Back on the Chain Gang by The Pretenders Lyric and Guitar Chords

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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

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

We’re back on the train (ooh, ah)
Ohh
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

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
Therefore to ruin one day
For making us part—–

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

Now we’re back on the train
Ohh
Back on the chain gang

E B E B until end
[–] Internet member since 1988

BACK ON THE CHAIN GANG- The Pretenders

D A Em7 D A Em7 (rpt over riff)

I found a picture of you o[Gmaj7/B]h
What hijacked my world that night[Gmaj7/B]
To a place in the past we’ve been cast out of [Gmaj7/B] oh
Now we’re back in the fight[Gmaj7/B]

We’re back on the train hey
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

BRIDGE:
The powers that be that force us to live like we do
Bring me to my knees when I see what they’ve done to you
Well I’ll die as I stand here today, knowing that deep in my heart
They’ll fall to ruin one day
For making us part–—

I found a picture of you, o[Amaj7/B]h[A/B]
Those were the happiest days of my life[Amaj7/B][A/B]
Like a break in the battle was your part,[Amaj7/B] oh[A/B]
In the wretched life of a lonely heart[Amaj7/B][A/B]
Now we’re back on the train, hey
Aaaa[A/B]h, 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)

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…

BACK ON THE CHAIN GANG (The Pretenders)

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(Norman Lin); I just cleaned it up a little for my own use.]

[intro; slow strum] [hard strum]
[with lead guitar]

I found a picture of you, ohh o[-]h-oh ohh ohhh
Oh, what hijacked my world that night?[-]
To a place in the past we’ve been cast out of, ohh o[-]h-oh ohh ohhh
Oh, now we’re back in the fight[-]

Em A Em – Em Asus4 – A – Asus2 – A
We’re back on the train, yeah
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
Back on the chain gang

D A G G D A G G [3 beats]
[guitar solo, same as second part of intro]

The powers that be that force us to live like we[(Dm)] do
(..do) Bring me to my knees when I see what they’ve done to you
Dm AaddF Dm AaddF
[no vocals]

And will I die as I stand here today, knowing that deep in my [(Dm)]heart
(..heart) They’ll fall to ruin one day, for making us part

[no vocals][-]

I found a picture of you, ohh oh[-]-oh ohh ohhh
Oh, those were the happiest days of my life[-]
Like a break in the battle was your part, ohh oh[-]-oh ohh ohhh
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
Oh, oh, back on the chain gang
Chain gang [repeat and fade]

Funny chords:
Em: 022003
F#m: 244225
Dm: x00231 – x00230 – x00231
AaddF: x02220 – x02221 – x02220

Intro & Solo:

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, ppull off, bbend, ~vibrato)

For the ending two chords, arpeggiate as follows:

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A——–2———————-2————————————–|
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If you want guitar chords for Mary Chapin Carpenter, Indigo Girls,
Mary Karlzen, Lucinda Williams, etc., mail me or check my home page:

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