Brown Eyed Girl | Chords + Lyrics
Intro
||: G (Gadd9) | C (Cadd9) | G (Gadd9) | D (Dadd4) :||
Verse 1
||: G | C | G | D :||
Hey, where did we go? Days when the rains came.
Down in the hollow, playin’ a new game.
Laughin’ and a-runnin’, hey, hey, skippin’ and a-jumpin’
In the misty morning fog with, our, our hearts a-thumping and
| C | D | G /F# | Em |
you, my brown-eyed girl.
| C | D5/A | G | D |
You my, brown-eyed girl.
Verse 2
And whatever happened, to Tuesday and so slow?
Going down the old mine with a transistor radio.
Standing in the sunlight laughing, hiding behind a rainbow’s wall.
Slipping and sliding, all along the waterfall.
With you, my brown-eyed girl.
| C | D5/A | G | D | D5 | D5 |
You my, brown-eyed girl. Do you remember when, we used to sing?
Chorus 1
||: G | C | G | D :||
Sha-la-la, la-la, la-la, la-la, la-la tee-da (just like that).
Sha-la-la, la-la, la-la, la-la, la-la tee-da, la-tee-da.
Breakdown
| G (Gadd9) | G6 G | G5 | G5 (G6) |
| G | C | G | D |
Verse 3 (same as 2)
So hard to find my way, now that I’m all on my own.
I saw you just the other day, my, how you have grown.
Cast my memory back there Lord, sometimes I’m overcome thinking ’bout it.
Making love in the green grass, behind the stadium.
With you, my brown-eyed girl.
You my, brown-eyed girl. Do you remember when, ah we used to sing?
Chorus 2 (x2)
Sha-la-la, la-la, la-la, la-la, la-la tee-da (lying in the green grass).
Sha-la-la, la-la, la-la, la-la, la-la tee-da (bit by, bit by, bit by, bit by, bit by, bit).
Sha-la-la, la-la, la-la, la-la, la-la tee-da (sha-la-la-la-la-la-la-la,la, tee-da-la, tee-da-la, tee-da-la, da da da, de da da, de da da, de da).
Sha-la-la, la-la, la-la, la-la, la-la tee-da (be-de-bit by, be-de-bit by, be-de-bit by, be-de-bit by)
Brown Eyed Girl Chords: Master the Progressions and Iconic Licks
Brown Eyed Girl is built almost entirely on the classic I – IV – I – V chord progression, with an Em added for variation.
In the key of G, the verse follows this structure:
||: G (I) | C (IV) | G | D (V) :|| x4
| C | D | G /F# | Em (VI) |
| C | D5/A | G | D | D5 | D5 |
With its simple open-position chords, Brown Eyed Girl serves as an excellent challenge for beginner guitarists. And since it remains a staple for function bands, duos, and solo performers, you may end up playing it for the rest of your life—just like Van the Man himself has for decades!
My top tip? Learn the song inside out and develop your variations so you can keep enjoying it for years to come. As the saying goes, the more you put in, the more you get out.
If you’re playing solo, the key challenge is incorporating the iconic intro lick into your strumming. To help with this, I’ve created some TAB: Brown Eyed Girl – Guitar Lesson with TAB.
And what about the breakdown section? Can the bass line and lead guitar licks be played on a single acoustic guitar? Absolutely!
Once you’ve worked through the TAB and maybe come up with a few ideas of your own, a simple chord chart will be all you need as a reminder. Here’s one I made for you.
Brown Eyed Girl Chord Chart | PDF + iReal Pro
I’m really pleased with how this chord chart turned out—you can clearly see the four distinct sections: intro, verse, chorus, and breakdown.
The structure is straightforward: the first verse is repeated, followed by the breakdown, then a single verse, and finally, the chorus is repeated until the end.
If you’d like to download the chart, here’s a PDF: Brown Eyed Girl Chord Chart PDF.
This chart was created using iRealPro, and you can find the file here: Brown Eyed Girl iReal Pro. With the iRealPro app, you can even change the key.
That said, after playing Brown Eyed Girl on and off for 30 years, I’ve never actually needed to change the key—so chances are, you won’t either!
The Biggest Hit of the ’60s Didn’t Pay Van a Penny
Van Morrison’s signature song, Brown Eyed Girl, is undoubtedly his best-known work and often the first song people hear before discovering his more complex compositions, like Moondance, Crazy Love, And It Stoned Me, Tupelo Honey, and Into the Mystic.
Originally titled Brown Skinned Girl, Van has developed a love-hate relationship with the song, once claiming he’d “written about 300 songs better than that.”
Still, it was his breakthrough as a solo artist after leaving his first band, Them, and it helped secure his next record deal with Warner Bros. Despite his reluctance, Brown Eyed Girl remains his most famous song, and he still plays it at most gigs.
His bitterness toward it likely stems from the fact that, despite writing it, he never received any royalties. The contract he signed with Bang Records in 1967 handed over all rights to the song. He even wrote The Big Royalty Check about the experience.
Considering Brown Eyed Girl is one of the ten most-played songs on American radio, it’s no surprise Van’s pretty bitter about not seeing a single penny from it.
Brown Eyed Girl Chords: Continue Learning
Want to master this song? Check out the full TAB lesson here: Brown Eyed Girl (Van Morrison) Guitar Lesson with TAB.
Alternatively, here are five similar tunes you might enjoy: