India Arie - Break The Shell

intro :
C G Am Em F Em C

verse :
Am F G
i met a prophet dark as the night
C G Am
she could see into my soul
F G
said she’d been watching and had some advice
C G Am
she said shadows make you whole

F G
a life without pain is a wolf in sheep’s clothes
C G Am Em F
cause if you listen to the lessons that it holds
G
you’ll find the gold

chorus :
C G Am Em
child it’s time to break the shell
F Em F G
life’s gonna hurt but it’s meant to be felt
C G Am Em
you cannot touch the sky from inside yourself
F Em F G C
you cannot fly until you break the shell

verse :
Am F G
i can remember when i was a child
C G Am
how the grown folks seemed so crazy
F G
why are they so angry , why are they so loud ?
C G Am
and when i grow up that’s never ever gonna be me

F G
that was the moment that i decide
C G Am Em F
that i would build a wall just shy of six feet tall
G
too strong to fall

chorus :
C G Am Em
child it’s time to break the shell
F Em F G
life’s gonna hurt but it’s meant to be felt
C G Am Em
you cannot touch the sky from inside yourself
F Em F G C
you cannot fly until you break the shell

bridge :
F C
courage is not being hard
Em
it’s time to peel back all of the layers
Am D
you put between who you’re meant to be
F
and who you are
Fm
and go be who you are

verse :
Am F G
so much disappointment to finally understand
C G Am
that there is no such thing as perfect

F G
were all simply doing the best that we can
C G Am Em F
and we have a choice to live or truly be alive
G C
this is your life

chorus :
( C ) G Am Em
child it’s time to break the shell
F Em F G
life’s gonna hurt but it’s meant to be felt
C G Am Em
you cannot touch the sky from inside yourself
F Em F G C
you cannot fly until you break the shell

( C ) G Am Em
child it’s time to break the shell
F Em F G
life’s gonna hurt but it’s meant to be felt
C G Am Em
you cannot touch the sky from inside yourself
F Em F G C
a bird cannot fly until it breaks the shell

ending :
Am G C G
do with these words what you will
F G D
it’s time for us to be for real
F G D F
you’ll be stuck on the ground until
Am G C
you finally break the shell