Chords + Lyrics | All The Small Things
Intro
| N.C G5 F5 |
||: C5 | F5/C | G5 | G5 N.C F5 :||
Verse 1
||: C5 | G5 | F5 | G5 :||
All the small things, true care, truth brings.
I’ll take one lift, your ride, best trip.
Always, I know, you’ll be at my show.
Watching, waiting, commiserating.
Bridge 1
| C5 | C5 |
Say it ain’t so, I will not go
| C5 (G) | C5 (F) |
Turn the lights off, carry me home
Chorus 1
||: C5 | C5 | G5 | F5 :|| x2
||: Na-na, na-na, na-na, na-na, na, na :|| x4
Instrumental
||: C5 | Csus4 C | G5 | G5 N.C F5 :||
Verse 2 (half)
Late night, come home, work sucks, I know.
She left me roses by the stairs, surprises let me know she cares.
Bridge 2
Just say it ain’t so, I will not go.
Turn the lights off, carry me home
Chorus 2
||: Na-na, na-na, na-na, na-na, na, na :|| x4
Breakdown
||: C | C | Fsus2 | Gsus4 :|| x4
Outro chorus
||: C5 | C5 | G5 | F5 :||
Just say it ain’t so, I will not go. Turn the lights off, carry me home.
Keep your head still, I’ll be your thrill. The night will go on, my little windmill.
||: C5 | C5 | G5 | N.C F5 :||
Just say it ain’t so (na-na, na-na, na-na), I will not go (na-na, na, an). Turn the lights off (na-na, na-na, na-na), carry me home (na-na, na, na).
Keep your head still (na-na, na-na, na-na), I’ll be your thrill (na-na, na, an). The night will go on (na-na, na-na, na-na), The night will go on (na-na, na, na).
| C5 | C5 |
My little windmill.
All The Small Things Chords: Punk power chord Progressions with extensions as overdubs
Using only the I, V, and IV chords, and mainly in that order, there are a few subtle tricks to the chords of All The Small Things.
During the intro, we start with C5 (I chord), followed by F5/C, G5, a classic punk-style muted string stop, and F5.
When this riff returns in instrumental 1, we go from C5 to Csus4, then back to C early. We also then play a G, not a G5
Verse
For the verse, we palm mute the same chords, now without the fancy extensions, and mutes before the F5. If you change these chords to triads, it’s no longer punk—it has to be power chords (5 chords).
Bridge
The bridge is even simpler, with the guitar holding C5 while the bass moves from G to F.
Chorus
The chorus is similar to the verse, but now we play with the bass as it’s C5 for two bars, and G5 and F5 for one bar each.
There are two overdubs in the chorus which turn the G into a Gsus4 and G6, the F becomes an Fmaj13 – not very pop punk at all!
To get TAB for all the main parts and the overdubs, check out the TAB lesson: All The Small Things – Guitar Lesson with TAB.
Having mastered the TAB (it’s all about muscle memory), this chord chart is all you need.
All The Small Things Chord Chart | PDF + iReal Pro Download
Here’s a PDF and iReal Pro version of my chord chart that you can download:
All The Small Things TAB | Course Preview
In the course, you get TAB for all sections, including the overdubs with the fancy extensions. It’s easier to play these than understand the naming.
Here’s a preview, the main chorus part – notice the open E string that takes us from G5 to F5.
Experiment with playing this part using up and down strokes vs only downstrokes.
Green Day’s producer + Outrageous music video = Success
Building on the success of Green Day in the ’90s, Blink-182 released Enema of the State in 1999.
Produced by Jerry Finn, who had also worked on Green Day’s breakthrough album Dookie, the album became a massive success, with singles like All The Small Things and What’s My Age Again? topping charts worldwide.
A key factor in the song’s success was undoubtedly its genius music video, where Blink-182 poked fun at ’90s American boy bands like Backstreet Boys and NSYNC (Justin Timberlake). The humorous approach helped the song reach a wider audience.
All The Small Things cemented Blink-182’s place in the pantheon of ’90s punk alongside Green Day, The Offspring, Sum 41, Good Charlotte, No Doubt, Weezer, and Millencolin, all of whom achieved massive success during this era.
Far from the basement origins of punk in the late ’70s, these bands were now playing stadiums and festivals across the globe.
Study the chords and lyrics of All The Small Things to uncover how they made it happen.
All The Small Things Chords: Continue Learning
Want to master this song? Check out the full TAB lesson here: All The Small Things (Blink-182) Guitar Lesson with TAB.
Alternatively, here are five similar tunes you might enjoy:
