Oct42024

James Bay – Hope Chords on Piano & Ukulele

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[Verse 1]
C#
I'm somebody
 tryna
 live a good
life
Tryna feel
alright
Tryna sleep at
night
F#
I'm somebody
who gets
it wrong
Who never stays
 long
Who never says
 bye
     G#
Sometimes you
gotta
            C# F#
go it alone
Have a little
       G#
hope

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[Chorus 1]
C#
If I fall
If I have to
learn to suffer
            F#
And lose it all
If I have to
let it go
        G#
When my best
C#
F#eels like a
F#
 joke
C#
Still I have a
             G# C#
little hope


[Verse 2]
C#
Tellin' lies,
tellin'
old wives tales
Like my mother
 said
 to make it feel
 better
F#
Bent the truth
'cause
 I'm losing my
 mind
G#
I've been
dragging
myself into
Armageddon
C#
But before that's
           F#
all that I know
Have a little
     G#
hope


[Chorus 2]
C#
If I fall
If I have to
 learn
to suffer
            F#
And lose it all
If I have to let
 it go
        G#
When my best
C#           F#
F#eels like a joke
C#
Still I have a
             G# C#
little hope
C#
When it's dark
When it's a world
of lonely shadows
F#
And in your heart
Nothing's making
sense
         G#
When you try
    C#
And when you
F#
choke
Still I have a
       C#
little hope


[Verse 3]
C#
Words get lost,
 get hard to hear
F#
G#ood intentions
 disappear
G#
Hang on to
     F#
that rope
Have a little
C#
hope
C#
So much, too

much going on
F#
So much, too much
 started going wrong
G#       C#
Learning what I
F#
broke
Still I have a
       C#   F# C# G#
little hope


[Chorus 3]
C#
If I fall
If I have to
learn to suffer
            F#
And lose it all
If I have to
let it go
        G#
When my best
C#           F#
F#eels like a joke
C#
Still I have a
            G# C#
little hope
C#
When it's dark
When it's a world
of lonely shadows
F#
And in your heart
Nothing's making
sense
         G#
When you try
    C#
And when you
F#
choke
Still I have a
       C#
little hope


[Verse 4]
C#
Words get lost,

G#ood intentions
 disappear
G#
Hang on to that
F#
rope
              C#
Have a little hope
C#
So much, too much
 going on
F#
So much, too
 much
started going
wrong
G#       C#
Learning what I
F#
broke
Still I have a
little
C#    F# C# G#
hope

[Outro]
F#
Hang on to
     G#
that rope

Have a little
C#
hope

How to play Hope: key, chords and progression

Hope by James Bay is in the key of D♭ major (five flats: B♭, E♭, A♭, D♭, G♭). The song uses 3 chords: C#, F# and G#.

The progression the song keeps returning to is C# – F# – G# – C# (I – IV – V – I in D♭ major), the I–IV–V–I, the backbone of gospel, blues and folk. In solfa, that is doh – fah – soh – doh. Learn these 4 changes first and most of the song falls into place.

Easier on guitar: put a capo on the 4th fret and play the shapes A, D, E (100% of the chords become easy open shapes, against 0% without a capo). It sounds exactly the same.