Mar52021

St. Vincent – Pay Your Way In Pain Chords on Piano & Ukulele

Updated January 8, 2026

KeyKeyCapo

View

[Piano Prologue]
A  G  F  Dm
D7  N.C.

[Intro]
B    A
    (Ow)
B       A
Oh-oh-oh

[Chorus]
A
You got to
B          A
  pay your way in
B         A
  pain - You got to
B          A
  pray your way in
B     A
  shame (Yeah, ow)

[Verse 1]
B
I went to the store,
        A
I was feelin' kinda hungry
      B
But I didn't have the money
          A
and the shelves were all empty
      B                 A
So I went to the bank to
ch-ch-ch-check my checking
       B
The man looked at my face,
     N.C.
said, "We don't have a record"
B        A
Oh no, you thought we had forgotten?
B               A
The show is only gettin' started
B             A
The road is feelin' like a pothole
B                  A#
Sit down, stand up, head down,
 A
hands up, and

[Chorus]
B          A
  Pay your way in
B        A
  pain - You got to
B          A
  pray your way in
B     N.C.
  shame (Yeah, ow)

Check out Musical Tips from our BLOG

[Bridge]
B             C   C#
Do you not remember me?
D
(What do you want? W
hat do you want?)
D           C#      C
Do you know what I want?
 B
(What do you want?
What do you want?)
B             C   C#
You know what I want
   D
(What do you want?
What do you want?)
D
Keep the rest, baby,
D   D#  E                 N.C.
ah, ah  I wanna be loved
B     A
  Pay
B     A
  pain
B     A
  Pray
B     A
 shame

[Verse 2]
   B
So I went to the park just
     A
to watch the little children
   B
The mothers saw my heels and
     A
they said I wasn't welcome
      B
So I, I went back home,
       A
I was feelin' kinda queasy
   B
But all the locks were changed,
 A
my baby wouldn't see me
B   A
Oh no, you've put your finger on it
B       A
The stove is only gettin' hotter
B           A
The sun, it's gotta,
gotta melt it
B            N.C.
Stand up, sit down, hands up,
break down

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

[Outro]
D   E
    (What do you want?
    What do you want?)
G
You know what I want
 A
(What do you want?
What do you want?)
B
I wanna be
 A     B                  A
love——————————————————————ed
(Shame,               Shame)
B
I wanna be
 A   B    B   A  B  A  B  A    N.C.
love————————————————————————————ed
(Shame,          shame)

How to play Pay Your Way In Pain: key, chords and progression

These are the chords for Pay Your Way In Pain by St. Vincent on Piano, Ukulele, Guitar, and Keyboard

Pay Your Way In Pain by St. Vincent is centred on E major (four sharps: F♯, C♯, G♯, D♯). The song uses 12 chords: A, G, F, Dm, D7, B, A#, C, C#, D, D# and E.

The progression the song keeps returning to is B – C – C# – D (V – ♭VI – VI – ♭VII in E major). Learn these 4 changes first and most of the song falls into place.

Good to know: F, B, A#, C# and D# 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.