A*                     E*
Oh Irene I've been your neighbor
     B*             E*
For forty years or more
              A*            E*
Oh I used to see you get the paper
     B*              E*
Or standing at the door

  A*                   E*
I didn't know you very well
       B*          E*
But I saw it on the news
    A*     A*
Oh Irene, Irene
         E*      D*
What is there to do?

A*

[Verse 2]
      A*                 E*
Oh the people hear the gunshots
  B*                  E*
But they don't do a thing
                 A*         E*
And somehow the songbirds above us
       B*              E*
Still find a voice to sing

    A*            E*
I wish I was a swallow
      B*        E*
So I could fly away
    A*      A*
Oh Irene, Irene
         E*       D*
What is there to say?

A E A E
A E A E

[Verse 3]
    A*                E*
Oh Irene I met your daughter
        B*        C#m*
At the memorial today
    A*                  E*
Oh you know she was so gracious
            B*            C#m*
I bet you raised her that way

      A*                E*
I'll try to be a better man
          B*      C#m*
Than the one you knew
     A*     A*
Oh Irene, Irene
        B*    D*
What am I to do?
        A*    D*   A*
What am I to do?
N.C.         D*    A*
What am I to do?
N.C.
What am I to do?