Blue Suede Shoes | Chords + Lyrics
Verse 1
| N.C (E G) | A5 N.C (E G) | A5 N.C | N.C |
Well, it’s a one for the money, two for the show, three to get ready now go, cat, go.
| D | D | A | A |
But don’t you step on my blue suede shoes.
| E7 | E7 | A | A (E G) |
Well, you can do anything but lay off of my blue suede shoes.
Verse 2
| A5 N.C (E G) | A5 N.C (E G) | A5 N.C (E G) | A5 N.C (E G) |
Well, you can knock me down, step in my face, slander my name all over the place.
| A5 N.C (E G) | A5 N.C (E G) | A5 N.C | N.C |
We’ll do anything that you wanna do, but uh-uh Honey, lay off of them shoes.
| D | D | A | A |
And don’t you step on my blue suede shoes.
| E7 | E7 | A | A |
Well, you can do anything but lay off of my blue suede shoes. Let’s go cats!
Solo 1
| A | A | A | A |
Oh, walk the dogs.
| D | D | A | A |
| E7 | E7 | A | A (E G) |
Verse 3 (as verse 2)
Well, you can burn my house, steal my car. Drink my liquor from an old fruit jar.
We’ll do anything that you wanna do, but uh-uh Honey, lay off of my shoes.
And don’t you step on my blue suede shoes.
Well, you can do anything but lay off of my blue suede shoes. Rock it!
Solo 2
| A | A | A | A |
Yeah.
| D | D | A | A |
| E7 | E7 | A | A (E G) |
Verse 4 (as verse 1)
Well, it’s a one for the money, two for the show, three to get ready now go, go, go.
But don’t you step on my blue suede shoes.
Well, you can do anything but lay-ay off of my blue suede shoes.
Outro
| A | A | A | A |
Well, it’s blue, blue, blue suede shoes. Blue, blue, blue suede shoes, yeah.
| D | D | A | A |
Blue, blue, blue suede shoes, baby. Blue, blue, blue suede shoes.
| E7 | E7 | A | A |
Well, you do anything but lay off of my blue suede shoes.
Blue Suede Shoes Chords: Learn the progressions
At its core, Blue Suede Shoes follows a standard 12-bar blues progression with stops, played in the key of A.
A key feature is the build-up bass line leading into the A chord: E – G. These notes (the 5th and b7th) suggest that A is functioning as a dominant 7th chord, though the actual stop is played as A5.
For an authentic Rock ‘N’ Roll feel with a touch of country, you can extend the A and D chords to 6ths, especially when adding chord licks. However, the V chord (E) should always be played as E7.
Here’s how the chords line up for verses 1 and 3:
||: N.C (E G) | A5 N.C (E G) | A5 N.C | N.C |
| D | D | A | A |
| E7 | E7 | A | A (E G) :||
For verses 2 and 4, the stops are doubled.
The two solos follow the same 12-bar structure and also serve as the outro, keeping the arrangement simple and effective.
To help visualise and practice, here’s a chord chart I put together.

Blue Suede Shoes Chord Chart | PDF + iReal Pro
You can download my chord chart and bring it to the gig so you remember what key you’re in and the structure of Blue Suede Shoes.
All these early rock n roll tunes are fairly simple, perhaps the hardest part is to tell them apart!
Here’s the PDF: Blue Suede Shoes Chord Chart PDF.
And here’s the iReal Pro version: Blue Suede Shoes iReal Pro.
Blue Suede Shoes was one of the songs that made Elvis!
Released in January 1956 by Carl Perkins, Blue Suede Shoes climbed the charts, spending two weeks at #2.
Elvis Presley was initially hesitant to record the song, as he knew Carl Perkins and Sun Records’ Sam Phillips well and didn’t want to interfere with their release.
However, by September 1956, Elvis’s version was out, with Tutti Frutti as the B-side. By then, he had moved from Sun Records to RCA, gaining better distribution and stronger radio connections.
From that point on, everything he touched turned to gold. In 1956 alone, Heartbreak Hotel, I Want You, I Need You, I Love You, Don’t Be Cruel, Hound Dog, and Love Me Tender all reached #1.
Blue Suede Shoes opened his debut album, Elvis Presley, marking the beginning of rock ‘n’ roll history—the King was born.
Blue Suede Shoes Chords | Related Pages
Five similar tunes | Chords + Lyrics
- Crazy Little Thing Called Love
- I Saw Her Standing There
- I’m A Believer
- Jailhouse Rock
- Roll Over Beethoven
Elvis Presley tunes
Elvis Presley didn’t just change music by popularising Rock ‘N’ Roll and becoming the world’s first superstar, he changed the world.
Hits include Jailhouse Rock, Heartbreak Hotel, Don’t Be Cruel, Blue Suede Shoes, In The Ghetto, Suspicious Minds, and (Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear.
Elvis Presley on the web
About me | Dan Lundholm
This was a guitar lesson about Blue Suede Shoes‘ 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 by practising scales or studying theory in isolation.