Grateful Dead – My Brother Esau (Guitar)

    G
My brother Esau killed a hunter

    G
Back in 1969

       Bm        Em         A
And before the killing was done

       C
His inheritance was mine

  C
But his birthright was a wand to wave

  G
Before a weary band

  G           Bm     Em
Esau gave me sleeplessness

       C
And a piece of moral land

  G
My father favored Esau

  G
Who was eager to obey

 Bm      Em     A
All the bloody wild commandments

 C
The Old Man shot his way

 C
But all this favor ended

          G
When my brother failed at war

 G            Bm
He staggered home

 Em       A         C
And found me in the door

  Bm         Em       C    G
Esau skates on mirrors anymore

    Bm        Em            A        C
He meets his pale reflection at the door

        G
Yet sometimes at night I dream

      G
He's still that hairy man

G       Bm            Em
Shadowboxing the Apocalypse

 A        C
And wandering the land

  G      Bm           Em
Shadowboxing the Apocalypse

 A        C             G
And wandering the land

 G
Esau holds a blessing

 G
Brother Esau holds a curse

   Bm   Em             A         C
I would say that the blame is mine

       C
But I suspect it's something worse

     C
The more my brother looks like me

  G
The less I understand

     G     Bm          Em     A        C
The silent war that bloodied both our hands

 G     Bm     Em      A          C
Sometimes at night, I think I understand

  G    Bm       Em              A       C
It's brother to brother and it's man to man

  G       Bm     Em           A         C
And it's face to face and it's hand to hand

  G       Bm      Em    A   C
The shadow dance, it never ends

    A         C
Never ends, never ends

  G      Bm     Em     A        C
Shadowboxing the Apocalypse, yet again

 A   C
Yet again

 G      Bm        Em
Shadowboxing the Apocalypse

 A        C               G
And wandering the land