Apr282023

The National feat. Sufjan Stevens – Once Upon A Poolside Chords

KeyKeyCapo

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[Intro]
C#

[Verse 1]
                    C#
Don't make this any harder
            G#
Everybody’s waiting
                 A#m
Walk-on's almost over
              F#
Teenagers on ice
               C#
Try to keep my distance
              G#
Talking of forgiveness
            A#m
Once upon a poolside
               F#
Underneath the lights

[Chorus]
G#
What was the worried
           F#
thing you said to me?

[Verse 2]
                C#
I'll follow you everywhere
                   G#
While you work the room
                     A#m
I don’t know how you do it
             F#
Tangerine perfume
              C#
I'm not doing anyone
             G#
Any kind of favors
                   A#m
Watching airplanes land
                  F#
And sink into the pavement

[Chorus]

G#
What was the worried
           F#
thing you said to me?

[Bridge 1]

C#           G#
I can't keep talking,
                     A#m
 I can't stop shaking
             F#
I can't keep track of
                    C#
 everything I'm taking
              G#
Everything is different,
                     A#m
 why do I feel the same?
             F#
Am I asking for too much?
                             G#
Can't hеar what you're saying

[Chorus]
G#
What was the worried
           F#
thing you said to me?
G#
I thought we could make
         F#
 it through anything

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[Bridge 2]
C#         G#
This is the closest
       A#m       F#
 we’ve ever been
C#        G#
And I have no idea
      A#m       F#
what’s happening
G#
Is this how this
               F#
whole thing is gonna end?
G#
This is the closest
       F#
we've ever been

[Verse 3]
                    C#
Don't make this any harder
            G#
Everybody’s waiting
                 A#m
Walk-on's almost over
              F#
Teenagers on ice
               C#
Try to keep my distance
              G#
Talking of forgiveness
            A#m
Once upon a poolside
               F#
Underneath the lights

[Chorus]
G#
What was the worried
           F#
 thing you said to me?
G#
I thought we could
             F#
 make it through anything

How to play Once Upon A Poolside: key, chords and progression

These are Once Upon A Poolside chords by The National feat. Sufjan Stevens on Piano, Ukulele, Guitar, and Keyboard.

Once Upon A Poolside by The National feat. Sufjan Stevens is in the key of D♭ major (five flats: B♭, E♭, A♭, D♭, G♭). The song uses 4 chords: C#, G#, A#m and F#.

The progression the song keeps returning to is C# – G# – A#m – F# (I – V – vi – IV in D♭ major), the “four-chord” progression behind countless pop, rock and worship songs. In solfa, that is doh – soh – lah – fah. Learn these 4 changes first and most of the song falls into place.

Easier on guitar: put a capo on the 6th fret and play the shapes G, D, Em, C (100% of the chords become easy open shapes, against 0% without a capo). It sounds exactly the same.