Can I Get A Witness | Chords + Lyrics
Intro
||: Eb Ab | Db Ab :||
Verse 1
||: Eb Ab | Db Ab :||
Ah listen everybody, especially you girls,
is it right to be left alone by the one you love is never home.
||: Ab Db | Gb Db :||
I love too hard, my friends sometimes say,
||: Eb Ab | Db Ab :||
but I believe, I believe, that a woman should be loved that way.
| Bb Eb | Bb A | Ab Db | Gb Db |
But it hurts me so inside, to see how you treat me so unkind.
| Eb Ab | Db Ab | Eb Ab | Db Ab Absus4 Ab |
Somebody, somewhere, tell her it’s unfair – Can I get a witness?
Verse 2
| Eb Ab | Db Ab | Eb Ab | Db Ab Absus4 Ab |
(Can I get a witness) Can I get a witness? (Can I get a witness) Can I get a witness?
||: Eb Ab | Db Ab Absus4 Ab :||
(Can I get a witness) Somebody (Can I get a witness).
||: Ab Db | Gb Db Dbsus4 Db :||
Is it right to be treated so bad, when you’ve given everything you had.
||: Eb Ab | Db Ab Absus4 Ab :||
Even tossin’ in my sleep, ’cause I haven’t seen my baby all week.
| Bb Eb | Bb A | Ab Db | Gb Db Dbsus4 Db |
Now you chicks do agree, that this ain’t the way love’s supposed to be,
||: Eb Ab | Db Ab Absus4 Ab :|| Bb | Bb |
let me hear you, let me hear you say yeah, (yeah, yeah, yeah) yeah (yeah, yeah, yeah).
Verse 3
||: Eb Ab | Db Ab :||
Up early in the morning, with her on my mind,
| Eb Ab | Db Ab | Eb Ab | Db Ab Absus4 Ab |
took to find it out all night that I been cryin’.
||: Ab Db | Gb Db Dbsus4 Db :||
But I believe, a woman’s a man’s best friend,
| Eb Ab | Db Ab | Eb Ab | Db Ab Absus4 Ab |
so I’m gonna stick by her, till the very end.
| Bb Eb | Bb A | Ab Db | Gb Db Dbsus4 Db |
But she cause so much misery that I forget how love is supposed to be,
||: Eb Ab | Db Ab Absus4 Ab :|| Bb | Bb |
somebody, somewhere, tell her it ain’t fair – Can I get a witness?
Verse 4
||: Eb Ab | Db Ab :||
Can I get a witness? (Can I get a witness) I want a witness. (Can I get a witness)
Witness, witness. (Can I get a witness) Witness, witness (Can I get a witness).
||: Ab Db | Gb Db Dbsus4 Db :||
Everybody knows, especially you girls,
||: Eb Ab | Db Ab :||
how love can be sad but half of love is twice as bad.
| Bb Eb | Bb A | Ab Db | Gb Db Dbsus4 Db |
Now all you chicks agree (oh-oh-oh-oh) that this ain’t the way it’s supposed to be.
| Eb Ab | Db Ab | Eb Ab | Db Ab Absus4 Ab |
Let me hear you, let me hear you say yeah, yeah, yeah.
||: Eb Ab | Db Ab Absus4 Ab :||
I want a witness, I want a witness, come on witness (Can I get a witness).
I want a witness (Can I get a witness), just a little bit louder.
(Can I get a witness), louder (Can I get a witness).
Can I Get A Witness Chords: Exploring the Dynamic Blues Progression
Can I Get a Witness follows a variation of a traditional blues progression in the key of Eb, adding movement around each I, IV, and V chord.
Instead of staying strictly within those three chords, we shift between neighbouring chords, creating a more dynamic progression:
||: Eb Ab | Db Ab :|| x4
||: Ab Db | Gb Db :||
||: Eb Ab | Db Ab :||
| Bb Eb | Bb A | Ab Db | Gb Db |
| Eb Ab | Db Ab | Eb Ab | Db Ab Absus4 Ab |
For Eb (chord I), we also play Ab (IV) and Db (bVIIx).
This same pattern repeats when moving to chord IV. During the V chord section, we shift “up a fourth” before chromatically descending back to IV.
Some extensions have also been added to the Ab and Db chords; see above for chords and lyrics or the chord chart below.
Can I Get A Witness Backing Track | Chord Chart
(PDF + iReal Pro)
At the top of this page, you find a backing track I made by recording a band live in the studio, use this and my chord chart to prepare yourself for playing this tune with a band.
The chord chart above may look busy, but at its core, it’s just a blues progression with the variations applied to each I, IV, and V chord, as discussed earlier.
The only additional change happens in the middle of the song (verses 2 and 3), where we briefly return to the V chord. In the chart, this section is marked as B.
If you’d like to download the chart, here’s a PDF: Can I Get a Witness chord chart PDF.
This chart was created using iRealPro, and here’s a link to that file: Can I Get a Witness chord chart iReal Pro.
With the iRealPro app, you can change the key if your singer requests it at the last minute.
Playing all these chord variations smoothly is challenging if you haven’t built them into your muscle memory. In the course, we practise these shapes all over the neck, allowing you to improvise through the fast changes—making Can I Get a Witness a joy to play every time.
To see exactly how we approach this, check out the preview below where I play Can I Get A Witness with the band before a short preview of a lesson from the course.
Can I Get A Witness TAB | Course Preview
The best part of learning Can I Get a Witness is that you’ll master your Eb, Ab, Db, Gb, and Bb chords all over the neck using CAGED shapes.
In the course, we systematically work through all barre chord shapes in different positions, ensuring you can play them anywhere on the fretboard.
But instead of running dull exercises to a metronome, you’ll learn these chords in context, playing Can I Get a Witness in one position at a time—along with a full band!
We build up the comping in three stages, covering all areas of the neck. Here’s the TAB for the lowest position:
Next, we shift up the fretboard and repeat the process. After working through four more examples, you’ll have complete fretboard coverage.
By approaching the song this way, you’ll gain the freedom to play creatively, choosing shapes based on taste rather than limitations.
This methodical approach allows you to improvise naturally with the band when playing the full song.
Here’s a link to the 8 step-by-step guitar lessons: Can I Get a Witness – Guitar Lessons with TAB.
Can I Get a Witness was Marvin Gaye’s first hit!
Released in 1963, Can I Get a Witness was written and produced by Holland-Dozier-Holland and became Marvin Gaye’s first international success.
Legend has it that Marvin recorded the song in just one take, impressing Eddie Holland so much that he called him “the most versatile vocalist I ever worked with.” High praise, considering Holland’s work with so many Motown legends!
Following this breakthrough, Marvin’s next hit was How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You) (1964), which paved the way for duets like It Takes Two (1966) with Kim Weston and Ain’t No Mountain High Enough (1967) with Tammi Terrell.
In just four years, Marvin Gaye had gone from session drummer to one of Motown’s biggest stars.
Can I Get A Witness Chords: Continue Learning
The chord changes of Can I Get A Witness are very fast, to play these comfortably, we must practice each section on a loop in every area of the neck.
Only by being this methodical can we play the complete song in an improvised way with the band in the final step.
Start learning with the full lesson series: Can I Get A Witness – Guitar Lessons with TAB.
Alternatively, here are five similar tunes you might enjoy: