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Everlong Chords | Foo Fighters Guitar Lesson

In this guitar lesson, you’ll get the chords, lyrics, chord analysis, a full chord chart, and TAB to guide you as you learn Everlong by Foo Fighters!

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Chords + Lyrics | Everlong (drop D)

Intro

||: Dmaj7 | Dmaj7 | Bsus2 | Bsus2 | Gsus2 | Bsus2 | Bsus2 :|| x3

Verse 1

Instrumental 1

Verse 2

Come down and waste away with me,
down with me.
Slow how, you wanted it to be,
I’m over my head, out of her head, she sang.

Bridge 1

| (C# D E) | (E F# G F#) | A5 | (C# D E) | (E F# G F#) |
And I wonder.
| A5 | (C# D E) | (E F# G F#) |
When I sing along with you.

Chorus 1

| B5 | G5 | D5 | D5 |
If everything could ever be this real forever.
| B5 | G5 | D5 | D5 |
If anything could ever be this good again.
| B5 | G5 | D5 | A5 | G5 | G5 |
The only thing I’ll ever ask of you, you’ve got to promise not to stop when I say when. She sang.

Instrumental 2

Verse 3

Breathe out, so I can breathe you in.
Hold you in.
And now, I know you’ve always been.
Out of your head out of my head, I sang.

Bridge 2

And I wonder.
When I sing along with you.

Chorus 2

If everything could ever feel this real forever.
If anything could ever be this good again.
The only thing I’ll ever ask of you, you’ve got to promise not to stop when I say whe. She sang.

Instrumental 3

||: Dmaj7 | Dmaj7 | Bsus2 | Bsus2 | Gsus2 | Bsus2 | Bsus2 :||

||: (C# D E) | (E F# G F#) :|| x3
And I wonder.

Chorus 3

If everything could ever feel this real forever.
If anything could ever be this good again.
| B5 | G5 | D5 | A5 ||: G5 | G5 :||
The only thing I’ll ever ask of you, you’ve got to promise not to stop when I say when.

Everlong Chords: Understanding the Progressions

Dave Grohl crafted some interesting chord choices for Everlong, using Dmaj7, Bsus2, and Gsus2 in the verse. To play it properly, you’ll need to tune your guitar to drop D.

The first chord is particularly unusual, as it lacks a 5th. To move from Dmaj7 to Bsus2, simply fret the 9th fret on the 6th string instead of playing the open, detuned string.

Adding to its uniqueness, the verse lasts seven bars instead of the typical four or eight. Structurally, it follows a I – VI – IV progression, but the extended format and chord voicings make it feel distinct—an excellent songwriting trick from Mr. Grohl.

You do need TAB to make sense of all this, here’s a link: Everlong – Guitar Lesson with TAB.

Bridge

After a few verses and some “do, do, do’s” over the same progression, we reach the bridge, which features a displaced chromatic riff:

| (C# D E) | (E F# G F#) |

Initially, this leads to an A power chord. The sequence repeats before transitioning into the chorus.

Chorus

Here, we rearrange the verse progression into VI – IV – I, stripping away the extensions—a brilliant variation technique.

| B5 | G5 | D5 | D5 |
| B5 | G5 | D5 | D5 |
| B5 | G5 | D5 | A5 |
| G5 | G5 |

To add variety, the third time around, it moves to A5 (chord V) before resolving to G5 (chord IV).

There are more variations to discuss but you really need TAB to make sense of it all (link above).

Here’s a chord chart detailing the structure.

Everlong Chord Chart | PDF + iReal Pro Download

You can download my chart as a PDF, or in the iReal Pro format:

Everlong TAB | Course Preview

In the course, you get TAB for every section. As the original recording has multiple guitars layered, we must create a part that covers all that live.

As a preview, here’s the first part of the intro, this is just played as the original recording.

The First Sign That Foo Fighters Were Here to Stay

Released as the second single from The Colour and the Shape, Everlong marked a turning point for Foo Fighters. Though their debut album lacked major hits, this record produced My Hero and Monkey Wrench, proving that the band had staying power.

The song performed well, reaching number three in the U.S. and Canada, but its significance grew over time, becoming a fan favourite and one of the band’s most beloved tracks.

Lyrically, Everlong was inspired by Louise Post, whom Dave Grohl had fallen in love with. He wrote the song while staying at a friend’s house during his divorce from Jennifer Leigh Youngblood. Louise even recorded the iconic “do, do, do, do’s” over a telephone line, adding a hauntingly intimate touch to the track.

In 2022, following the tragic death of Taylor Hawkins from a drug overdose in Colombia, Foo Fighters played Everlong as their final song that night, making it an even more poignant moment in the band’s history.

Everlong Chords: Continue Learning

Want to master this song? Check out the full TAB lesson here: Everlong (Foo Fighters) Guitar Lesson with TAB.

Alternatively, here are five similar tunes you might enjoy: