Babylon | Chords + Lyrics (capo 1)
Intro
||: Dmaj9/F# | G :||
Verse 1
||: Dmaj9/F# | G :||
Friday night I’m going nowhere, all the lights are changing green to red.
Turning over TV stations, situations running through my head.
Looking back through time, you know it’s clear that I’ve been blind, I’ve been a fool.
| Dmaj9/F# | G | Dmaj9/F# | G | Em Emadd9 | Emadd9 |
To open up my heart to all that jealousy, that bitterness, that ridicule.
Verse 2
||: Dmaj9/F# | G :||
Saturday I’m running wild and all the lights are changing, red to green.
Moving through the crowd I’m pushing chemicals all rushing in my bloodstream.
Only wish that you were here, you know I’m seeing it so clear, I’ve been afraid.
To show you how I really feel, admit to some of those bad mistakes I’ve made.
Chorus 1
| D | A | Em | F#m |
If you want it, come and get it, crying out loud.
| D | A | Em | G |
The love that I was, giving you was, never in doubt.
| D | A | Em | A |
Let go of your heart, let go of your head and feel it now.
| D | A | Em | A | A |
Let go of your heart, let go of your head and feel it now.
||: Dmaj9/F# | G :|| x4
Babylon, Babylon, Babylon.
Verse 3 (as Verse 2)
Sunday all the lights of London, shining sky is fading red to blue.
I’m kicking through the Autumn leaves and wondering where it is you might be going to.
Turning back for home, you know I’m feeling so alone, I can’t believe.
Climbing on the stair, I turn around to see you smiling there, in front of me.
Chorus 2
And if you want it, come and get it, crying out loud.
The love that I was, giving you was, never in doubt.
Let go of your heart, let go of your head and feel it now.
| D | A | Em | A13 |
Let go of your heart, let go of your head and feel it now.
| D | A | Em | A13 |
Let go of your heart, let go of your head and feel it now.
| D | A | Em | A | A |
Let go of your heart, let go of your head and feel it now.
||: Dmaj9/F# | G :|| x5
Babylon, Babylon, Babylon, Babylon, Babylon, why?
Outro
| Dmaj9/F# | Dmaj9/F# | D/F# | Dmaj7 |
Babylon Chords: Learn the progressions
Above, you saw chords and lyrics for David Gray‘s Babylon and even though they are correct, they are so unique that they alone don’t tell the whole story of how to play the song.
With a capo on fret 1, you can think of the intro and verse chords as a loop between Dmaj9/F# and a G chord. But to get it to sound like the original, you must have TAB (see further down this page).
The chorus on the other hand uses common open-position chords, varying only in bar 4, like this:
| D (I) | A (V) | Em (II) | F#m (III) |
| D | A | Em | G (IV) |
| D | A | Em | A(V) |
| D | A | Em | A | A |
It is great songwriting to make one section using unique chords (verse) and the other super common (chorus). It creates a subconscious release for the listener as we move from unusual/interesting, to common/release.
Once you know exactly how to play the verse like David, a simple chart is all you need to remind you, here’s one I made for you.
Babylon Chord Chart | PDF + iReal Pro
The Emadd9 you see at the end is not what David plays, I added it in my version, he only holds an Em chord.
Should you want to download this chart, here’s a PDF: Babylon Chord Chart PDF.
This chart was created using iRealPro, here’s a link to that file: Babylon iRealPro. Using this and the iRealPro app, you can change the key and maybe swap Emadd9 to Em!
In the course, we look at TAB and play-along to loops to learn Babylon in more depth, especially that intro/verse, below is a preview.
Babylon TAB | Course Preview
As discussed above, it’s that intro/verse chord lick that you can’t just read as a chord name to get it right.
To get this riff right, you need the exact TAB and what’s more, you probably need to slowly build towards playing this chord riff correctly, it is fretted in a very unusual way.
In the course, we’ll build towards playing the chord riff using play-along loops and TAB and then find variations as without a band, it needs fattening up at times when it’s played on just one guitar.
Above, you’ll find a play-along loop for the TAB you see below. This is one of the ways I’ll show members how to play the verse out of 6 examples.
In the course, we methodically go through how to play each section of the arrangement, mixed with modified chromatic exercises that’ll improve your hammer-on and pull-off technique as this is so prominent in Babylon.
Following this, we build a 2nd guitar part for Babylon so you, me, and the singer can play the tune together.
You can see the result of this in the playlist at the top of this page as I play the complete song as guitar 2 as well.
Here’s a link to the 8 step-by-step guitar lessons: Babylon – Guitar Lessons with TAB.
Babylon was a bedroom recording!
When I first heard Babylon I thought it had an interesting production, it felt new for a singer-songwriter and I thought that guy must have had a producer who took his songs and made them radio-friendly.
I couldn’t have been more wrong. Babylon was recorded after David Gray had been through the music industry, coming out the other end disappointed.
What happened was that he gave it one more shot, recording the entire album (White Ladder, 1998) in his bedroom using Protools and the help of his drummer, Craig McClune.
The whole album feels genuine and has many more tunes than Babylon worth checking out. I remember not being able to put it down for many months.
Following the release of White Ladder, David shot to fame and the music industry came crawling back, unfortunately, he never managed to write songs of the same calibre again.
I’m not sure what this proves but in my experience, most artists go through a spell when all their best work appears. For David, that was captured in his bedroom in the late ’90s.
If you have a strange sense of the main chord riff of Babylon feeling somewhat familiar, check out Ventura Highway by America, I’m certain David was “inspired” by it.
He may have done this consciously or unconsciously. The serious songwriter goes to work every day, rewriting songs. Paul McCartney and Paul Simon have admitted to this many times.
It is only the idealist beginner who believes in divine inspiration!
Babylon Chords | Related Pages
Babylon | 8 Step-by-step Guitar Lessons
Babylon by David Grey has a very tricky verse lick that uses hammer-ons and pull-offs. To stand a chance of playing this, we must first practice some exercises.
Once you can do this, we learn the song step by step, including a unique 2nd guitar part so we can perform it together.
Five similar tunes | Chords + Lyrics
- Losing My Religion chords by R.E.M.
- One chords by U2
- Starman chords by David Bowie
- Ventura Highway chords by America
- Wish You Were Here chords by Pink Floyd
David Gray tunes
David Gray is an English singer-songwriter. After many years of struggling with unsuccessful releases on different labels, he ended up recording the album White Ladder in his bedroom.
Since the release of White Ladder, David has toured the world.
David Gray on the web
About me | Dan Lundholm
This was a guitar lesson about Babylon chords, by Dan Lundholm. Discover more about him and how you can learn guitar with Spytunes.
Most importantly, find out why you should learn guitar through playing tunes, not practising scales, and studying theory in isolation.
