Here is my poem “You Held Me” adapted into a song version with guitar chords—retaining your original emotion and meaning while shaping it into a gentle, haunting acoustic ballad. It’s written for fingerstyle or soft strumming, perfect for an intimate performance or recording.
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🎸 “You Held Me” – Guitar Song Version
Key: Em (E minor – haunting, vulnerable tone)
Capo: Optional on 2nd fret (to lift the emotion slightly to F#m)
Strumming (slow): Down – down-up – pause – down-up (or light fingerpicking)
Tempo: Slow (around 60–70 bpm)
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🎵 Intro
Em C G D
Em C G D
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🎵 Verse 1
Em C
You held me—held me safe
G D
As I cried forbidden pain
Em C
My body closed, my heart laid bare
G D
Like a child lost in the rain
Em C
You held me—though I shook
G D
Too scared to even breathe
Em C
And still you stayed, you didn’t look
G D
Away from all beneath
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🎵 Pre-Chorus
Am Em
Now you see me, raw and whole
C G
Looking through my silent soul
Am Em
You hold me, still not gone
C D
But morning breaks—and you move on
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🎵 🌑 Chorus
Em C
And once again, to dark I fall
G D
Lost to the ocean’s call
Em C
No one can save the child I hide
G D
I let her go, she slipped inside
Em C
Frozen now, no hand to hold
G D
Light too weak, the dark too bold
Am Em
You can’t hold onto melting snow
C D Em
Or to tears that never flow
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🎵 Verse 2
Em C
You held me when I was all but gone
G D
A ghost too tired to stand
Em C
You stayed until I found the strength
G D
To finally reach your hand
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🎵 Pre-Chorus (repeat)
Am Em
But now I drift beyond your sight
C G
Fading in the failing light
Am Em
You can’t stop what you don’t see
C D
The silence now is swallowing me
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🎵 Final Chorus
Em C
You held me once, but not again
G D
The night returns where love had been
Em C
No one can save me from the deep
G D
Or catch the girl I couldn’t keep
Em C
Frozen in a fate I know
G D
Where every hand will let me go
Am Em
You can’t hold on to melting snow
C D Em
Or to tears that never flow
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🎵 Outro (whispered or instrumental)
C G D Em
C G D Em
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🎸 Chord Guide:
Em – 022000
C – x32010
G – 320003
D – xx0232
Am – x02210
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This would work beautifully with soft picking—especially alternating bass note + top strings
