Chords + Lyrics | Georgia On My Mind
Intro
| G D6sus2/F# | Em11 Eb | Dbm7b5 D11 | C/G D13 |
Verse 1
| G (Gsus4 G6) | B7/F# B7 |
Georgia, Georgia.
| Em Dm6/9 | C C#dim7 |
The whole day through (the whole day through).
| G/D D/F# Em7 | A7 D7 D7b9 | F9b5 F9 E7b9 | A7 D7b9 |
Just an old sweet song, keeps Georgia, on my mind (Georgia on my mind)
Verse 2
| G (Gsus4 G6) | B7/F# B7 |
I said Georgia, Georgia.
| Em D6/9omit3 | C C#dim7 |
A song of you (a song of you).
| G/D D/F# Em7 | A7 D7 | G C7 | G Asus2 B7 |
Comes as sweet and clear, as moonlight through the pines.
Bridge 1
| Em C6/E | Em6 C6/E |
Other arms reach out to me,
| Em Cmaj13/E | Em7 A7 |
other eyes smile tenderly.
| Em7 Cmaj13/E | Em7 D6 C#dim7 Dmaj7 |
Still, in peaceful dreams, I see,
| Bm7 A#7 | A7 D13 |
the road leads back to you.
Verse 3
| G (Gsus4 G6) | B7/F# B7 |
I said Georgia, oh Georgia.
| Em Dm6/9omit3 | Cmaj7 C#dim7 |
No peace I find (peace I find).
| G/D D/F# E7 | A9 D9 | G C7 | G G6 C13 |
Just an old sweet song, keeps Georgia on my mind (Georgia on my mind).
Bridge 2
Other arms reach out to me,
other eyes smile tenderly.
Still, in peaceful dreams, I see,
the road leads back to you.
Verse 4
| G Gsus4 G6 | B7/F# B7 |
Woah, Georgia, Georgia.
| Em7 Dm69 | Cmaj7 C#dim7 |
No peace, no peace I find.
| G/D D/F# Em7 | A7 D7 | F7 | E7 |
Just an old, sweet song, keeps Georgia on my mind (Georgia on my mind).
| A7 A7/B C C#dim7 | D7 Ebdim7 Em7 F#dim7 | G Bb6 C C#dim7 | D7 G#7 G7 G6 | G6 |
I said just an old sweet song, keeps Georgia on my mind.
Georgia On My Mind Backing Tracks | Chord Analysis
Above, you’ll find backing tracks to use when learning Georgia On My Mind. Rather than using stem separation to extract the guitar as I usually do, this backing track, with and without piano, was created using iReal Pro.
After studying the chords and TAB, use my backing tracks to prepare for playing this tune with a band.
Chord Progressions – What’s Going On?
Above, with chords and lyrics, I’ve detailed all the chords Ray plays in his legendary version of Georgia On My Mind. It took me several days to work all this out!
As the song is so complex, I’ve detailed all chords for every verse; only the bridge repeats. You’ll notice subtle variations throughout the verses—let’s simplify the concept to get a clear overview.
Verse
The tune consists of two sections, which we can call verse and bridge, or A and B. The A section follows this structure:
| G (Gsus4 G6) | B7/F# B7 | Em Dm69 | C C#dim7 |
| G/D D/F# Em | A7 D7 D7b9 | F9b5 F9 E7b9 | A7 D7b9 |
The final two bars vary slightly to lead into the B section:
| G C7 | G Asus2 B7 |
In Roman numerals, a simplified version looks like this:
| I | IIIx | VI Vm | IV #IVdim7 |
| I V VI | IIx V | bVIIx VIx | IIx V |
With the variation at the end:
| I IV | I II IIIx |
Ray varies the chords as the song progresses, so refer to the full chords and lyrics above to see all the nuances. For TAB, keep scrolling!
Bridge
The bridge, or B section, is structured as follows:
| Em C6/E | Em6 C6/E |
| Em Cmaj13/E | Em7 A7 |
| Em7 Cmaj13/E | Em7 D6 C#dim7 Dmaj7 |
| Bm7 A#7 | A7 D13 |
Here, the VI chord moves its 5th up chromatically, giving rise to complex chord names like C6/E and Em6.
The second line introduces Em7 – A7, which functions as VI – IIx but feels like a II – V.
The third line condenses four chords into a single bar—something only a keyboard player would look at and say, “Yes, that makes sense!”
The final line features a smooth turnaround, starting on chord III and using a tritone substitution to create a descending chromatic movement.
The last line of the song speaks for itself—I had to lie down after working out all of Georgia On My Mind’s chords!
At least Ray Charles got recognition—after being banned from performing in Georgia for refusing to play segregated venues, he was later welcomed back with open arms, and the state even made Georgia On My Mind its official song. Maybe one day, I’ll get some kind of recognition for figuring out all these chords… though I won’t hold my breath!
Here’s a chord chart. I still can’t believe I managed to cram everything in!
Georgia On My Mind Chord Chart | PDF + iReal Pro Download
If you’d like my chord chart, you can download it as a static PDF or in the more flexible iReal Pro format.
This is one of those tunes you’ll likely play in plenty of keys. It’s also excellent for practising both chord voicings and soloing over these changes, so the iReal Pro format will really shine.
Georgia On My Mind | TAB
Here’s the strings intro. Play along with Ray for it to make complete sense. Make sure you note the intervals and extensions in the chord names—they’ll help you remember them.
Verse
The verses can be played in seemingly endless variations. Let’s look at three, then the ending before we move on to the bridge. Stay focused—this is not easy!
I like playing Gsus4 and G6 in the first bar, so I’ve included that in all verses, even though Ray only does it in verse 3.
To capture the original feel, I first added many notes, then removed half. Play along with the original recording to see how it all makes sense.
That Dm6/9 is so pretty, the D7b9 only needs one note, and the F7b5 is very unique—I love it.
For verse 2, I start with an open G chord. The Dm6/9 loses its minor 3rd, and the D7b9 is gone. The final bars lead smoothly to the bridge.
Verse 3 changes again. Now there’s a Cmaj7, an E7 instead of Em7, the A7 becomes A9, and I added a D13. The last bar again moves to the bridge.
For verse 4, I’ve left the beginning for you to figure out; the ending looks like this:
It took me hours to nail that ending…
Bridge
This bridge progression is my favourite movement over a static chord—it’s just beautiful.
Once you can play all the TAB, go back chord chart and iReal Pro backing track and see if you cna make sense of it all. The second half of the backing track video has no piano…
Ray’s signature song was a cover
Ray Charles’s signature tune, Georgia On My Mind, is a masterpiece of chord movement and extensions. It wasn’t written by Ray, but by Hoagy Carmichael and Stuart Gorrell in 1930.
Ray’s 1960 version went straight to #1, and in 1979, the state of Georgia adopted it as the official state song. Rolling Stone later ranked it the 44th greatest song of all time in 2003.
Since Ray’s version, Georgia On My Mind has become a standard every musician is expected to know. To explore further, check out interpretations by artists like Annie Lennox, Michael Bolton, The Spencer Davis Group, and Billie Holiday.
Only comparable to At Last and A Change Is Gonna Come for its string intros, Georgia keeps unfolding with intricate chords that weren’t easy to transcribe. You might want a coffee before tackling this one!
Georgia On My Mind Chords: Continue Learning
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