From: [email protected] (Norman Lin)
Subject: REQ: Pretenders’ «Back on the chain gang»
[Riff]:
e———0-3——3331—110—00————————————
B-1——1————————3—331—01————————
G——-0————————————————————-
D———————————————————————
A———————————————————————
E———————————————————————
From: [email protected] (julius yang)
Well I finally sat down with the Singles CD and bashed this out. I can
play the riff at the beginning, but now that I don’t have my guitar
in hand I forget it. Agh. I can’t understand two places where Chrissy
is singing either—‘crescending’ and ‘baggle’ aren’t words that I know
of, but that sounds like what she’s saying. Corrections appreciated.
Back on the Chain Gang, the Pretenders
opening strum: D A G G D A G G
riff x2
D A G G
I found a picture of you oh
What hijacked my world at nights
To a place in the past we’ve been passed out of oh
Now we’re back in the fight
Em A
We’re back on the train (ooh, ah)
Ohh
A D A G G
Back on the chain gang
The circumstance beyond our control oh
The fool on TV and the news of the world
Got in the house like a pigeon from hell, oh
Crescending our eyes and descended like flies
Put us back on the train, yeah
Oh
Back on the chain gang
D A G G
riff x2
bridge:
Dm A Dm A and so on
The powers that be
That forces us to live like we do
Bring me to my knees
When I see what they’ve done to you
chord comping
I’ll die as I stand here today
Knowing that deep in my heart
A Dm
Therefore to ruin one day
A E
For making us part——
E B A A
I found a picture of you, oh
Those were the happiest days of my life
Like a brick in the baggle was your part, oh
In the wretched life of a lonely heart
F#m B
Now we’re back on the train
Ohh
B E
Back on the chain gang
E B E B until end
—
Internet member since 1988
From: Harlan L Thompson
BACK ON THE CHAIN GANG- The Pretenders
D A Em7 D A Em7 (rpt over riff)
D A Em7 Gmaj7/B G
I found a picture of you oh
D A Em7 Gmaj7/B G
What hijacked my world that night
D A Em7 Gmaj7/B G
To a place in the past we’ve been cast out of oh
D A Em7 Gmaj7/B G
Now we’re back in the fight
Em A Em7 A
We’re back on the train hey
Em A D A D A
Aaaah, back on the chain gang
Circumstance beyond our control oh
The phone, the TV, and the news of the world
Got in the house like a pigeon from hell, oh
Threw sand our eyes and descended like flies
Put us back on the train, yeah
Aaaaah, back on the chain gang
D A Em7 D A Em7 D
BRIDGE:
Dm A7 Dm A7 Dm
The powers that be that force us to live like we do
A7 Dm A7 Dm A7 Dm A7
Bring me to my knees when I see what they’ve done to you
Dm A7 Dm A7 Dm
Well I’ll die as I stand here today, knowing that deep in my heart
A7 Dm
They’ll fall to ruin one day
A7 E B A
For making us part——
E B A Amaj7/B A/B
I found a picture of you, oh
E B A Amaj7/B A/B
Those were the happiest days of my life
E B A Amaj7/B A/B
Like a break in the battle was your part, oh
E B A Amaj7/B A/B
In the wretched life of a lonely heart
A B A B
Now we’re back on the train, hey
A A/B E
Aaaah, back on the chain gang
B E B E (rpt and fade)
Em7: 0 2 2 0 3 0 Gmaj7/B: 3 2 4 0 0 2
Amaj7/B: x 0 6 6 5 4 A/B: x 7 7 6 5 5
NOTE: If you find Gmaj/B too hard to finger, try Bm in its place. Not
as accurate, but a hell of a lot easier.
(from Learning to Crawl, 1983)
(sent by Harlan at [email protected])
From: [email protected] (Adam Schneider)
Subject: CRD: «Back on the Chain Gang» (The Pretenders)
There are about three versions of this already in the archive, but none of
them is quite right. This one’s a little better; someone sent it to me last
fall, and I recently cleaned it up because I wanted to play it.
Unfortunately, this might still have mistakes; I can’t check because I don’t
have the album. I’ll have to see if I can get them to play it on the radio…
Adam
BACK ON THE CHAIN GANG (The Pretenders)
—————————————
[All the work on this song was done by [email protected]
(Norman Lin); I just cleaned it up a little for my own use.]
D A G G D A G G
[intro; slow strum] [hard strum]
D A G G D A G G
[with lead guitar]
D A G Bm — G
I found a picture of you, ohh oh-oh ohh ohhh
D A G Bm — G
Oh, what hijacked my world that night?
D A G Bm — G
To a place in the past we’ve been cast out of, ohh oh-oh ohh ohhh
D A G Bm — G
Oh, now we’re back in the fight
Em A Em — Em* Asus4 — A — Asus2 — A
We’re back on the train, yeah
Em A D A G G
Oh, oh, back on the chain gang
Circumstance beyond our control, ohh oh-oh ohh ohhh
Oh, the phone, the TV, and the news of the world
Got in our house like a pigeon from hell (??), ohh oh-oh ohh ohhh
Oh, threw sand in our eyes, and descended like flies
Em A Em — Em* Asus4 — A — Asus2 — A
Put us back on the train, yeah
Em A Em — Em* Asus4 — A — Asus2 — A
Ohhh, ohhhhh
D A G
Back on the chain gang
D A G G D A G G [3 beats]
[guitar solo, same as second part of intro]
Dm A Dm A (Dm)
The powers that be that force us to live like we do
Dm A Dm A
(..do) Bring me to my knees when I see what they’ve done to you
Dm* AaddF* Dm* AaddF*
[no vocals]
Dm A Dm A (Dm)
And will I die as I stand here today, knowing that deep in my heart
Dm A Dm A
(..heart) They’ll fall to ruin one day, for making us part
E B A C#m — A
[no vocals]
E B A C#m — A
I found a picture of you, ohh oh-oh ohh ohhh
E B A C#m — A
Oh, those were the happiest days of my life
E B A C#m — A
Like a break in the battle was your part, ohh oh-oh ohh ohhh
E B A C#m — A
Oh, in the wretched life of a lonely heart
F#m B F#m — F#m* Bsus4 — B — Bsus2 — B
Now we’re back on the train, yeah
F#m A E B A A
Oh, oh, back on the chain gang
E B
Chain gang [repeat and fade]
Funny chords:
Em*: 022003
F#m*: 244225
Dm*: x00231 — x00230 — x00231
AaddF*: x02220 — x02221 — x02220
Intro & Solo:
D A
e ——————-|————————|————————|
B ———-7—10-7-/|10~————/10—10—|10~————/10—10—|
G ——-7————|————————|————————|
D (7)-7—————|————————|————————|
A ——————-|————————|————————|
E ——————-|————————|————————|
^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^
e |————————|————————|——-
B |10-p8—8—8—s7—7—|7————————|——-
G |————————|—-9—9—7b9—7—6—/|7——
D |————————|————————|——-
A |————————|————————|——-
E |————————|————————|——-
^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^
(/=slide, p=pull off, b=bend, ~=vibrato)
For the ending two chords, arpeggiate as follows:
E B
e———————————————————————-
B——————0———————-4——————————
G—————1——1—————-4——4—————————
D———2—————2———4————4————————
A———2———————-2—————————————
E—0——————————————————————-
==-=—=—=—-=——=——-=———=———=——-=——=—-=—=—=-==
Adam Schneider [email protected] Minneapolis, MN
If you want guitar chords for Mary Chapin Carpenter, Indigo Girls,
Mary Karlzen, Lucinda Williams, etc., mail me or check my home page:
http://www-bprc.mps.ohio-state.edu/cgi-bin/hpp/acs.html
==-=—=—=—-=——=——-=———=———=——-=——=—-=—=—=-==