Tim Minchin - Thank You God

“thank you god” by tim minchin

tuning : standard

F C
i have an apology to make ,
Dm
i’m afraid i’ve made a big mistake ,
Cadd4 C
i turned my face away from you , lord .
F C
i was too blind to see the light ,
Dm
i was too weak to feel your might ,
Cadd4 C
i closed my eyes , i couldn’t see the truth , lord .

E Am
but then like saul on the damascus road ,
E Am
you sent a messenger to me , and so ,
F
i have had the truth revealed to me ,
Em
please forgive me all those things i said ,
F
i’ll no longer betray you , lord ,
G
i will pray to you instead .

A# F C
and i will say thank you , thank you , thank you god .
A# F C
thank you , thank you , thank you god .

C G
thank you god , for fixing the cataracts of sam’s mum .

i had no idea but it’s suddenly so clear ,
C C7
now i feel such a cynic how could i have been so dumb?
F
thank you for displaying how praying works ,
C
a particular prayer in a particular church ,
D G
thank you sam , for the chance to acknowledge this omnipotent ophthalmologist .

C G
thank you god , for fixing the cataracts of sam’s mum .

i didn’t realise that it was so simple ,
C C7
but you’ve shown a great example of just how it can be done ,
F
you only need to pray in a particular spot ,
C
to a particular version of a particular god ,
D
and if you pull that off without a hitch ,
G
he will fix one eye of one middle – class white bitch .

Am Fdim7
i know in the past my outlook has been limited ,
Am Fdim7
i couldn’t see examples of where life had been divinitive ,
F C
but i can admit it when the evidence is clear ,
D G
as clear as sam’s mum’s new cornea .

that’s extremely clear!
extremely clear!

C G
thank you god , for fixing the cataracts of sam’s mum .

i have to admit that in the past i have been skeptical ,
C C7
but sam described this miracle and i Am overcome .
F
how fitting that the sighting of a sight – based intervention ,
C
should open my eyes to this exciting new dimension .
D
it’s like someone put an eye chart on the wall in front of me ,
G
and the top five letters say i – C – G – o – D .

C G
thank you sam , for showing how my point of view has been so flawed .

i assumed there was no god at all but now i see that’s cynical ,
C C7
it’s simply that his interests aren’t particularly broad .
F
he’s largely undiverted by the starving masses ,
C
or the inequality between the various classes .
D
he gives out strictly limited passes ,
G
redeemable for surgery or two – for – one glasses .

Am Fdim7
i feel so shocking for historically mocking .
Am Fdim7
no , your interests are clearly confined to the ocular .
F C
i bet given the chance you’d eschew the divine ,
D G
and start a little business selling contacts online .

C G
fxxk me sam , what are the odds that of history’s endless parade of gods ,
C
C7
that the god that you just happen to be taught to believe in is the actual one and he
digs on healing ,
F C
but not the aids – ridden african nations , or the victims of the plague , or the
flood – addled asians ,
D G
but healthy , privately – insured australians , with common and curable corneal degeneration?

Am Fdim7
this story of sam’s has but a single explanation :
Am Fdim7
a surgical god who digs on magic operations .
Am Fdim7
no it couldn’t be mistaken attribution of causation ,
Am Fdim7
born of a coincidental temporal correlation ,
Am Fdim7
exacerbated by a general lack of education ,
Am Fdim7
vis – A – vis physics in sam’s parish congregation .
F C
and it couldn’t be that all these pious people are liars .
F C
it couldn’t be an artifact of confirmation bias .
F
a product of group – think ,
Cdim7
a mass delusion ,
G Fdim7
an emperor’s – new – clothes – style fear of exclusion .
Am Fdim7
no it’s more likely to be an all – powerful magician ,
Am Fdim7
than the misdiagnosis of the initial condition ,
Am Fdim7
or one of many cases of spontaneous remission ,
Am Fdim7
or a record – keeping glitch by the local physician .

F C
no , the only explanation for sam’s mum seeing :
F C
they prayed to an all – knowing super – being .
F Cdim7
to the omnipresent master of the universe ,
G Fdim7
and he liked the sound of their muttered verse .
Am G
so for a bit of a change from his usual stunt ,
F Em
of being a sxxist , racist , murderous cunt ,
F Em
he popped down to dandenong and just like that ,
F Cdim7
used his powers to heal the cataracts ,
G G#
of sam’s mum .
A
of sam’s mum .

– key change –

D A
thank you god , for fixing the cataracts of sam’s mum .

i didn’t realise that it was such a simple thing .
D
i feel such a ding – A – ling , what an ignorant scum .
G
now i understand how prayer can work ,
D
a particular prayer in a particular church ,
G
in a particular style , with the particular stuff ,
D
and for particular problems that aren’t particularly tough ,
G
and for particular people , preferably white ,
D
and for particular senses , preferably sight ,
G
a particular prayer in a particular spot ,
Fdim7
to a particular version of a particular god .
A
and if you get that right , he just might ,
G
take a break from giving babies malaria ,
D
and pop down to your local area ,
E A D
to fix the cataracts of your mum .
A D
hallelujah!