Chords + Lyrics | Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)
Intro
| Fmadd4 | Bbmadd9 | C7b9 C7#5 | Fm |
Verse 1
| Fm Fmmaj7 | Fm7 Fm6 |
I was five and he was six we rode on horses made of sticks.
| Eb | C7 |
He wore black and I wore white, he would always win the fight.
Chorus 1
| Fm | Fm |
Bang bang, he shot me down, bang bang, I hit the ground.
| Eb | C7 |
Bang bang, that awful sound. Bang bang, my baby shot me down.
Instrumental 1
| Fmadd4 | Bbmadd9 | C7b9 C7#5 | Fm |
Verse 2
Seasons came and changed the time, when I grew up, I called him mine.
He would always laugh and say, “Remember when we used to play?”.
Chorus 2
Bang bang, I shot you down, bang bang, you hit the ground.
Bang bang, that awful sound. Bang bang, I used to shoot you down.
Instrumental 2
| Fmadd4 | Bbmadd9 | C7b9 C7#5 |
Bridge
| Fm | Eb |
Music played and people sang. Just for me, the church bells rang.
Instrumental 3
| Db/F Dbadd9/F | C7 C7b9 C7#9 C7b9 C7 | Fm |
Verse 3
Now he’s gone, I don’t know why. And ’til this day, sometimes I cry.
He didn’t even say goodbye, he didn’t take the time, to lie.
Chorus 3
Bang bang, he shot me down, bang bang, I hit the ground.
Bang bang, that awful sound. Bang bang, my baby shot me down.
Outro
| Fmadd4 | Bbmadd9 | C7b9 C7#5 | Fm |
Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down) Backing Tracks | Chord Analysis
Above, you’ll find backing tracks to use when learning Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down). 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 to 439Hz. In the backing tracks, I’ve done this job for you by tuning it to 440Hz.
Chord Progressions – What’s Going On?
The chords above, when paired with the lyrics, may seem complicated, but they’re designed to help you remember the riff, as each chord indicates the intervals to play.
Before using these chords as a reference, it’s important to have the correct TAB. Carry on down this guitar lesson and you’ll find it.
Verse + Chorus
The verse and chorus chords are quite similar, with only slight variations. In the verse, we have a descending root – maj7 – b7 – 6, represented like this with Roman numerals:
| Fm (II) Fmmaj7 | Fm7 Fm6 | | Eb (I) | C7 (VIx) |
The chorus follows the same II – I – VIx progression but without the extensions, like this:
| Fm | Fm | | Eb | C7 |
Bridge
The bridge lasts for just two bars before a new instrumental section appears:
| Fm | Eb | | Db/F (bVIIx) Dbadd9/F | C7 C7b9 C7#9 C7b9 C7 | Fm |
The bVIIx (backdoor dominant) creates plenty of tension, heightened by the C7 with both b9 and #9 extensions.
Once you’ve studied the meaning of these chords and memorised the TAB, this chord chart will serve as a useful reference at the gig. If you can visualise the intervals, everything will fall into place!
Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down) Chord Chart | PDF + iReal Pro Download
Should you want to download this chart, here’s a PDF: Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down) chord chart PDF.
This chord chart was created using iReal Pro, here’s a link to that file: Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down) iReal Pro. Using this and the iRealPro app, you can change the key.
Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down) | TAB
In the key of Fm, Bang Bang is played with plenty of voice leading and at a free tempo throughout. Let’s take a look at some TAB for each section, here’s the intro:
Naming the chords is simply a matter of identifying the intervals, like this:
- Fmadd4 – 5, R, m3, 5, 4, m3 = Fmadd4 because both the m3rd and 4th are present
- Bbmadd9 – 5 R m3, 5, R, m3, 9, R = Bbmadd9 because both the m3rd and 9th are present
- C7b9 – R 3 b7 R, 3, b7, R, b9 = C7b9, no 5th is needed
- C7#5 – R, b7, #5, 5th, no root or 3rd is needed as we still hear it from previous chords.
The final Fm chord is later played faster, as a rake.
Here’s the verse TAB:
The vocal starts halfway through that Fm we played in the intro, this is then followed by the classic descending root which creates the chords Fm – Fmmaj7 – Fm7 – Fm6.
Eb is chord V as the key is Fm, and C7 is chord IIIx.
The chorus is pretty much the same as the verse, just without the descending chord extensions.. Here’s the TAB:
Here’s the bridge TAB:
Starting in the same way as the chorus, we get new chords after the singing with Db/F, which could also be called Bbm7/F.
Dbadd9/F could also be called a Bbm7add4/F, check all intervals to ensure you understand why.
For the final bar, I’ve named the chords bigger than what we actually play, try playing the full chords as well and you’ll hear why!
A perfect example of minimalism
Nancy Sinatra’s iconic Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down) is a minimalist masterpiece, built around a single guitar with plenty of tremolo and a simple chord progression. The lyrics poignantly tell the story of early love.
The use of free time and emotive vocals makes it an excellent example to reference when discussing songs that are too complicated or recorded to a click.
Notice the subtle variation between the first and second choruses, specifically the second line:
Bang bang, that awful sound. Bang bang, my baby shot me down.
Bang bang, that awful sound. Bang bang, I used to shoot you down.
This small tweak is all that’s needed to deepen the narrative.
To further demonstrate the power of simplicity, listen to both Nancy’s and Cher’s original versions (see the playlist at the top of this guitar lesson). Sometimes, less really is more.
Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down) Chords: Continue Learning
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