(They Long To Be) Close To You chords

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Close To You | Chords + Lyrics (capo 3 and 4)

Intro (0:00)

||: Asus2 A :||

Verse 1 (0:14)

Verse 2 (0:37)

Chorus 1 (1:01)

| A | A | G#m | G#m7 |
On the day that you were born the angels got together and decided to create a dream come true.
| C#m | C#m | Bsus2 | Bsus2 |
So they sprinkled moon dust in your hair of gold and starlight in your eyes of blue.

Verse 3 (1:24)

Solo (1:48)

| N.C A/C# |
| Asus2 | G#m | G#m7 | C#m C#sus2 C#5 C#m7 |
| Asus2 | A Asus2 | E | E |

Chorus 2 (2:11)

Verse 4 (2:33)

Outro (3:16)

Close To You’s chords and finger style technique

Carpenters (They Long To Be) Close To You was written by Burt Bacharach so we are in for some clever chordal movement with this one!

Starting off with an Asus2 chord, Bacharach cleverly disguises where the key center is since a sus2 chord could be almost any of the seven chords from a key.

When the next chord enters a semitone below it is clear to the eagle-eyed key center enthusiast that the first chord was in fact chord IV.

In the video lesson, there’s a capo on fret three and the key you’re hearing is G. Because of the capo, you think of this as if in the key of E.

Similar to Over The Rainbow, Close To You is played in a way that a classical guitarist would play, without a steady pulse.

With the use of rakes (strumming a chord quickly, one note after another) this song works great on just one acoustic guitar, even though the original recording has a massive production.

Keeping the tempo loose, leaving time for the singer to come back in, makes the verse even better. Providing a steady rhythm for the chorus gives this approach a nice contrast.

Should you want to play Close to You’s chords without a capo, then use the chords and lyrics below.

Close To You | Chords + Lyrics (no capo)

Intro

||: Csus2 C :||

Verse 1

Verse 2

Chorus 1

| C | C | Bm | Bm7 |
On the day that you were born the angels got together and decided to create a dream come true.
| Em | Em | Dsus2 | Dsus2 |
So they sprinkled moon dust in your hair of gold and starlight in your eyes of blue.

Verse 3

Solo – Key change!

| N.C Db/F |
| Dbsus2 | Cm | Cm7 | Fm Fsus2 F5 Fm7 |
| Dbsus2 | Db Dbsus2 | Ab | Ab |

Chorus 2

| Db | Db | Cm | Cm7 |
On the day that you were born the angels got together and decided to create a dream come true.
| Fm | Fm | Dsus2 | Dsus2 |
So they sprinkled moon dust in your hair of gold and starlight in your eyes of blue.

Verse 4

Outro

Close To You was Carpenter’s first hit

(They Long To Be) Close To You was originally written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David.

Initially released as They Long To Be Close To You with Richard Chamberlain in 1963, the song didn’t do too well, in fact, the B-side Blue Guitar became a hit!

In 1964 Burt arranged the song for Dionne Warwick, this time releasing the song as a B-side to Here I Am.

The song didn’t do well in the charts so Burt released his own version in 1968, this didn’t work either!

In 1970 the Carpenters released their version, now entitled (They Long To Be) Close To You.

This time it worked and the song even snatched a Grammy in favor of Let It Be by The Beatles and Bridge Over Troubled Water by Simon & Garfunkel.

Following the success of Close To You, Carpenters went on to sell more albums than any other act in the 70s.

Close To You chords | Related pages

Close To You – 5 similar tunes

When you can play Close To You's chords, try these five tunes from the song book.

Burt Bacharach

One of the most important composers of the last century, Burt Bacharach songs has been recorded by over 1000 artists.

Unforgettable hits include Close To You, Walk On By, Arthur’s Theme, That’s What Friends Are For, What The World Needs Now, and I Say A Little Prayer.

Burt Bacharach tunes.

Burt Bacharach on the web

Carpenters

Siblings Karen and Richard Carpenter started out in music early on. Richard on the Piano and Karen on Lead Vocals/Drums.

During their short and troubled career, they became the biggest act of the 70s, topping even The Beatles and Simon & Garfunkel at Award ceremonies.

Carpenters tunes.

Carpenters on the web