What Shall We Preserve?
Composer: Henning Ohlenbusch
Album: Henning Ohlenbusch - The Dream is to Dream


[Verse 1]
C   C/B       Am   C      F       C
Who will take care of the old grey house
Am           Em         F     G
Now that the family has moved away
C    C/B       Am     C      F    C
Underneath the weight of its history
Am             Em          F              G
Underneath the limb of the favorite shade tree
Am   Dm    E7    F   
What shall we preserve?


[Verse 2]
C   C/B    Am  C    F        C
Who will record the lived-in years
Am         Em            F        G
Who will unearth all the memories there
C        C/B     Am   C   F               C
Shrinking in the rain and cracking in the sun
Am             Em           F        G
One by one the bricks of a chimney undone
Am   Dm    E7    F  
What shall we preserve?


[Chorus]
C              F
What should we keep? 
F
What should we keep?
F              C
What should we keep?
C              F
What shall we keep? 
F
What should we keep?
            Am
And for how long?
        C/G  F
And for whom?


[Verse 3]
C       C/B       Am C       F          C
Let the moss roll in let the vines grow wild
Am              Em          F       G
Let the earth reclaim its exhausted child
C        C/B    Am    C      F              C
‘Til all that remains is the outline of the stones
Am            Em          F          G
A memory of itself in the woods all alone
Am   Dm    E7    F  
What shall we preserve?


[Chorus]
C              F
What should we keep? 
F
What should we keep?
F              C
What should we keep?
C              F
What shall we keep? 
F
What should we keep?
            Am
And for how long?
        C/G  F
And for whom?


[Chorus]
C              F
What should we keep? 
F
What should we keep?
F              C
What should we keep?
C              F
What shall we keep? 
F
What should we keep?
            Am
And for how long?
        C/G  F
And for whom?