Believe | Chords + Lyrics (no capo)
Intro (as chorus)
||: Gb | Db | Abm7 | Cb |
| Gb | Bbm7 | Abm | Ebm :||
After love, after love…
Verse 1
| Gb | Gb | Gbmaj7 | Gbmaj7 |
No matter how hard I try, you keep pushing me aside.
| Cb | Cb | Db | Db |
And I can’t break through, there’s no talking to you.
| Gb | Gb | Bbm | Bbm |
It’s so sad that you’re leaving, it takes time to believe it.
| Cb | Cb | Db | Db |
But after all is said and done, you’re gonna be the lonely one, oh.
Chorus 1
| Gb | Db | Abm | Cb |
Do you believe in life after love?
| Gb | Db | Abm | Ebm |
I can feel something inside me say, I really don’t think you’re strong enough, no.
| Gb | Db | Abm7 | Cb |
Do you believe in life after love?
| Gb | Db | Abm | Ebm |
I can feel something inside me say, I really don’t think you’re strong enough, no.
Verse 2
What am I supposed to do, sit around and wait for you?
Well, I can’t do that, and there’s no turning back.
I need time to move on, I need a love to feel strong.
‘Cause I’ve had time to think it through, and maybe I’m too good for you, oh.
Chorus 2
Do you believe in life after love?
I can feel something inside me say, I really don’t think you’re strong enough, no.
Do you believe in life after love?
I can feel something inside me say, I really don’t think you’re strong enough, no.
Middle 8
| Ebm | Ebm | Db | Db |
Well, I know that I’ll get through this.
| Ebm | Ebm | Db | Db |
‘Cause I know that I am strong.
| Cb | Cb | Db | Db |
And I don’t need you anymore. Oh, I don’t need you anymore.
| Cb | Abm | Db | Db |
Oh-oh, I don’t need you anymore. No, I don’t need you anymore.
Chorus 3 (breakdown)
Do you believe in life after love?
I can feel something inside me say, I really don’t think you’re strong enough, no.
Do you believe in life after love?
I can feel something inside me say, I really don’t think you’re strong enough, no.
Chorus 4
Do you believe in life after love?
I can feel something inside me say, I really don’t think you’re strong enough, no.
Do you believe in life after love?
I can feel something inside me say, I really don’t think you’re strong enough, no.
Believe | Chords + Lyrics (tune down 1/2)
Intro (as chorus)
||: G | D | Am7 | C |
| G | Bm7 | Am | Em :||
After love, after love…
Verse 1
| G | G | Gmaj7 | Gmaj7 |
No matter how hard I try, you keep pushing me aside.
| C | C | D | D |
And I can’t break through, there’s no talking to you.
| G | G | Bm | Bm |
It’s so sad that you’re leaving, it takes time to believe it.
| C | C | D | D |
But after all is said and done, you’re gonna be the lonely one, oh.
Chorus 1
| G | D | Am | C |
Do you believe in life after love?
| G | D | Am | Em |
I can feel something inside me say, I really don’t think you’re strong enough, no.
| G | D | Am | C |
Do you believe in life after love?
| G | D | Am | Em |
I can feel something inside me say, I really don’t think you’re strong enough, no.
Verse 2
What am I supposed to do, sit around and wait for you?
Well, I can’t do that, and there’s no turning back.
I need time to move on, I need a love to feel strong.
‘Cause I’ve had time to think it through, and maybe I’m too good for you, oh.
Chorus 2
Do you believe in life after love?
I can feel something inside me say, I really don’t think you’re strong enough, no.
Do you believe in life after love?
I can feel something inside me say, I really don’t think you’re strong enough, no.
Middle 8
| Em | Em | D | D |
Well, I know that I’ll get through this.
| Em | Em | D | D |
‘Cause I know that I am strong.
| C | C | D | D |
And I don’t need you anymore. Oh, I don’t need you anymore.
| C | Am | D | D |
Oh-oh, I don’t need you anymore. No, I don’t need you anymore.
Chorus 3 (breakdown)
Do you believe in life after love?
I can feel something inside me say, I really don’t think you’re strong enough, no.
Do you believe in life after love?
I can feel something inside me say, I really don’t think you’re strong enough, no.
Chorus 4
Do you believe in life after love?
I can feel something inside me say, I really don’t think you’re strong enough, no.
Do you believe in life after love?
I can feel something inside me say, I really don’t think you’re strong enough, no.
Believe Chords: Learn the progressions
Most people look at the chords of Believe and do one of two things:
- Transpose it down to the key of F, then add a capo on fret 1
- Write the chord progression as if in the key of F#
I reckon it’s better to go the other way, up to the key of G, then either be happy with having changed the key, use a guitar tuned down 1/2 step, or switch on the Digitech drop pedal, after all, Cher was messing with the tuning so why can’t we (more about this later)?
With all this in mind, I decided to write the chords as if in the key of Gb and G above so it becomes obvious that you can raise it easily to G and see how simple the chords are.
I did this even though it meant I had to write the awkward chord Cb (there is no B in the key of Gb).
Using Roman Numerals, the chord progression for Believe is first this for the chorus, thinking in G:
| G (I) | D (V) | Am (II) | C (IV) |
When repeated, we play the relative minor of V (III), a subtle change, then chord VI instead of IV at the end, a bigger but similar change, like this:
| G (I) | Bm (III) | Am (II) | Em (VI) |
Notice how G – Bm is similar to G – Gmaj7. Em instead of C has the same relationship, it’s similar to C – Cmaj7. In pop music, we use simple but defined little tweaks like this.
The verse is even simpler as it first climbs from I – Imaj7 – IV – V, like this:
| G | G | Gmaj7 | Gmaj7 | C | C | D | D |
This is then varied by using chord III instead of Imaj7, it’s very similar, you just change the bass note! Pay attention to how this idea was also used twice in the chorus.
| G | G | Bm | Bm | C | C | D | D |
The middle 8 chords are easy as well, the chord progression first repeats VI – V, then IV – V, which is varied with a II – V, like this
||: Em | Em | D | D ::||
| C | C | D | D |
| C | Am | D | D |
I’ve designed some TAB for how this dance classic could be played on an acoustic guitar. The reason for this is that a lot of these types of songs are written like that.
There’s even a saying that most pop producers live and die by; “If it doesn’t work on one acoustic guitar, it doesn’t work”.
Here’s a link to that part of the lesson: Believe – Guitar Lesson with TAB.
When you’ve studied the TAB, a simple chord chart will do, here’s one I made for you.
Believe Chord Chart | PDF + iReal Pro
Should you want to download this chart, here’s a PDF: Believe Chord Chart PDF.
This chord chart was created using iReal Pro, here’s a link to that file: Believe iReal Pro. Using this and the iRealPro app, you can change the key.
Changing the key is a great idea if you leave the capo and drop pedal at home and can’t convince the singer to sing it up a semitone.
Believe and autotune – The fad that wouldn’t fade!
Believe was recorded and released in 1998. Produced by Brian Rawling and Mark Taylor, it was their first big hit and would serve as a platform for working with many other pop acts since.
Only a year earlier, the Antares Vocal Processor AVP-1 had been released with the idea to help singers be in tune so they could finish a track in just one take.
What Brian and Mark did was mess with the settings so instead of the effect being subtle, and just putting Cher in tune, they made it obvious, similar to the effect vocoder, yet different.
At first, this was laughed at and belittled but after Believe went #1 in most countries and sold 11 million copies worldwide, producers everywhere bought their units.
No one has created a track with the same shock effect as Cher since but today, auto-tune is all over pop music, in fact, it would be very difficult to find a tune without it.
Since all modern-sounding music is made in the box, effects like auto-tune are these days implemented using a plugin, not the original style hardware.
What’s most insane about it is that some singers who grew up hearing auto-tune have started to phrase in a way that sounds like it.
Music history is filled with people using gear in a completely different way from how it was intended, kicking the narrative in a new direction.
Two famous examples come to mind:
- Keith Richards trying to sound like a saxophone, cranking everything to distortion for the riff of Satisfaction.
- The Ibanez Tube Screamer pedal which was intended for solid state amps but in the hands of SRV became what every guitar teacher in the world wanted; a Strat – Tube Screamer – Fender amp signal chain.
Believe Chords | Related Pages
Believe | Guitar Lesson + TAB
In this lesson, you get the TAB for all sections of Believe as if it were written by a pop producer on just one acoustic guitar.
| Gb | Gb | Gbmaj7 | Gbmaj7 |
No matter how hard I try, you keep pushing me aside…
Five similar tunes | Chords + Lyrics
- Good Times chords by Chic
- I Don’t Feel Like Dancin’ chords by Chic
- Juice chords by Lizzo
- Murder On The Dancefloor chords by Sophie Ellis-Bextor
- You’ve Got The Love chords by Florence + the Machine
Cher tunes
After meeting her first husband when she was only 16, Cher embarked on a remarkable career, first as a duo with Sonny, then as a solo artist.
Her best tunes include I Got You Babe, If I Could Turn Back Time, The Shoop Shoop Song (It’s In His Kiss), and Believe.
Cher on the web
About me | Dan Lundholm
This was a guitar lesson about Believe 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.
