Mar312023

boygenius – Leonard Cohen Chords on Piano & Ukulele

KeyKeyCapo

View

These are Leonard Cohen chords by boygenius on Piano, Ukulele, Guitar, and Keyboard.

[Intro]
E G A

[Verse 1]
       A
On the on-ramp you said
        G
"If you love me, you
                     D
will listen to this song"
            F#m
And I could tell that
          E
you were serious
    A
So I didn't tell you you
      G
were driving the wrong way
       F#m
On the interstate until
              D
the song was done
E                F#m
You felt like an idiot
 A         G           E
adding an hour to the drive
But it gave us more time
      F#m
to embarrass ourselves
A                  F#m
Tellin' stories we wouldn't
      G
tell anyone else

[Chorus]
           F#m
You said, "I might like you
 E                 A
 less now that you know
    G D
 me so well"
F#m              E
I might like you less now
          A       G D
that you know me so well

[Verse 2]
        A          G
Leonard Cohen once said,
            F#m           D
"There's a crack in everything
               A          G
That's how the light gets in"
    F#m         D
And I am not an old man
           A   G       E  D
having an existential crisis

Check out our Music Instrumentation Tips and Giudes on our Blog

                  A
At a Buddhist monastery
         G        D
 writing horny poetry
       F#m
But I agree

[Chorus]
  D
I never thought you'd
 E         A
 happen to me
  D
I never thought you'd
 E         A
happen to me

[Outro]
G E D F#m

How to play Leonard Cohen: key, chords and progression

Leonard Cohen by boygenius is centred on D major (two sharps: F♯, C♯). The song uses 5 chords: E, G, A, D and F#m.

The progression the song keeps returning to is A – G – D – F#m (V – IV – I – iii in D major). In solfa, that is soh – fah – doh – mi. Learn these 4 changes first and most of the song falls into place.

Beginner-friendly: almost every chord is an open chord on guitar, so you can play it without a capo or barre chords.