Chords for Matthew West - Story Behind the Song "Forgiveness"
Tempo:
87.7 bpm
Chords used:
C
D
F
Am
G
Tuning:Standard Tuning (EADGBE)Capo:+0fret
Start Jamming...
[C]
Over the past [D] few years I've been on this journey of writing songs inspired by the real-life stories that people sent to me.
[C] This one story in particular has had a profound impact on me.
It hit me kind of hard.
It's about a woman who did the [F] impossible and it made me ask myself if I could do the same.
Renee had four kids.
Two of her daughters were twins.
Megan was coming home from the beach one night with her best friend [D] when their car was struck by a drunk driver named
Eric, a 24 year old kid.
Megan lost her life.
Eric killed both girls that were in the car.
Renee lost her daughter in an instant.
[C] Next thing she knows she finds herself in a courtroom watching this young man, this 24 year old man, get sentenced to 22 years in prison.
Renee wrote to me and said I now have a mission that I never would have chosen.
What she meant by that is that in the years that follow she began to travel around to schools and
churches and different functions and she would speak about the dangers of drunk driving.
But as the years progressed she felt like something was missing from her presentations.
And that's when God put it on her heart that she had not forgiven this man who took the life of her daughter.
And so she [C] reached out and did the impossible.
She reached out to Eric [D] in prison and said I forgive you.
The ripple effects of that act of forgiveness are [Am] still being felt today.
[A] That young man's life was absolutely changed [G] because this woman forgave him.
He said I can't even [G] forgive myself and she forgave me.
[C] Eric said he found his eternal salvation as a result of this act.
One by one all of Renee's family members
followed her lead and they reached out and expressed forgiveness to Eric.
[D] So much so that now they describe Eric as part of their family, like a son [C] to Renee.
Story doesn't stop there though.
Renee went to the courts along with her family and she was able to have Eric's sentence cut in half
[C] from 22 years to [D] 11 years.
This blew me away.
The reason she did it is so that Eric could have a second chance at life and so that he could join her in their
presentations.
She told me that now she shares not only about the dangers of drunk driving, but also about the power of
forgiveness.
[F] Now the story behind this song is from someone right here in our area.
[C] We're gonna let her tell the story.
She won't know you're here.
Are you [C] comfortable with hiding?
[D] [Fm]
[C] She doesn't even, this is the thing, she
she has no idea that
[D] that there's been a song written inspired by her story.
I'm in another room waiting to [C] go in there and surprise
Renee.
I can see her on the video screen.
She has no idea.
I'm in the room right next.
And you submitted the story, I know, to Matthew West.
It's a story that needs to be told because not for me, it's not about me,
it's about God and it's [F] about forgiveness.
And [C] so I thought, well, I'm just gonna chance this and I sent it in and I just prayed, you know, God, if this is supposed to happen,
then I just, you know, hope that it will.
You know, we know Matthew and
he wrote a song
about your story.
No way.
Matthew has sent us the song because he wanted you to be one of the [F] first people to hear it.
[D]
[Am] It's called forgiveness.
[G]
[C]
[C]
[D]
[C]
Forgive less, help me [D] now, so to the [C] impossible, give me now.
First of all, I'm blown away.
What a gift.
Have you ever seen him in concert?
No, and I wanted to see him.
I, he was, you know,
I tried to go see him when he was in West Palm because I thought that I would have a presentation down there and I thought.
During the story of your life tour?
Yeah, yes.
No, actually, I don't know if it was that he, he tried, you know, he's like,
they sent out a thing.
If you're gonna be in any of these cities and they were all too far away.
And then when he was at the thing in Orlando, [F] I thought, well, I'm gonna, [Am] you know, go see him,
you know, then and [C] I had to go present.
So you never could make the connection?
Never could.
Never seen him?
No.
Turn around.
[F] [D]
[Dm] [C]
Help me now.
To give what you [C] gave to me.
Forgive less.
Oh, [D] forgive less.
Over the past [D] few years I've been on this journey of writing songs inspired by the real-life stories that people sent to me.
[C] This one story in particular has had a profound impact on me.
It hit me kind of hard.
It's about a woman who did the [F] impossible and it made me ask myself if I could do the same.
Renee had four kids.
Two of her daughters were twins.
Megan was coming home from the beach one night with her best friend [D] when their car was struck by a drunk driver named
Eric, a 24 year old kid.
Megan lost her life.
Eric killed both girls that were in the car.
Renee lost her daughter in an instant.
[C] Next thing she knows she finds herself in a courtroom watching this young man, this 24 year old man, get sentenced to 22 years in prison.
Renee wrote to me and said I now have a mission that I never would have chosen.
What she meant by that is that in the years that follow she began to travel around to schools and
churches and different functions and she would speak about the dangers of drunk driving.
But as the years progressed she felt like something was missing from her presentations.
And that's when God put it on her heart that she had not forgiven this man who took the life of her daughter.
And so she [C] reached out and did the impossible.
She reached out to Eric [D] in prison and said I forgive you.
The ripple effects of that act of forgiveness are [Am] still being felt today.
[A] That young man's life was absolutely changed [G] because this woman forgave him.
He said I can't even [G] forgive myself and she forgave me.
[C] Eric said he found his eternal salvation as a result of this act.
One by one all of Renee's family members
followed her lead and they reached out and expressed forgiveness to Eric.
[D] So much so that now they describe Eric as part of their family, like a son [C] to Renee.
Story doesn't stop there though.
Renee went to the courts along with her family and she was able to have Eric's sentence cut in half
[C] from 22 years to [D] 11 years.
This blew me away.
The reason she did it is so that Eric could have a second chance at life and so that he could join her in their
presentations.
She told me that now she shares not only about the dangers of drunk driving, but also about the power of
forgiveness.
[F] Now the story behind this song is from someone right here in our area.
[C] We're gonna let her tell the story.
She won't know you're here.
Are you [C] comfortable with hiding?
[D] [Fm]
[C] She doesn't even, this is the thing, she
she has no idea that
[D] that there's been a song written inspired by her story.
I'm in another room waiting to [C] go in there and surprise
Renee.
I can see her on the video screen.
She has no idea.
I'm in the room right next.
And you submitted the story, I know, to Matthew West.
It's a story that needs to be told because not for me, it's not about me,
it's about God and it's [F] about forgiveness.
And [C] so I thought, well, I'm just gonna chance this and I sent it in and I just prayed, you know, God, if this is supposed to happen,
then I just, you know, hope that it will.
You know, we know Matthew and
he wrote a song
about your story.
No way.
Matthew has sent us the song because he wanted you to be one of the [F] first people to hear it.
[D]
[Am] It's called forgiveness.
[G]
[C]
[C]
[D]
[C]
Forgive less, help me [D] now, so to the [C] impossible, give me now.
First of all, I'm blown away.
What a gift.
Have you ever seen him in concert?
No, and I wanted to see him.
I, he was, you know,
I tried to go see him when he was in West Palm because I thought that I would have a presentation down there and I thought.
During the story of your life tour?
Yeah, yes.
No, actually, I don't know if it was that he, he tried, you know, he's like,
they sent out a thing.
If you're gonna be in any of these cities and they were all too far away.
And then when he was at the thing in Orlando, [F] I thought, well, I'm gonna, [Am] you know, go see him,
you know, then and [C] I had to go present.
So you never could make the connection?
Never could.
Never seen him?
No.
Turn around.
[F] [D]
[Dm] [C]
Help me now.
To give what you [C] gave to me.
Forgive less.
Oh, [D] forgive less.
Key:
C
D
F
Am
G
C
D
F
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ [C] _
_ _ _ _ _ Over the past [D] few years I've been on this journey of writing songs inspired by the real-life stories that people sent to me.
[C] This one story in particular has had a profound impact on me.
It hit me kind of hard.
It's about a woman who did the [F] impossible and it made me ask myself if I could do the same.
Renee had four kids.
Two of her daughters were twins.
Megan was coming home from the beach one night with her best friend [D] when their car was struck by a drunk driver named
Eric, a 24 year old kid.
Megan lost her life.
Eric killed both girls that were in the car.
Renee lost her daughter in an instant.
[C] Next thing she knows she finds herself in a courtroom watching this young man, this 24 year old man, get sentenced to 22 years in prison.
Renee wrote to me and said I now have a mission that I never would have chosen.
What she meant by that is that in the years that follow she began to travel around to schools and
churches and different functions and she would speak about the dangers of drunk driving.
But as the years progressed she felt like something was missing from her presentations.
And that's when God put it on her heart that she had not forgiven this man who took the life of her daughter.
And so she [C] reached out and did the impossible.
She reached out to Eric [D] in prison and said I forgive you.
The ripple effects of that act of forgiveness are [Am] still being felt today.
[A] That young man's life was absolutely changed [G] because this woman forgave him.
He said I can't even [G] forgive myself and she forgave me.
[C] Eric said he found his eternal salvation as a result of this act.
One by one all of Renee's family members
followed her lead and they reached out and expressed forgiveness to Eric.
[D] So much so that now they describe Eric as part of their family, like a son [C] to Renee.
Story doesn't stop there though.
Renee went to the courts along with her family and she was able to have Eric's sentence cut in half
[C] from 22 years to [D] 11 years.
This blew me away.
The reason she did it is so that Eric could have a second chance at life and so that he could join her in their
presentations.
She told me that now she shares not only about the dangers of drunk driving, but also about the power of
forgiveness.
[F] Now the story behind this song is from someone right here in our area.
[C] We're gonna let her tell the story.
She won't know you're here.
Are you [C] comfortable with hiding?
_ _ [D] _ _ _ _ [Fm] _ _
_ [C] She doesn't even, this is the thing, she
she has no idea that
[D] that there's been a song written inspired by her story.
I'm in another room waiting to [C] go in there and surprise
Renee.
I can see her on the video screen.
She has no idea.
I'm in the room right next.
And you submitted the story, I know, to Matthew West.
It's a story that needs to be told because not for me, it's not about me,
it's about God and it's [F] about forgiveness.
And [C] so I thought, well, I'm just gonna chance this and I sent it in and I just prayed, you know, God, if this is supposed to happen,
then I just, you know, hope that it will.
You know, we know Matthew and
he wrote a song
about your story.
No way.
Matthew has sent us the song because he wanted you to be one of the [F] first people to hear it.
[D] _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _
[Am] It's called forgiveness.
_ _ _ _ _ [G] _
_ _ _ _ _ [C] _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ [C] _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ [D] _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ [C] _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _
Forgive less, _ _ _ help me [D] now, so to the [C] impossible, give me now.
First of all, I'm blown away.
What a gift. _ _ _ _
Have you ever seen him in concert?
No, and I wanted to see him.
I, he was, you know,
I tried to go see him when he was in West Palm because I thought that I would have a presentation down there and I thought.
During the story of your life tour?
Yeah, yes.
No, actually, I don't know if it was that he, he tried, you know, he's like,
they sent out a thing.
If you're gonna be in any of these cities and they were all too far away.
And then when he was at the thing in Orlando, [F] I thought, well, I'm gonna, [Am] you know, go see him,
you know, then and [C] I had to go present.
So you never could make the connection?
Never could.
Never seen him?
No.
Turn around. _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ [F] _ _ _ _ [D] _ _ _
[Dm] _ _ _ _ _ [C] _ _ _
_ _ _ _ Help me now.
To give what you [C] gave to me.
Forgive less. _
_ _ _ Oh, [D] forgive less. _
_ _ _ _ _ Over the past [D] few years I've been on this journey of writing songs inspired by the real-life stories that people sent to me.
[C] This one story in particular has had a profound impact on me.
It hit me kind of hard.
It's about a woman who did the [F] impossible and it made me ask myself if I could do the same.
Renee had four kids.
Two of her daughters were twins.
Megan was coming home from the beach one night with her best friend [D] when their car was struck by a drunk driver named
Eric, a 24 year old kid.
Megan lost her life.
Eric killed both girls that were in the car.
Renee lost her daughter in an instant.
[C] Next thing she knows she finds herself in a courtroom watching this young man, this 24 year old man, get sentenced to 22 years in prison.
Renee wrote to me and said I now have a mission that I never would have chosen.
What she meant by that is that in the years that follow she began to travel around to schools and
churches and different functions and she would speak about the dangers of drunk driving.
But as the years progressed she felt like something was missing from her presentations.
And that's when God put it on her heart that she had not forgiven this man who took the life of her daughter.
And so she [C] reached out and did the impossible.
She reached out to Eric [D] in prison and said I forgive you.
The ripple effects of that act of forgiveness are [Am] still being felt today.
[A] That young man's life was absolutely changed [G] because this woman forgave him.
He said I can't even [G] forgive myself and she forgave me.
[C] Eric said he found his eternal salvation as a result of this act.
One by one all of Renee's family members
followed her lead and they reached out and expressed forgiveness to Eric.
[D] So much so that now they describe Eric as part of their family, like a son [C] to Renee.
Story doesn't stop there though.
Renee went to the courts along with her family and she was able to have Eric's sentence cut in half
[C] from 22 years to [D] 11 years.
This blew me away.
The reason she did it is so that Eric could have a second chance at life and so that he could join her in their
presentations.
She told me that now she shares not only about the dangers of drunk driving, but also about the power of
forgiveness.
[F] Now the story behind this song is from someone right here in our area.
[C] We're gonna let her tell the story.
She won't know you're here.
Are you [C] comfortable with hiding?
_ _ [D] _ _ _ _ [Fm] _ _
_ [C] She doesn't even, this is the thing, she
she has no idea that
[D] that there's been a song written inspired by her story.
I'm in another room waiting to [C] go in there and surprise
Renee.
I can see her on the video screen.
She has no idea.
I'm in the room right next.
And you submitted the story, I know, to Matthew West.
It's a story that needs to be told because not for me, it's not about me,
it's about God and it's [F] about forgiveness.
And [C] so I thought, well, I'm just gonna chance this and I sent it in and I just prayed, you know, God, if this is supposed to happen,
then I just, you know, hope that it will.
You know, we know Matthew and
he wrote a song
about your story.
No way.
Matthew has sent us the song because he wanted you to be one of the [F] first people to hear it.
[D] _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _
[Am] It's called forgiveness.
_ _ _ _ _ [G] _
_ _ _ _ _ [C] _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ [C] _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ [D] _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ [C] _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _
Forgive less, _ _ _ help me [D] now, so to the [C] impossible, give me now.
First of all, I'm blown away.
What a gift. _ _ _ _
Have you ever seen him in concert?
No, and I wanted to see him.
I, he was, you know,
I tried to go see him when he was in West Palm because I thought that I would have a presentation down there and I thought.
During the story of your life tour?
Yeah, yes.
No, actually, I don't know if it was that he, he tried, you know, he's like,
they sent out a thing.
If you're gonna be in any of these cities and they were all too far away.
And then when he was at the thing in Orlando, [F] I thought, well, I'm gonna, [Am] you know, go see him,
you know, then and [C] I had to go present.
So you never could make the connection?
Never could.
Never seen him?
No.
Turn around. _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ [F] _ _ _ _ [D] _ _ _
[Dm] _ _ _ _ _ [C] _ _ _
_ _ _ _ Help me now.
To give what you [C] gave to me.
Forgive less. _
_ _ _ Oh, [D] forgive less. _