Nov182023

Jimmy Buffett – When Salome Plays The Drum on Piano & Ukulele

ChordsC Bb F G

KeyKeyCapo

View

[Intro]
C

[Verse 1]
C
When Salome plays the drum
C
Crowd goes deaf and dumb
                 Bb
Swept up by dark sensations

C
Partially the heat
C
More so it's the beat
             Bb
She moves in syncopation
C
Gazelle on the run

[Verse 2]
C
Skirt slit past her thigh
C
Boys let out a sigh
                   Bb
The beat begins to quicken
C
Crowd ascends the stairs
C
Climbin' on the chairs
                   Bb
The plot begins to thicken
C
Phasers on stun

[Chorus]
F         G      C
Take them to the carnival
 (take them to the carnival)
F        G        C
Let them hear the conga
F           G     C
Tonight the tempo feels
 so right
Bb              C
Tomorrow may be wrong-a

[Instrument]
C C Bb C C   x2

[Verse 3]
C
Gendarme close her down
C
Make her leave the town
               Bb
She caught the flight to Rio
C
Nothin' to say

C
Wavin' from the plane
C
Pourin' pink champagne
               Bb
She toasts her loyal trio
C
It was a lucrative stay

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

[Chorus]
    F         G      C
Ooh take them to the carnival
(take them to the carnival)
F        G        C
Let them hear the conga
F           G     C
Tonight the tempo feels so right
Bb              C
Tomorrow may be wrong-a

               F         G
(Oh won't you) take them to
     C
 the carnival (take them
to the carnival)
F        G        C
Let them play for hours
F           G       C
Tonight the weather feels
so right
Bb
Tomorrow (tomorrow)
             C
feels like showers

[Outro]
C C Bb C
C C Bb C

Watch: When Salome Plays The Drum

From Jimmy Buffett - Topic on YouTube. Play along with the chords above.

How to play When Salome Plays The Drum: key, chords and progression

These are When Salome Plays The Drum chords by Jimmy Buffett on Piano, Ukulele, Guitar, and Keyboard.

When Salome Plays The Drum by Jimmy Buffett is centred on F major (one flat: B♭). The song uses 4 chords: C, Bb, F and G.

The progression the song keeps returning to is C – F – G – C (V – I – II – V in F major). In solfa, that is soh – doh – reh – soh. Learn these 4 changes first and most of the song falls into place.

Easier on guitar: put a capo on the 3rd fret and play the shapes A, G, D, E (100% of the chords become easy open shapes, against 50% without a capo). It sounds exactly the same.