A                    G
My mother's afraid of the subway
      A 
It's a living bad dream
A                       G  
I hold her hands as the doors close
        A 
And she pales and stifles a scream

A                G 
Ali's afraid of Ad-libbing
   A
Of improvising at jams
        A               G
She is not very happy right now
      A
And spends all her money on grams

A                    G
Ade is afraid of commitment
    A
So Carla dumped him today
          A        G
She was very disappointed
         A
She was hoping he'd beg her to stay

     A                    G
And Ayo he just wants a girlfriend
       A
He's afraid of dying alone
         A                  G   
But he doesn't go out very much
         A
Sits at home a lot getting stoned

[Chorus]

         A             G
You see fear is only holding us back
        A
Look closely amongst all your peers
           A                      G
There is usually one thing that keeps us off track
        A
It is fear, it is fear, it is fear

[Verse]

 A                 G
Ella is worried about her weight
          A
She won't eat in public anymore
        A                 G
She is f-cking her ex again
                 A
And when they finish she sleeps on the floor

A                     G
Nate has a heart of gold
      A
But give it away he will not
      A               G
His mother abandoned him at ten
        A
It's a pain he has never forgot

 A                    G
Mary's afraid of herself
       A
Her sentence is often cut half
           A               G
You will never get her opinion
          A
She's afraid that people might laugh

     A                 G
And I am afraid of sharks
    A                          
I will not swim out past my hand
  A                    G
Sometimes I worry my boyfriend will die
     A
My first love is already dead

[Chorus]

         A             G
You see fear is only holding us back
        A
Look closely amongst all your peers
           A                      G
There is usually one thing that keeps us off track
        A
It is fear, it is fear, it is fear

[Verse]

 A                 G
Candy is having a baby
      A
She fears she will be like her mom
       A                          G
Her friends say, "Relax, take a deep breath,
      A
And march to a different tune."

  A                      G
Sasha's afraid of her Marco
       A
She thinks that it's all her fault
           A                         G
But if he did what he does to a stranger
          A
He'd be locked up and charged with assault

[Chorus]
         A             G
You see fear is only holding us back
        A
Look closely amongst all your peers
           A                      G
There is usually one thing that keeps us off track
        A
It is fear, it is fear, it is fear

         A             G
You see fear is only holding us back
        A
Look closely amongst all your peers
           A                      G
There is usually one thing that keeps us off track
        A
It is fear, it is fear, it is fear