Key: E
Introduction:
E7M B
Our father hid a lot of painful memories
E7M B
A bunch of shit he never shared
E7M B
But when he died, I went out looking for them
E7M B
For all the things he never said
E7M B
Thought he was born in 1948
E7M B
But was born a whole decade before
E7M B
Thought he was brought up in New Zealand
E7M B
But he was born and brought up in Samoa
G#m B
We thought that he was only half-Samoan
E7M F#6 B
That his mother was a German Jew
G#m F#9 E7M
But I went and found his birth certificate
C#m B
And he lied about that too
E7M B
Our father's love was unmistakeable
E7M B
And he gave us еverything he had
E7M B
And I guess that mеant pretending he was half-white
E7M B
To give his kids a better chance
E7M B
My sister, she lives out in New York City
E7M B
Been there since I was seventeen
E7M B
And I think she hates it, but like most New Yorkers
E7M B
She just can't bring herself to leave
E7M B
She used to love to watch our father cooking
E7M B
And imitate the things she'd seen
E7M B
And now she makes the most amazing things
E7M B
And she also sings better than me
G#m B
And when he died, she and her husband stayed
E7M F#6 B
To keep my mother company
G#m F#9 E7M
And even though it fucked them up a lot
C#m E6 B
They did a better job than me
E7M B
And I wish that we could see them every weekend
E7M B
And she could cook her famous meals
E7M B
And I wish that I could hang out with her husband
E7M B
More than a couple of times a year
E7M B
Our brother Wesley is a quiet man
E7M B
And he is the second of us four
E7M B
And he inherited our father's hands
E7M B
But he looks like me a little more
E7M B
He has a love that's unmistakable
E7M B
And he's seen police brutality
E7M B
He lives in Auckland with his wife and dog
E7M B
And he stands a shade above six-three
G#m B
Our father left him with a cousin then
E7M F# B
He got into trouble frequently
G#m F#9 E7M
Me and my sister only heard of him
C#m E6 B
In two-thousand-and-eighteen
E7M B
Our brother Matthew is a baker, and
E7M B
He stands a mighty seven feet
E7M B
He was brought up in a Māori family
E7M B
And speaks Te Reo fluently
E7M B
He didn't know about our father 'til I
E7M B
I guess he was about eighteen
E7M B
And he did some time for something awesome
E7M B
And he's the sweetest guy you'll ever meet
G#m B
He came to meet me at a festival
E7M F#6 B
And he told me everything he knew
G#m F#9 E7M
That our father left him at the hospital
C#m E6 B
But if he forgives him, then I should too
E7M B
La-la-la-la, la-la-la-la, la-la-la
E7M B
La-la-la-la, la-la-la-la
E7M B
La-la-la-la, la-la-la-la, la-la-la
E7M B
La-la-la-la, la-la-la
E7M B
I know our father had his reasons
E7M B
But that can never make it right or fair
E7M B
And I hate myself for stealing all his love
E7M B
When my brothers thought that he was dead
G#m B
So as I dig through the collateral
E7M F#6 B
The secrets hid throughout the years
G#m F#9 E7M
I know I'll hardly ever answer them
C#m E6 B
But it's the way to keep him near
E7M B
La-la-la-la, la-la-la-la, la-la-la
E7M B
La-la-la-la, la-la-la-la
E7M B
La-la-la-la, la-la-la-la, la-la
C#m E6 B
La-la-la-la, la-la, la-la