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 + 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: Learn the progressions
Dreadlock Holiday by 10cc is a hilarious pop-reggae tune that is seemingly impossible to play on one acoustic guitar.
Before we get to all that, I’d like to point out how the intro is not played correctly in the video above.
I’m playing this: Em – Dsus2/A – C. These would be the correct chords: Em – Bm7 – Am7, should you have a capo on fret 3. For the rest of the song, the chords are correct.
Following the duff chords of the intro, we move to what will also be played during the verse, chords VI – II. Em (Bm) – Am (Bm). The Bm acts as a passing/pivot chord. The same chords are played during the bridge.
The chorus uses passing chords on beat 4. Em (D) – C (Bm7) – Am7 (Bm7) – C (D).
In Roman Numerals: VI – IV – II – IV, if we disregard the passing chords.
The chorus tag simply stays on a G chord, which is chord I, only a Bm7 is added as a passing chord at the end.
Next up, we have a key change, if you move the capo up a fret, you simply play the same chords again.
The advantage of having a capo is that using the chords above, you can adjust the capo up or down the neck to find what key suits your singer.
Dealing with key changes a semitone up in the middle of a song is always going to be awkward for the acoustic guitarist. The Glider Capo might be the only real practical solution to this problem.
Here’s a chord chart I made for you, notice how the key change is achieved by moving that capo!
Dreadlock Holiday Chords | Capo Vs No Capo
Looking at the chord chart above, it is much easier to understand the tune compared to reading it as chords and lyrics.
The only downside is that key change and capo movement. I guess you could ignore the key change to solve the problem when you play it live.
Without a capo, the chords are from the key of Gm. If you play it like this, you will need barre chords, but at least the key change is easier!
Here’s a chord chart for this way of playing Dreadlock Holiday, now with a key change!
Dreadlock Holiday Chord Chart | PDF + iReal Pro
That second chart is much more intimidating, the key is harder and with all those extra chords it gets much more cluttered.
Should you want to download the charts, here’s a PDF of the capo version: Dreadlock Holiday Chord Chart (capo3) PDF.
Here’s the chart without a capo: Dreadlock Holiday Chord Chart PDF.
There is a difference in tempo between the two versions, I play it at 88 BPM as that works better without a band. With a band, it’s 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 way too fast, and my version at 88 is too slow.
This chart was created using iRealPro, here’s a link to that file, capo 3: Dreadlock Holiday (capo 3) iReal Pro. Using this and the iRealPro app, you can change the key.
Lastly, here’s a chart for the version without a capo, download this you can tweak the layout, perhaps it’s better with more space between sections, spread over two pages: Dreadlock Holiday iReal Pro.
In the course, we look at TAB and play-along to loops to learn Dreadlock Holiday in more depth, below is a preview.
Dreadlock Holiday TAB | Course Preview
As you’ve seen so far, the chords of Dreadlock Holiday can become very complicated and that whole capo thing is a bit of a nightmare.
In the course, I’ll provide you with a way you could play Dreadlock Holiday on one acoustic guitar without a capo, similar to how I Shot The Sheriff is arranged.
But before we get to that, I’ll take you through how I played it with a capo, step by step using play-along loops and TAB like what you see 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.
Over 7 step-by-step guitar lessons, I’ll walk you through how to play all sections of Dreadlock Holiday like this until you can play it, just like I did, in the video at the top of this page.
Finally, in step 8, I’ll demonstrate, and give you the TAB for how you could do all this without a capo, on just one guitar. You may want to skip or at least check this step straight away!
One day, I’ll rerecord it like demonstrated in step 8, until then I felt it was a great lesson in seeing how going through this process of using a capo, to without one, was done.
I also felt that getting the chords wrong as I did in the intro was a great lesson in itself!
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 that the singer of the Moody Blues had as he went to Barbados.
Released on the album Bloody Tourists in 1978, Dreadlock Holiday started its life as a chart hit. Since then, it has been played on the radio and in nightclubs the world over, becoming especially famous for the line “I don’t like cricket, I love it!”
10cc wasn’t a reggae band, Dreadlock Holiday was an exception to their repertoire.
Still, the connection between the U.K. and the Caribbean, both musically (with British record shops importing reggae and ska music already in the ’70s) and in sports such as cricket, was beautifully captured in the song.
The fact that the band isn’t too shabby at playing reggae helps too!
The lyrics that refer to how the singer shouldn’t be mugged since he likes Cricket, have more to them than one might first think.
The Brits are very proud of their influence on the world musically and also with regard to sports. Cricket, tennis, and football, all of these games came from England.
Whether this helped the Moody Blues singer when he travelled to Barbados remains uncertain.
Dreadlock Holiday Chords | Related Pages
Dreadlock Holiday | 8 Step-by-step Guitar Lessons + TAB
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 realize how this can be achieved without using an assistant.
Five similar tunes | Chords + Lyrics
- Because I Got High chords by Afroman
- Down Under chords by Men At Work
- Englishman In New York chords by Sting
- I Shot The Sheriff chords by Bob Marley
- Master Blaster chords by Stevie Wonder
10cc tunes
With influences such as the late Beatles and Frank Zappa, 10cc was not your average middle-of-the-road band.
Similar to Supertramp, 10cc was prog/rock/pop with long instrumental sections and many styles mixed. Hits include Dreadlock Holiday and I’m Not In Love.
10cc on the web
About me | Dan Lundholm
This was a guitar lesson about Dreadlock Holiday 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.
