Dec22021

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young – Southern Cross Chords on Piano & Ukulele

Updated January 8, 2026

ChordsD G A F

KeyKeyCapo

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[Intro]
D G A A
D G A A

[Verse 1]
D          A         G
Got out of town on a boat
goin' to Southern islands
G         A     D
Sailing a reach before
            A
a followin' sea
A
She was makin' for the
G             A
trades on the outside
A                G      A
And the downhill run to Papeete

[Verse 2]
A                    F
Off the wind on this heading
        A
lie the Marquesas
G      A
We got eighty feet of
    F         G             A
the waterline nicely making way
A                 G
In a noisy bar in Avalon
           A
I tried to call you
A
But on a midnight watch I
G                          A
realized why twice you ran away

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[Chorus]
A
Think about
A           D
Think about how many
             A
times I have fallen
A           G
Spirits are using me
              A
larger voices callin'
A
What Heaven brought you and
G            D
me cannot be forgotten
(Around the world)
D           G          A
I have been around the world
          G
(Lookin') Lookin' for
           A
that woman girl
(Who knows she knows)
A   G              A
Who knows love can endure
A                    D G A
And you know it will

[Verse 3]
G        A                D
When you see the Southern Cross
        A
for the first time
A                  G
You understand now why
              A
you came this way
A                    G
'Cause the truth you might
                   A
be runnin' from is so small
A                      G
But it's as big as the promise,
                        A
the promise of a comin' day

[Verse 4]
D      A           G
So I'm sailing for tomorrow
                D
my dreams are a dyin'
D      A          G
And my love is an anchor tied
                          A
to you tied with a silver chain
A
I have my ship and all
    G            A
her flags are a' flyin'
A                      G
She is all that I have left
                 A
and music is her name

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

[Chorus]
A
Think about
A           D
Think about how many
             A
times I have fallen
A           G
Spirits are using me
              A
larger voices callin'
A
What Heaven brought you and
G            D
me cannot be forgotten
                   D
(Around the world) I have
     G          A
been around the world
          G
(Lookin') Lookin'
               A
for that woman girl
(Who knows she knows)
A   G              A
Who knows love can endure
A                    D G A
And you know it will

[Instrumental Break--Guitar]
D A G
D A G
A G A
A G G
A

[Verse 5]
A
So we cheated and
   G           A
we lied and we tested
A                      G
And we never failed to fail,
           D                A
it was the easiest thing to do
A        G             A
You will survive being bested
A                  G
Somebody fine will come along,
                            A
make me forget about loving you
A                     G D D A
In the Southern Cross

How to play Southern Cross: key, chords and progression

These are the chords for Southern Cross by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young on Piano, Ukulele, Guitar, and Keyboard

Southern Cross by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young sits in D major (two sharps: F♯, C♯), and you need 4 chords to play it: D, G, A and F.

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

Easier on guitar: put a capo on the 5th fret and play the shapes A, D, E, C (100% of the chords become easy open shapes, against 75% without a capo). It sounds exactly the same.