Fast Car | Chords + Lyrics (capo 2)
Intro
| Cmaj7 G5 | Em Dadd4 | Cmaj7 G5 | Em Dadd4 |
| Cmaj7 G5 | Em Esus4 Em D D sus4 D | Cmaj7 G5 | Em Dadd4 |
Verse 1
||: Cmaj7 G5 | Em Dadd4 :||
You got a fast car, I want a ticket to anywhere.
Maybe we make a deal, maybe together we can get somewhere.
Any place is better, starting from zero got nothing to lose.
Maybe we’ll make something but me myself I got nothing to prove.
Instrumental 1
||: Cmaj7 G5 | Em Dadd4 :||
Verse 2
||: Cmaj7 G5 | Em Dadd4 :||
You got a fast car, I got a plan to get us out of here.
Been working at the convenience store, managed to save just a little bit of money.
Won’t have to drive too far, just across the border and into the city.
You and I can both get jobs, and finally see what it means to be living.
Instrumental 2
||: Cmaj7 G5 | Em Dadd4 :||
Verse 3
||: Cmaj7 G5 | Em Dadd4 :||
See my old man’s got a problem, he lives with the bottle that’s the way it is.
He says his body’s too old for working, his body’s too young to look like his.
My mama went off and left him, she wanted more from life than he could give.
I said somebody’s got to take care of him, so I quit school and that’s what I did.
Instrumental 3
||: Cmaj7 G5 | Em Dadd4 :||
Verse 4
||: Cmaj7 G5 | Em Dadd4 :||
You got a fast car, is it fast enough so we can fly away?
We gotta make a decision, we leave tonight or live and die this way.
Instrumental 4
||: Cmaj7 G5 | Em Dadd4 :||
So I remember when we were,
Chorus 1
| C | G |
driving, driving in your car, speed so fast it felt like I was drunk.
| Em | D5 D5/A |
City lights lay out before us and your arm felt nice wrapped ’round my shoulder,
| C Em | D5 D5/A |
and I, I had a feeling that I belonged.
| C Em | D5 D5/A | C D5 |
And I, I had a feeling I could be someone, be someone, be someone.
Instrumental 5
||: Cmaj7 G5 | Em Dadd4 :||
Verse 5
||: Cmaj7 G5 | Em Dadd4 :||
You got a fast car, we go cruising to entertain ourselves.
You still ain’t got a job and I work in the market as a checkout girl.
I know things will get better, you’ll find work and I’ll get promoted.
We’ll move out of the shelter, buy a bigger house, and live in the suburbs.
Instrumental 6
||: Cmaj7 G5 | Em Dadd4 :||
So I remember when we were,
Chorus 2
| C | G |
driving, driving in your car, speed so fast it felt like I was drunk.
| Em | D5 D5/A |
City lights lay out before us and your arm felt nice wrapped ’round my shoulder,
| C Em | D5 D5/A |
and I, I had a feeling that I belonged.
| C Em | D5 D5/A | C D5 |
And I, I had a feeling I could be someone, be someone, be someone.
Instrumental 7
||: Cmaj7 G5 | Em Dadd4 :||
Verse 6
||: Cmaj7 G5 | Em Dadd4 :||
You got a fast car, I got a job that pays all our bills.
You stay out drinking till late at the bar, see more of your friends than you do your kids.
I’d always hoped for better but maybe together you and me’d find it.
If you got no plans and ain’t going nowhere, so take your fast car and keep on driving.
Instrumental 8
||: Cmaj7 G5 | Em Dadd4 :||
So I remember when we were,
Chorus 3
| C | G |
driving, driving in your car, speed so fast it felt like I was drunk.
| Em | D5 D5/A |
City lights lay out before us and your arm felt nice wrapped ’round my shoulder,
| C Em | D5 D5/A |
and I, I had a feeling that I belonged.
| C Em | D5 D5/A | C D5 |
And I, I had a feeling I could be someone, be someone, be someone.
Instrumental 9
||: Cmaj7 G5 | Em Dadd4 :||
Verse 7
||: Cmaj7 G5 | Em Dadd4 :||
You got a fast car but is it fast enough so you can fly away.
You gotta make a decision, you leave tonight or live and die this way.
Outro
||: Cmaj7 G5 | Em Dadd4 :|| x3
| Cmaj7 G5 |
Fast Car Guitar Lesson | Course Preview
Tracy Chapman‘s iconic Fast Car has simple chords, using only IV – I – VI – V on a loop for the seemingly never-ending verse. In the key of G, with some extensions, this becomes:
||: Cmaj7 G5 | Em Dadd4 :||
The chorus chords have fewer extensions, my version adds the bass A for the D chord to compensate for the lack of a bass player when played on just one acoustic guitar.
| C | G | Em | D5 D5/A |
| C Em | D5 D5/A |
| C Em | D5 D5/A | C D5 |
Apply a capo to fret 2 and you’re actually in the key of A. However, you want to think of Fast Car as if you’re in the key of G, even when you play that Em during the intro, high up the neck.
However, just reading the chords won’t work as Fast Car is more of a chord riff. Below you’ll find a preview lesson from the course discussing how to play the verse, exactly like Tracy Chapman do.
Once you know exactly how to play it, just reading the chords you see above will work as a reminder.
Fast Car’s original parts in TAB
This is one of the most iconic acoustic guitar chord riffs around and easily Tracy’s most accomplished work.
Since the recording has drums bass and keyboards as well as the main and 2nd guitar part in it, we must adapt when playing this on just one or two guitars.
Before we start going through the examples I’ve made, let’s take a look at what Tracy and her 2nd guitar player actually played. Here’s the TAB for the two original parts.
Fast Car’s 8 guitar lessons in the course
In the course, we next look at the three examples that work without the bass, drums, and all that original production when playing the verse.
Next, we work on the chorus, there will again be three examples to practice. When you can play those, you’re ready to play the complete song.
Following being able to play Fast Car on one acoustic guitar, we then look at using the CAGED system to play all chords in all areas of the fretboard.
Once you can do that, we build a 2nd guitar part. Learn this so you, me, and the singer can play Fast Car together, like an acoustic trio. This method will effectively prepare you to play Fast Car with other musicians.
In total, there are 8 step-by-step lessons for Fast Car available. Here are links to each lesson in the course (members only):
- Step 1 – Verse, guitar 1
- Step 2 – Chorus, guitar 1
- Step 3 – The complete song, guitar 1, with TAB
- Step 4 – CAGED chords exercise on string 1-3 verse and chorus progression
- Step 5 – CAGED chords exercise on string 2-4 verse and chorus progression
- Step 6 – Verse, guitar 2
- Step 7 – Chorus, guitar 2
- Step 8 – The complete song, 2nd guitar, and play along, with TAB
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Fast Car chords | Related pages
Intermediate Acoustic
Most intermediate acoustic tunes can’t be played using just basic open-position chords. We have to move up the fretboard and play CAGED barre chords as well.
We incorporate bass lines, add licks, extend chords, and play vocal melodies. Most importantly, we invent second guitar parts and play these songs together.
Five similar tunes
- Ain’t No Sunshine chords
- Babylon chords
- Blackbird chords
- Dream A Little Dream chords
- Talking About A Revolution chords
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman is an American singer-songwriter, best known for her sensational singles Fast Car, Talking About A Revolution, and Baby Can I Hold You from her self-titled debut album.
Amazingly, these three songs were on the debut’s A-side.
Tracy Chapman on the web
Pop & Rock
Whenever a tune doesn’t fit into a specific genre, it tends to end up here, in the Pop & Rock section.
Learn tunes from Tom Petty, Eagles, Toto, Oasis, Elvis, Clapton, John Mayer, Kings Of Leon, R.E.M., Radiohead, Bruno Mars, and more.
