[Intro]
G  | D  | Em | C
G  | D  | G  | D
 
[Verse 1]
 G                            D
Papa had a wife and kids, he kept them on a leash
        Em                           C
and he bid them all to do his every deed.
  G                        D
When he was a kid he was treated just the same
       Em                            C
so he hid his feelings from his family.
 
[Pre-Chorus]
           G              D
Lost as an island out at sea,
   Em                            D
resistant to the gentle waves of empathy, yeah!
 
[Chorus]
 C            D     Em
Papa and his family always on parade
 C                   D             Em
Tearing through the turnstiles, a weekender's charade.
     G         D
But time will tell
          C         D       Em
as their world crumbles to hell.
             D
What they created
       C       D      G        Em
was a family story no one will tell
         C   D          G    Em
It's a photo album too terrible
          C            D         G         Em
But the pride and the pallor continue to swell
         C      D         Em
And the matron silently prays.
 
[Pre-Verse]
D
 
[Verse 2]
G                   D
Junior resented the tradition they upheld
Em                                  C
And it ate him up inside most every day
G                           D
Silence was golden and they kept him to his word
   Em                             C
So bewildered when he finally ran away
 
[Pre-Chorus]
G                     D
Oh, obligations never cease
Em                                D
Oblivious of the ways to give his soul some peace, yeah!
 
[Chorus]
 C            D     Em
Papa and his family always on parade
 C                   D             Em
Tearing through the turnstiles, a weekender's charade.
     G         D
But time will tell
          C         D       Em
As their world crumbles to hell.
             D
What they created
       C       D      G        Em
was a family story no one will tell
         C   D          G    Em
It's a photo album too terrible
          C            D         G         Em
But the pride and the pallor continue to swell
        C      D         Em
As the matron silently prays.
 
[Bridge]
        G             D                         Em
"Get me out of here, someone's got to save the day."
      C                       D                       Em
The children are reminded to do it for their daddy's sake
     B   Em              C         D
And happiness is ever so far, far away
 
[Solo]
G  | D  | Em | C
G  | D  | Em | C
 
[Pre-Chorus]
                G              D
Yeah lost as an island out at sea,
   Em                            D
Resistant to the gentle waves of empathy, yeah!
 
 
[Final Chorus]
 C            D     Em
Papa and his family always on parade
 C                   D             Em
Tearing through the turnstiles, a weekender's charade.
      C             D           G          Em
It's just a sick calamity that fatherhood made,
     G         D
But time will tell
          C         D       Em
as their world crumbles to hell.
             D
What they created
       C       D      G        Em
was a family story no one will tell
         C   D          G    Em
It's a photo album too terrible
          C            D         G         Em
But the pride and the pallor continue to swell
        C      D         Em
As the matron silently prays.