Dreadlock Holiday | Chords + Lyrics (no capo)
Intro
||: Gm Dm7 | Cm7 :||: Gm (Dm) | Cm (Dm) :||
Verse 1
||: Gm (Dm) | Cm (Dm) :||
I was walking down the street, concentrating on truckin’ right.
I heard a dark voice beside of me, and I looked round in a state of fright.
I saw four faces, one mad, a brother from the gutter.
They looked me up and down a bit, and turned to each other.
Instrumental 1
| Gm Dm7 | Cm7 Dm7 | Gm Dm7 | Cm7 N.C |
Chorus 1
||: Gm F | Eb Dm7 | Cm7 Dm7 | Eb F :||
I say, I don’t like cricket, oh no, I love it.
I don’t like cricket, oh no, I love it.
Chorus Tag 1
| Bb | Bb |
Don’t you walk thru my words, you got to show some respect.
| Bb | Bb Dm7 |
Don’t you walk thru my words, ’cause you ain’t heard me out yet.
Instrumental 2
| Gm Dm7 | Cm7 Dm7 | Gm Dm7 | Cm7 |
Verse 2
||: Gm (Dm) | Cm (Dm) :||
Well he looked down at my silver chain, he said I’ll give you one dollar.
I said you’ve got to be joking man, it was a present from me Mother.
He said I like it, I want it, I’ll take it off your hands.
And you’ll be sorry, you crossed me, you’d better understand that you’re alone.
| Gm (Dm) | Cm (Dm) | Gm (Dm) | Cm N.C |
A long way from home.
Chorus 2
And I say, I don’t like reggae, oh no, I love it.
I don’t like reggae, oh no, I love it.
Chorus Tag 2
Don’t you cramp me style, don’t you queer on me pitch.
Don’t you walk thru my words, ’cause you ain’t heard me out yet.
Instrumental 3
| Gm Dm7 | Cm7 Dm7 | Gm Dm7 | Cm7 N.C |
Key change!
Verse 3
||: Abm (Ebm) | Dbm (Ebm) :||
I hurried back to the swimming pool, sinkin’ Pina Coladas.
I heard a dark voice beside me say, would you like something harder.
She said I’ve got it, you want it, my harvest is the best.
And if you try it, you’ll like it, and wallow in a Dreadlock Holiday (Dreadlock Holiday).
Instrumental 4
| Abm Ebm7 | Dbm7 Ebm7 | Abm Ebm7 | Dbm7 N.C |
Chorus 3
||: Abm Gb | E Ebm7 | Dbm7 Ebm7 | E Gb :||
And I say, don’t like Jamaica, oh no, I love her.
Don’t like Jamaica oh no, I love her, oh yea.
Chorus Tag 3
| B | B |
Don’t you walk thru her words, you got to show some respect.
| B | B Ebm7 |
Don’t you walk thru her words, ’cause you ain’t heard her out yet.
Instrumental 5
| Abm Ebm7 | Dbm7 Ebm7 | Abm Ebm7 | Dbm7 |
Outro Chorus
||: Abm (Ebm) | Dbm (Ebm) :||
||: I don’t like cricket, I love it (Dreadlock Holiday).
I don’t like reggae, I love it (Dreadlock Holiday).
Don’t like Jamaica, I love her (Dreadlock Holiday). :||
Dreadlock Holiday | Chords + Lyrics (capo 3 and 4)
Intro
||: Em Dsus2/A | C :||: Em | Am :||
Verse 1
||: Em (Bm) | Am (Bm) :||
I was walking down the street, concentrating on truckin’ right.
I heard a dark voice beside of me, and I looked round in a state of fright.
I saw four faces, one mad, a brother from the gutter.
They looked me up and down a bit, and turned to each other.
Instrumental 1
| Em Bm7/D | Am7 | Em Bm7/D | Am7 N.C |
Chorus 1
||: Em D | C (Bm7) | Am Bm7 | C D :||
I say, I don’t like cricket, oh no, I love it.
I don’t like cricket, oh no, I love it.
Chorus Tag
| G | G |
Don’t you walk thru my words, you got to show some respect.
| G | G Bm7 |
Don’t you walk thru my words, ’cause you ain’t heard me out yet.
Instrumental 2
| Em Bm7/D | Am7 | Em Bm7 | Am7 |
Verse 2
||: Em | Am :||
Well he looked down at my silver chain, he said I’ll give you one dollar.
I said you’ve got to be joking man, it was a present from me Mother.
He said I like it, I want it, I’ll take it off your hands.
And you’ll be sorry, you crossed me, you’d better understand that you’re alone.
| Em Bm7/D | Am | Em Bm7/D | Am N.C |
A long way from home.
Chorus 2
And I say, I don’t like reggae, oh no, I love it.
I don’t like reggae, oh no, I love it.
Chorus Tag 2
Don’t you cramp me style, don’t you queer on me pitch.
Don’t you walk thru my words, ’cause you ain’t heard me out yet.
Instrumental 3
| Em Bm7/D | Am | Em Bm7/D | Am N.C |
Key change – move the capo up!
Verse 3
||: Em | Am :||
I hurried back to the swimming pool, sinkin’ Pina Coladas.
I heard a dark voice beside me say, would you like something harder.
She said I’ve got it, you want it, my harvest is the best.
And if you try it, you’ll like it, and wallow in a Dreadlock Holiday (Dreadlock Holiday).
Instrumental 4
| Em Bm7/D | Am7 | Em Bm7/D | Am7 N.C |
Chorus 3
||: Em D | C (Bm7) | Am7 Bm7 | C D :||
And I say, don’t like Jamaica, oh no, I love her.
Don’t like Jamaica oh no, I love her, oh yea.
Chorus Tag 3
| G | G |
Don’t you walk thru her words, you got to show some respect.
| G | G Bm7 |
Don’t you walk thru her words, ’cause you ain’t heard her out yet.
Instrumental 5
| Em Bm7/D | Am7 | Em Bm7/D | Am7 |
Outro Chorus
||: Em (Bm7) | Am (Bm7) :||
||: I don’t like cricket, I love it (Dreadlock Holiday).
I don’t like reggae, I love it (Dreadlock Holiday).
Don’t like Jamaica, I love her (Dreadlock Holiday). :||
Dreadlock Holiday Chords: Unlock the Pop-Reggae Progressions
Dreadlock Holiday by 10cc is a brilliantly funny pop-reggae tune, though it’s notoriously difficult to play on a single acoustic guitar.
Before diving in, I should mention that my version doesn’t replicate the intro exactly.
I play: Em – Dsus2/A – C, whereas the correct chords—if using a capo on fret 3—would be: Em – Bm7 – Am7. The rest of the song, however, follows the proper chords.
After the altered intro, we move into the main progression, which also serves as the verse: VI – II. This plays as Em (Bm) – Am (Bm), with Bm acting as a passing/pivot chord. The same chords appear in the bridge.
The chorus features passing chords on beat four, following this pattern:
Em (D) – C (Bm7) – Am7 (Bm7) – C (D)
In Roman numerals, this simplifies to VI – IV – II – IV, if we disregard the passing chords.
The chorus tag holds on a G (I), with a Bm7 passing chord added at the end.
Next, we have a key change. By moving the capo up one fret, you can simply play the same chord shapes again.
One major benefit of using a capo is flexibility—you can adjust it up or down the neck to find the key that best suits your voice.
However, shifting keys by a semitone mid-song can be tricky for an acoustic guitarist. The Glider Capo might be the most practical solution for this challenge.
Here’s a chord chart I made for you—take note of how the key change is achieved just by moving the capo!
Dreadlock Holiday Chords | Capo Vs No Capo
Looking at the chord chart above, it’s much easier to grasp the structure of the song compared to reading it with chords and lyrics.
The only drawback is the key change and the need to move the capo. One way around this when playing live is simply to ignore the key change altogether.
Without a capo, the chords come from the key of Gm. Playing it this way will require barre chords, but at least the key change becomes more manageable!
Here’s a chord chart for this version of Dreadlock Holiday, now incorporating the key change.
Dreadlock Holiday Chord Chart | PDF + iReal Pro
The second chart is much more intimidating—the key is trickier, and the extra chords make it feel cluttered.
If you’d like to download the charts, here are the PDFs:
- Capo version: Dreadlock Holiday chord chart (capo 3) PDF
- Without a capo: Dreadlock Holiday chord chart PDF
There’s also a tempo difference between the two versions. I play it at 88 BPM, as that works better without a band. With a band, it’s typically faster at 100 BPM. Live, 10cc play it at 109 BPM (check the live version in the playlist above).
In my opinion, 109 BPM is too fast, while 88 BPM feels too slow—somewhere in between might be ideal.
This chart was created using iRealPro. If you use the app, you can easily change the key:
- Capo 3 version: Dreadlock Holiday chord chart (capo 3) iRealPro
- Without a capo: Dreadlock Holiday chord chart iRealPro (you may want to adjust the layout—perhaps spreading it over two pages with more space between sections).
In the course, we dive deeper into Dreadlock Holiday with TAB and play-along loops. Below is a preview!
Dreadlock Holiday TAB | Course Preview
As you’ve seen, the chords for Dreadlock Holiday can get quite complicated, and the whole capo situation can be a bit of a headache.
In the course, I’ll show you how to play Dreadlock Holiday on a single acoustic guitar without a capo—similar to how I Shot the Sheriff is arranged.
Before that, I’ll first guide you through the capo version, breaking it down step by step with play-along loops and TAB, like the example below for the verse.
As you can see, the strumming is divided between chord and bass—practise along with the video above to get it right.
Across seven step-by-step guitar lessons, I’ll take you through every section of Dreadlock Holiday until you can play it just like I did in the video above.
Finally, in Step 8, I’ll demonstrate—and provide TAB—for how you could play the entire song without a capo, on just one guitar. You may even want to check this step out straight away!
One day, I’ll re-record it as demonstrated in Step 8, but for now, I think working through the process—starting with a capo and then moving to a capo-free version—is a valuable lesson in itself.
I also felt that my mistake with the intro chords was a great lesson too!
Here’s a link to the 8 step-by-step guitar lessons: Dreadlock Holiday – Guitar Lessons with TAB.
Dreadlock Holiday is about the Moody Blues singer!
Dreadlock Holiday was inspired by an experience the singer of the Moody Blues had while visiting Barbados.
Released on the 1978 album Bloody Tourists, Dreadlock Holiday was an instant chart hit. Since then, it has been played on the radio and in nightclubs worldwide, becoming especially famous for the line: “I don’t like cricket, I love it!”
10cc wasn’t a reggae band, making Dreadlock Holiday an exception in their repertoire. However, the song brilliantly captures the connection between the U.K. and the Caribbean—both musically, with British record shops already importing reggae and ska in the ‘70s, and culturally, through sports like cricket.
The fact that the band could pull off reggae so convincingly certainly helped!
The lyrics, which reference the singer trying to avoid being mugged by pointing out his love of cricket, have more depth than they might seem at first.
Brits take great pride in their global influence—both in music and in sports. Cricket, tennis, and football all originated in England.
Whether that helped the Moody Blues singer on his trip to Barbados, however, remains uncertain!
Dreadlock Holiday Chords: Continue Learning
Dreadlock Holiday by 10cc is a hilarious pop-reggae tune that is almost impossible to play on one acoustic guitar.
You’ll have to go all the way to step 8 to realise how this can be achieved without using an assistant.
Start learning with the full lesson series: Dreadlock Holiday – Guitar Lessons with TAB.
Alternatively, here are five similar tunes you might enjoy: