about when I wrote the song?
None of [Fm] it.
[F]
I [C] wrote all of that yesterday afternoon at my kitchen [F] table.
How much of it was I feeling when I wrote the song?
All of it.
That's how they get written.
Well, [F] I came from, I think I wrote it towards the end of the last tour shortly after we entered Iraq.
First thing you need is a good song title.
So, Devils and Dust, a good song title gets you a long ways.
You need a strong metaphor, focuses and shapes the writing of the rest of the song.
So, Devils and Dust kind of suggests confusion.
A story about being placed into a situation where your choices are untenable.
And the price that that inflicts in [C] blood and in [F] spirit.
So, let's go.
I'll [C] give it to you line by line.
[F] I got my finger on the trigger.
I got the power of life and [C] death here.
[F] But I don't know who to trust.
I got the power of life and death here.
But I don't know who to trust.
[C]
In those first two [G] lines, that's where the personal aspect of the song and the political aspect kind of collide.
[C] I'm talking about him.
I'm talking [F] about us.
A lot of what you need to know about the rest of the song is kind of contained in those first two lines.
And has been played out over the past few years.
I got my finger on the trigger.
But I don't know who to trust.
When I look into your eyes, all I see is devils and dust.
So, when I'm looking at you, [F] I don't know if I'm seeing you.
I don't know if I'm seeing myself.
I don't know if I'm seeing my fears.
I don't know if I'm seeing my highest ideals that I've promised to sacrifice my life for.
[G] I don't know if I'm [C] seeing my death coming at me.
[F] And the [A] problem is I have to [Gm] know right now.
[F] We're a long, long way from home.
[G] Bobby, home's a long, long way from us.
I've been separated from all the things that have given my life shape and meaning till now.
My family, my home, my work.
The things that ground me and that I recognize as myself.
I feel dirty wind blowing, devils and dust.
Got God [Bb] on my side.
Who does not?
I'm just [F] trying to survive.
[Bb] What if what you do to survive kills the things you love?
That's the personal and the political crashing together again.
What if what you do to stay alive destroys some [C] part of you?
What if what we do destroys our ideals?
As [Bb] we sit here tonight, we're experiencing kind of an erosion of our civil liberties,
which is what I was thinking about when I was writing this course.
Now your [F]
skin may [F] be the right color, so it's unlikely to affect you.
And I suppose the Red Bank al Qaeda cell is in a deep sleep.
But what's [Bb] been going on is very dangerous and un-American.
Fear is a powerful thing.
Yes, it is.
It will take your God-filled soul.
Yes, it will.
And fill it with [F] devils and dust.
The second verse is I dreamed of you last night in a field of blood and stone.
That's just, that's death, it's finality, and it's price tag.
What's working against the lyrics?
The music is working against the lyrics.
That's the sound of resistance.
It's the unspoken subtext that the lyrics rest on.
So you're hearing a regular guy caught in the crosshairs of history,
and you're hearing his conversation with himself,
and you're hearing his inner struggle.
And what gives the song its power and its tension
is the tension between the lyric, what he knows is happening to him,
and his resistance, his refusal,
which is given voice in the music and the performance.
I got my finger on the trigger, but I don't know who [Bb] to trust
when I [F] look into your eyes.
So that, the music informs the lyric with so much extra information.
So much extra information, even if it's as simple as that.
Third verse, every woman and every man want to make a righteous stand.
Most of us find the love that God wills, the faith that he commands.
And I got my finger on the trigger, but tonight faith just ain't enough.
[Bb] Faith ain't enough.
[F] You got to be active in some fashion.
You've got to be in the physical world and take action.
When I look inside my heart, all I see is devils and dust.
So all of this, the singer knows, that all of this is inside.
That these are my times, and this is my house,
and this is my fight, and these are my choices.
And that we've all been bitten by the snake, but we don't have to all succumb to its poison.
So, how [C] much of this was I thinking about when I wrote the song?
None of [Fm] it.
[F]
I [C] wrote all of that yesterday afternoon at my kitchen [F] table.
How much of it was I feeling when I wrote the song?
All of it.
That's how they get written.
Key:
F
C
Bb
G
A
F
C
Bb
_ All right, _ _ so where does that come from?
Well, [F] I came from, I think I wrote it towards the end of the last tour shortly after we entered Iraq.
_ _ _ _ _ First thing you need is a good song title. _
So, Devils and Dust, a good song title gets you a long ways.
You need a strong metaphor, focuses and shapes the writing of the rest of the song.
So, Devils and Dust kind of suggests confusion.
A story about being placed into a situation where your choices are untenable.
And the price that that inflicts in [C] blood and in [F] spirit.
_ So, let's go.
I'll [C] give it to you line by line.
_ [F] I got my finger on the trigger.
I got the power of life and [C] death here.
_ [F] But I don't know who to trust.
I _ _ _ got the power of life and death here.
But I don't know who to trust.
_ _ _ _ [C] _
_ _ _ In those first two [G] lines, that's where the personal aspect of the song and the political aspect kind of collide.
[C] I'm talking about him.
I'm talking [F] about us.
A lot of what you need to know about the rest of the song is kind of contained in those first two lines.
And has been played out over the past few years.
I got my finger on the trigger.
But I don't know who to trust.
_ When I look into your eyes, all I see is devils and dust.
_ So, when I'm looking at you, [F] I don't know if I'm seeing you.
I don't know if I'm seeing myself.
I don't know if I'm seeing my fears.
I don't know if I'm seeing my highest ideals that I've promised to sacrifice my life for.
[G] I don't know if I'm [C] seeing my death coming at me.
_ [F] And the [A] problem is I have to [Gm] know right now.
_ [F] _ _ _ We're a long, long way from home.
[G] Bobby, home's a long, long way from us. _
I've been separated from all the things that have given my life shape and meaning till now.
_ My family, my home, my work.
The things that ground me and that I recognize as myself.
_ I feel dirty wind blowing, devils and dust. _
Got God [Bb] on my side.
Who does not?
I'm just [F] trying to survive. _ _ _ _ _
_ [Bb] What if what you do to survive kills the things you love? _
That's the personal and the political crashing together again.
What if what you do to stay alive destroys some [C] part of you? _
_ _ What if what we do destroys _ our _ ideals? _
_ _ _ As [Bb] we sit here tonight, we're experiencing kind of an erosion of our civil liberties,
which is what I was thinking about when I was writing this course.
Now your [F] _ _
skin may [F] be the right color, so it's unlikely to affect you.
And I suppose the Red Bank al Qaeda cell is in a deep sleep. _ _ _
But what's [Bb] been going on is very dangerous and un-American.
_ _ Fear is a powerful thing.
Yes, it is.
It will take your God-filled soul.
Yes, it will.
_ And fill it with [F] devils and dust. _
_ _ The second verse is I dreamed of you last night in a field of blood and stone.
That's just, _ that's death, it's finality, and it's price tag.
_ _ What's working against the lyrics?
The music is working against the lyrics. _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ That's the sound of resistance.
_ It's the unspoken subtext that the lyrics rest on. _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ So you're hearing a regular guy _ caught in the crosshairs of history,
_ _ and you're hearing his conversation with himself,
_ _ and you're hearing his inner struggle.
_ And what gives the song its power and its tension
_ _ _ _ is the tension between the lyric, what he knows is happening to him,
and his resistance, his refusal,
_ _ which is given voice in the music and the performance.
I got my finger on the trigger, _ but _ I don't know who [Bb] to trust
_ _ _ when I [F] look into your eyes. _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ So that, the music _ informs the lyric with so much extra information.
So much extra information, even if it's as simple as that. _ _
Third verse, every woman and every man want to make a righteous stand.
Most of us _ _ find the love that God wills, the faith that he commands.
And I got my finger on the trigger, but tonight faith just ain't enough.
[Bb] _ _ Faith ain't enough.
[F] You got to be active in some fashion.
You've got to be in the physical world and take action.
_ _ _ When I look inside my heart, all I see is devils and dust.
_ _ So all of this, the singer knows, that all of this _ is inside.
That these are my times, and this is my house,
and this is my fight, and these are my choices. _ _
And that we've all been bitten by the snake, but we don't have to all succumb to its poison.
_ _ _ _ So, how [C] much of this was I thinking about when I wrote the song?
None of [Fm] it.
_ [F] _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ I [C] wrote all of that yesterday afternoon at my kitchen [F] table.
_ _ _ _ _ _ How much of it was I feeling when I wrote the song?
All of it. _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ That's how they get written.
Well, [F] I came from, I think I wrote it towards the end of the last tour shortly after we entered Iraq.
_ _ _ _ _ First thing you need is a good song title. _
So, Devils and Dust, a good song title gets you a long ways.
You need a strong metaphor, focuses and shapes the writing of the rest of the song.
So, Devils and Dust kind of suggests confusion.
A story about being placed into a situation where your choices are untenable.
And the price that that inflicts in [C] blood and in [F] spirit.
_ So, let's go.
I'll [C] give it to you line by line.
_ [F] I got my finger on the trigger.
I got the power of life and [C] death here.
_ [F] But I don't know who to trust.
I _ _ _ got the power of life and death here.
But I don't know who to trust.
_ _ _ _ [C] _
_ _ _ In those first two [G] lines, that's where the personal aspect of the song and the political aspect kind of collide.
[C] I'm talking about him.
I'm talking [F] about us.
A lot of what you need to know about the rest of the song is kind of contained in those first two lines.
And has been played out over the past few years.
I got my finger on the trigger.
But I don't know who to trust.
_ When I look into your eyes, all I see is devils and dust.
_ So, when I'm looking at you, [F] I don't know if I'm seeing you.
I don't know if I'm seeing myself.
I don't know if I'm seeing my fears.
I don't know if I'm seeing my highest ideals that I've promised to sacrifice my life for.
[G] I don't know if I'm [C] seeing my death coming at me.
_ [F] And the [A] problem is I have to [Gm] know right now.
_ [F] _ _ _ We're a long, long way from home.
[G] Bobby, home's a long, long way from us. _
I've been separated from all the things that have given my life shape and meaning till now.
_ My family, my home, my work.
The things that ground me and that I recognize as myself.
_ I feel dirty wind blowing, devils and dust. _
Got God [Bb] on my side.
Who does not?
I'm just [F] trying to survive. _ _ _ _ _
_ [Bb] What if what you do to survive kills the things you love? _
That's the personal and the political crashing together again.
What if what you do to stay alive destroys some [C] part of you? _
_ _ What if what we do destroys _ our _ ideals? _
_ _ _ As [Bb] we sit here tonight, we're experiencing kind of an erosion of our civil liberties,
which is what I was thinking about when I was writing this course.
Now your [F] _ _
skin may [F] be the right color, so it's unlikely to affect you.
And I suppose the Red Bank al Qaeda cell is in a deep sleep. _ _ _
But what's [Bb] been going on is very dangerous and un-American.
_ _ Fear is a powerful thing.
Yes, it is.
It will take your God-filled soul.
Yes, it will.
_ And fill it with [F] devils and dust. _
_ _ The second verse is I dreamed of you last night in a field of blood and stone.
That's just, _ that's death, it's finality, and it's price tag.
_ _ What's working against the lyrics?
The music is working against the lyrics. _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ That's the sound of resistance.
_ It's the unspoken subtext that the lyrics rest on. _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ So you're hearing a regular guy _ caught in the crosshairs of history,
_ _ and you're hearing his conversation with himself,
_ _ and you're hearing his inner struggle.
_ And what gives the song its power and its tension
_ _ _ _ is the tension between the lyric, what he knows is happening to him,
and his resistance, his refusal,
_ _ which is given voice in the music and the performance.
I got my finger on the trigger, _ but _ I don't know who [Bb] to trust
_ _ _ when I [F] look into your eyes. _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ So that, the music _ informs the lyric with so much extra information.
So much extra information, even if it's as simple as that. _ _
Third verse, every woman and every man want to make a righteous stand.
Most of us _ _ find the love that God wills, the faith that he commands.
And I got my finger on the trigger, but tonight faith just ain't enough.
[Bb] _ _ Faith ain't enough.
[F] You got to be active in some fashion.
You've got to be in the physical world and take action.
_ _ _ When I look inside my heart, all I see is devils and dust.
_ _ So all of this, the singer knows, that all of this _ is inside.
That these are my times, and this is my house,
and this is my fight, and these are my choices. _ _
And that we've all been bitten by the snake, but we don't have to all succumb to its poison.
_ _ _ _ So, how [C] much of this was I thinking about when I wrote the song?
None of [Fm] it.
_ [F] _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ I [C] wrote all of that yesterday afternoon at my kitchen [F] table.
_ _ _ _ _ _ How much of it was I feeling when I wrote the song?
All of it. _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ That's how they get written.