Oct52021

David Sylvian – Red Guitar Chords on Piano & Ukulele

Updated January 8, 2026

[Intro]
C9   Gmaj9   C9   Em11
C9   Bm7   Gm6   Bm7

[Verse]
C9        Gmaj9   C9        Em11
  I recog-nise no method of living
       C9 Bm7  Gm6  Bm7
  that I    kn-ow
C9      Gmaj9    C9       Em11
  I see only the basic ma-terials
  C9 Bm7  Gm6 Bm7
  I   may use
C9   Gmaj9   C9   Em11   C9
Bm7   Gm6   Bm7
C9       Gmaj9  C9      Em11      C9
  If you ask me,  I may tell you,
               Gmaj9      C9    D7
  It's been this  way for years

[Chorus]
Gm   F      Am G  Gm  F     Am  G
   I   play my    red   gui-tar
         Gm           F
It's the devil in the flesh,
         Am   Bb    Gm   F   Am  G
It's the iron in my soul
Gm   F      Am G  Gm  F     Am  G
   I   play my    red   gui-tar
         Gm           F
It's the devil in the flesh,
         Am   Bb    Gm   F   Am  G
It's the iron in my soul

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[Verse]
C9   Gmaj9   C9   Em11   C9
Bm7   Gm6   Bm7
C9        Gmaj9        C9
  I under-stand you're facing
  Em11        C9   Bm7 Gm6 Bm7
  problems in-si - de  you
C9          Gmaj9 C9       Em11
  A certain diffi-culty of being
       C9 Bm7   Gm6 Bm7
  that I   know too
C9   Gmaj9   C9   Em11   C9   Bm7
Gm6   Bm7
C9        Gmaj9  C9       Em11
  You may ask me why do I fail,
  C9         Gmaj9    C9    D7
  just when I'm  need-ed

[Chorus]
Gm   F      Am G  Gm  F     Am  G
   I   play my    red   gui-tar
         Gm           F
It's the devil in the flesh,
         Am   Bb    Gm   F   Am  G
It's the iron in my soul

Feel free to use our free Chord Shape Generator to see every chord in this song on guitar, ukulele and piano.

{Instrumental]
Eb9   Bbmaj9   Eb9   Gm11
Eb9   Dm7   Db7   C7sus4 (x2)

[Chorus]
G#m   F#      A#m G# G#m
    I    play my     red
  F#      A#m G#
    guitar
         G#m          F#
It's the devil in the flesh,
         A#m  B     G#m
It's the iron in my soul
F#   A#m  G#
G#m   F#      A#m G# G#m
    I    play my     Red
    F#      A#m G#
      guitar
         G#m          F#
It's the devil in the flesh,
         A#m  B     G#m
It's the iron in my soul
F#   A#m  G#

[Outro]
C#9   G#maj9   C#9   Fm11   C#9
Cm7   G#m6   Cm7   (x2)
C#9      G#maj9  C#9     Fm11
  If you ask me,   I may tell you,
C#9              Cm7     G#m6
  It's been this way for years

How to play Red: key, chords and progression

These are the chords for Red Guitar by David Sylvian on Piano, Ukulele, Guitar, and Keyboard

Red by David Sylvian keeps coming home to F major (one flat: B♭). You need 27 chords: C9, Gmaj9, Em11, Bm7, Gm6, D7, Gm, F, Am, G, Bb and Eb9 and 15 more.

The backbone of the song is C9 – Gmaj9 – C9 – Em11 (V9 – II – V9 – vii in F major). In solfa, that is soh – reh – soh – te. Practise these 4 changes until they feel natural and you can play most of it.

Good to know: C9, Gmaj9, Em11, Bm7 and Gm6 are the tricky part on guitar (barre or movable shapes). Slow the change down until it is clean; on piano and ukulele they are simpler.