Ten Second News
by Son Volt
Transcribed by John Erlinger ([email protected])

Music and words by Jay Farrar (Warner-Tamerlane Pub./Grain Elevator Songs)
From the Warner Bros. album "Trace" (9 46010-2)

The lyrics to this song may make better sense to someone who lives in the
Midwest or Missouri.  The "beach there known for cancer" on Highway 70
is the infamous Times Beach, which was deserted due to dioxin poisoning.
And of course the "cough in the water" is the Great Flood of 1993.
Farrar uses the metaphor of natural disasters to paint a picture
of Midwestern life. . .

Em  F  D  Am7  C  D  Dsus  D


         D                             Am7
When you find what matters is what you feel,
   C              D
It arrives and it disappears.
        D          Am7
Drivin' down 70-44 highway,
                                C                 D
There's a beach there known for cancer waiting to happen.
            D                     Am7
When you're out across the county line,
         C                                D
The news travels slower than a ten-second buzz.


Em         G           F
  But only you'll ever know,
Em          G        F
  As day by day disappears.
Em     F           D     Am7  C  D
  Only you'll ever know.


And it's hard enough soakin' up billboard signs,
They scorch and drown alive, never knowing why.
The levee gates are open wide,
There's a cough in the water and it's runnin' into town.
Bright eyes don't change, stay the same,
There must be an answer for what keeps it going wrong.

Em         G           F
  But only you'll ever know,
Em          G        F
  As day by day disappears.
Em     F           G                      F
  Only you'll ever know, only you'll ever know,
Em          G        F
  As day by day disappears,
Em     F        D     Am7  C  D
  Only you ever know.

D  Am7  C  D