Nov182023

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

ChordsC Bb F G

KeyKeyCapo

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

[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

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

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.