Okkervil River - Famous Tracheotomies

[ verse 1 ]
G D
when i had my tracheotomy
Am
i was blue and had stopped breathing
Em C
there was something wrong with me
G D
doctors cut through the cartilage and skin
Am
at the bottom of my throat
C Am D
and then they snaked that trach tube in
[ chorus 1 ]
Bm Em
and i was one and a half
Am
i was my parents only kid
Em C
and they had lost two before that
Bm Em C
and growing up , i always knew how close i’d come
D
well , that must have been scary , mom

[ verse 2 ]
G D
gary coleman , he was “arnold” on tv
Am Em C
well , i grew up watching him and conrad bain and kimberly
G D
it turns out that he had a trach scar too
Am
where they cut into his throat
C Am D
and then they threaded that tube through
[ chorus 2 ]
Bm Em
but that was much later on
Am Em C
in the year that he turned forty when his fanbase was all gone
Bm Em
and his health was so touch – and – go
C
his girlfriend proposed
D
but they broke up on a tv show
[ verse 3 ]
G D
mary wells , she was known as motown’s queen
Am Em C
but laryngeal cancer left her unable to sing
G D
they tried radiation , multiple surgeries
Am C Am D
but she didn’t have insurance and lost almost everything
poor thing
[ chorus 3 ]
Bm Em
but diana ross helped with her bills
Am Em C
aretha franklin tried her very best to help out mary wells
Bm Em
and dionne warwick did all she could do
C
and mary wells , she pulled through
D
for one more year or two
[ verse 4 ]
G D
dylan thomas looked completely pale and weak
Am Em C
on a trip to new york city to promote his poety
G D
three straight days of drinking out in greenwich and chelsea
Am C Am D
he was taken to the hospital , turned blue and not breathing
[ chorus 4 ]
Bm Em
and caitlin thomas said
Am
when she walked into st vincent’s
Em C
“is the bloody man dead yet?”
Bm Em C
and later that day she got so drunk she was restrained
D
and her husband slipped away
[ verse 5 ]
G D
ray davies had a tracheotomy
Am Em C
he was at st . thomas’ hospital in london , aged thirteen
G D
and during his long recovery
Am
nurses put him in a wheelchair
C Am D
and they’d wheel him out onto a balcony ( on a balcony )
[ chorus 5 ]
Bm Em
and down that evening sun did sink
Am Em C
painting london and the river and that freaked – out future kink
Bm Em
waterloo lit up for one sick kid
C D
and , at 23 , he recorded a song about it
[ outro}
G D Am C