Can’t Help Falling In Love | Chords + Lyrics (capo 2)
Intro
| 6/8 C | G | C | C |
Verse 1
| C | Em | Am | Am/G |
Wise men say.
| F | C/E | G/D | G |
Only fools rush in.
| F | G7 | Am | F Dm/E |
But I can’t help,
| C/G | G | C | C |
falling in love with you.
Verse 2
Shall I stay.
Would it be a sin?
If I can’t help,
falling in love with you?
Chorus 1
| Em | B7 | Em | B7 |
Like a river flows, surely to the sea.
| Em | B7 | Em | A7 | Dm | G7 |
Darling, so it goes. Some things are meant to be.
Verse 3
Take my hand.
Take my whole life, too.
For I can’t help,
falling in love with you.
Chorus 2
Like a river flows, surely to the sea.
Darling, so it goes. Some things are meant to be.
Verse 4
Take my hand.
Take my whole life, too.
For I can’t help,
falling in love with you.
| F | G7 | Am | F Dm/E |
For I can’t help,
| C/G | G | C |
falling in love with you.
Can’t Help Falling In Love Chords: Learn the progressions
Originally played on the piano, Can’t Help Falling In Love‘s chords do require some adjustments in order to work on the guitar.
I very much enjoyed the challenge of transcribing and adjusting it, let me walk you through the main concept.
First, we need to put a capo on fret 2 and think as if in the key of C. Secondly, some of the movements in the verse need to be transported down an octave to flow better.
The verse chords first move from I – III, then up a 4th to chord VI, like this:
| C (VI) | Em (III) | Am (VI) | Am/G (VI/b7) |
That Am/G at the end starts a descending movement down to IV, but instead of III – II, we use the bass notes of the 3rd and 5th from chords I and V, like this:
| F (IV) | C/E (I/3) | G/D (V/5) | G (V) |
The second half of the verse starts on chord IV and then ascends to V – VI before we in the last bar get IV, and finally an unusual chord in Dm/E. That’s chord II with its 9th in the bass, like this:
| F (IV) | G7 (V) | Am (VI) | F (IV) Dm/E (II/9) |
The final line is the simplest, it’s just chords I and V, like this:
| C/G (I/5) | G (V) | C (I) | C |
Can’t Help Falling In Love’s chorus chords kind of feel like a bridge. There’s also a modal interchange/key change here. We need to think as if in the key of Em, these are the chords:
||: Em (VI) | B7 (IIIx) :|| x3
Next up, we have what feels like two II – V movements, the first in the key of D (Em – A7), the second in the key of C (Dm – G7), like this:
| Em (VI or II) | A7 (IIx or V) | (key of Em or D)
| Dm (II) | G7 (V) | (key of C)
Overall, we’ve gone from verse (key of C), to chorus (key of Em), end of chorus (key of D), and the last two bars (key of C).
As great as the chords for Cant Help Falling In Love are, what excites me the most is how by playing the piano part on the guitar, we use an unfamiliar pattern, to best describe this, you need TAB.
Here’s a link to that part of the lesson: Can’t Help Falling In Love – Guitar Lesson with TAB.
When you’ve gotten to terms with the TAB and the unusual pattern, a simple chord chart will do, here’s one I made for you.
Can’t Help Falling In Love Chord Chart | PDF + iReal Pro
Should you want to download this chart, here’s a PDF: Can’t Help Falling In Love Chord Chart PDF.
This chord chart was created using iReal Pro, here’s a link to that file: Can’t Help Falling In Love iReal Pro.
Using the app, you can change the key but doing this will alter the chord shape and you won’t sound like that piano part anymore.
Can’t Help Falling In Love is Elvis’s most popular song!
Looking at Spotify’s numbers, Can’t Help Falling In Love is Elvis‘s most popular tune.
This is slightly strange as it’s only #8 on his top 50 biggest-selling hits list.
Perhaps it’s down to that it was released as a double A-side with Rock A Hula Baby, which I guess you have never heard of before, or maybe I should just speak for myself!
Anyway, this is one of Elvis’s most iconic songs, often finishing his concerts.
There are also many, many cover versions to discover, my favourite is a live version by Jacob Collier, check it out in the playlist above.
Can’t Help Falling In Love Chords | Related Pages
Can’t Help Falling In Love | Guitar Lesson + TAB
In this lesson, you’ll find TAB for how to play Can’t Help Falling In Love‘s piano part on the guitar. There are only 4 examples to learn.
| C | Em | Am | Am/G |
Wise men say…
Five similar tunes | Chords + Lyrics
- Dream A Little Dream Of Me chords by Mama Cass
- Fever chords by Peggy Lee
- Love Me Tender chords by Elvis
- Stand By Me chords by Ben E. King
- Wonderful Tonight chords by Eric Clapton
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 Can’t Help Falling In Love 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.
