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 Backing Tracks | Chord Analysis
Above, you’ll find backing tracks to use when learning All The Small Things. I’ve used stem separation to extract the guitar while keeping the drums, bass, keys, horns, and vocals intact.
After studying the chords and TAB, use my backing tracks to prepare for playing this tune with a band.
Should you want to play along with the original recording instead, you need to tune your guitar sharp to 442Hz. In the backing track, I’ve done this job for you by detuning it to 440Hz.
Chord Progression – What’s Going On?
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.
Intro
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 move from C5 to Csus4, then back to C early. We also play a full G chord rather than a G5.
Verse
For the verse, palm-mute the same chords, now without the fancy extensions, and mute before the F5. If you switch to triads, it’s no longer punk—it must 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 follows the verse pattern, but this time we lock in with the bass: C5 for two bars, then G5 and F5 for one bar each. There are two overdubs in the chorus that turn the G into Gsus4 and G6, while the F becomes Fmaj13—not very pop-punk at all!
To get TAB for all the main parts and overdubs, keep scrolling down this guitar lesson.
Once you’ve 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
Let’s go through each section one by one so you can play this with your band. To make it perfect, you’ll ideally need a second guitarist, but it’s still possible to perform it solo—just ignore the overdubs.
Intro
This is a case where small details matter. We play an F5/C in the second bar of the main riff. The bass stays on C while we move to F5. We then stop on a G5 in the last bar, add some muted strums, and move to F5. If you miss these details, it won’t sound like the original.
If you have a 2nd guitar, they could either play the same thing, or the G5 and F5 up an octave, using A-shapes.
Verse
For the verse, drop one of the strings from the chord and palm mute everything using all downstrokes.
Bridge
The simplest section is the bridge. Just hold the chord while the bass moves beneath you.
Chorus
The chorus opens up with a bigger sound—no palm muting this time, and you’re back to playing three strings. Experiment with using all downstrokes or mixing in upstrokes.
Notice the open E before the F; it’s there to make the transition smoother.
To make the chorus sound even bigger, add overdubs. Your second guitarist could play this:
Or this, if you don’t have a third guitarist:
Instrumental
The instrumental section isn’t identical to the intro. Here we play Csus4 instead of F5/C—just one note changes. We also return to C and play a full G rather than G5. Getting details like these right will really set your performance apart.
Breakdown
Finally, there’s the breakdown section, which features two guitar parts. If you’re the only guitarist, learn both and decide which one fits best in your setup.
Here’s what Guitar 2 plays—can you identify the chord names?
When you can play all the TAB, play along with Blink-182 using just the backing tracks and chord chart.
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
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