Achy Breaky Heart | Chords + Lyrics
Intro
||: A (A6) :|| x4
Verse 1
| A (A6) | A (A6) |
You can tell the world, you never was my girl.
| A (A6) | E (E6) |
You can burn my clothes up when I’m gone.
| E (E6) | E (E6) |
Or you can tell your friends just what a fool I’ve been.
| E (E6) | A (A6) |
And laugh and joke about me on the phone.
Verse 2
You can tell my arms go back to the farm.
You can tell my feet to hit the floor.
Or you can tell my lips, to tell my fingertips.
They won’t be reaching out for you no more.
Chorus 1
| A (A6) | A (A6) |
But don’t tell my heart, my achy breaky heart.
| A (A6) | E (E6) |
I just don’t think he’d understand.
| E (E6) | E (E6) |
And if you tell my heart, my achy breaky heart.
| E (E6) | A (A6) |
He might blow up and kill this man, ooh.
Instrumental 1
| A (A6) | A (A6) | A (A6) | E (E6) |
| E (E6) | E (E6) | E (E6) | A (A6) |
Verse 3
You can tell your ma, I moved to Arkansas.
Or you can tell your dog to bite my leg.
Or tell your brother Cliff, who’s fist can tell my lips.
He never really liked me anyway.
Verse 4
Or tell your Aunt Louise, tell anything you please.
Myself already knows I’m not okay.
Or you can tell my eyes to watch out for my mind.
It might be walking out on me one day.
Chorus 2
But don’t tell my heart, my achy breaky heart.
I just don’t think he’d understand.
And if you tell my heart, my achy breaky heart.
He might blow up and kill this man, ooh.
Instrumental 2
| A (A6) | A (A6) | A (A6) | E (E6) |
| E (E6) | E (E6) | E (E6) | A (A6) |
Chorus 3
But don’t tell my heart, my achy breaky heart.
I just don’t think he’d understand.
And if you tell my heart, my achy breaky heart.
He might blow up and kill this man.
Chorus 4 (breakdown)
||: N.C | N.C :||
Don’t tell my heart, my achy breaky heart.
I just don’t think he’d understand.
And if you tell my heart, my achy breaky heart.
He might blow up and kill this man, ooh.
Outro
||: A (A6) | A (A6) | A (A6) | E (E6) |
| E (E6) | E (E6) | E (E6) | A (A6) :||
Achy Breaky Heart Chords: Mastering the Honky-Tonk Style
The chords in Achy Breaky Heart are just I–V in the key of A, using honky-tonk comping.
The question is: how do you honky-tonk in this particular case, and what other tunes can we compare it with to get better at the honky-tonk style?
Above, I’ve described the Achy Breaky Heart‘s chords as A and (A6). The reason for this is to avoid writing | A A6 A A6 A | for every bar; the brackets mean you play it, don’t play it, play it, etc.
Really, the only way to describe how to play this honky-tonk riff is to use tablature (TAB). Once you have this and have learned to play it, just reading the chords and lyrics above, or the chart below, will be easy.
Here’s a link to the TAB lesson: Achy Breaky Heart – Guitar Lesson with TAB.
And here’s the chord chart; this one is easy!
Achy Breaky Heart Chord Chart | PDF + iReal Pro
Should you want to download this chart, here’s a PDF: Achy Breaky Heart chord chart PDF.
This chord chart was created using iReal Pro, here’s a link to that file: Achy Breaky Heart chord chart iReal Pro. Using this and the iRealPro app, you can change the key.
Achy Breaky Heart was a cover!
Don Von Tress wrote Don’t Tell My Heart in 1990. It was first released by The Marcy Brothers in 1991. The following year, Billy Ray Cyrus covered it. Now titled Achy Breaky Heart, it would become his signature song.
Helped by Billy Ray’s good looks and the video showing happy people line-dancing, it went to #1 in four countries and sold 1 million copies in the U.S.
To this day, Achy Breaky Heart is a standard in country cover bands’ repertoires and a must if you want to dip your toe into this world.
But it’s not just country cover bands that have kept Achy Breaky Heart in the public’s consciousness; Alvin and the Chipmunks, Weird Al Yankovic, Buck 22, and several English football clubs’ fans frequently sing it on matchday.
Not to mention Billy Ray Cyrus’s daughter, Miley, who’s invited her dad up many times to sing his big hit at her gigs.
If you want to work as a professional guitarist, Achy Breaky Heart is a great tune to add to your repertoire; after all, it only has two chords!
Achy Breaky Heart Chords: Continue Learning
Want to master this song? Check out the full TAB lesson here: Achy Breaky Heart (Billy Ray Cyrus) Guitar Lesson with TAB.
Alternatively, here are five similar tunes you might enjoy: