Chords + Lyrics | Have I Told You Lately
Intro
| F#m11 | B11 |
||: E G#m | A B11 :||
| Amaj7 | G#m7 |
| F#m7 B11 | E B11 |
Verse 1
| E G#m | A B11 |
Have I told you lately that I love you?
| E G#m | A B11 |
Have I told you there’s no one above you?
| Amaj7 | G#m7 |
Fill my heart with gladness, take away my sadness, yeah.
| F#m7 B11 | E B11 |
Ease my troubles, that’s what you do.
Verse 2
Oh, the morning sun and all its glory.
Greets the day with hope and comfort too.
And you fill my life with laughter, you can make it better.
Ease my troubles, that’s what you do.
Bridge 1
| Amaj7 | Amaj7 | G#m7 | G#m7 |
There’s a love that’s divine, and it’s yours, it’s mine, like the sun.
| Amaj7 | Amaj7 | G#m7 | B11 |
At the end of the day, we should give thanks and pray, to the one.
Verse 3
Said, have I told you lately that I love you?
Have I told you there’s no one above you?
Fill my heart with gladness, take away my sadness.
Ease my troubles, that’s what you do.
Solo
||: E G#m | A B11 :||
| Amaj7 | G#m7 |
| F#m7 B11 | E B11 |
Bridge 2
There’s a love that’s divine, and it’s yours and it’s mine, and it’s just like the sun.
At the end of the day, we would give thanks and pray, to the one.
Verse 4
Have I told you lately that I love you?
Have I told you there’s no one, above you?
Fill my heart with gladness, take away my sadness.
Ease my troubles, that’s what you do.
Outro
| Amaj7 | G#m7 |
Take away my sadness, fill my life with gladness, and.
| F#m7 B11 | E B11 |
Ease my troubles, that’s what you do, yeah.
| Amaj7 | G#m7 |
Fill my life with gladness, yeah, take away my sadness,
| F#m7 B11 | B11 | E |
Ease my troubles, that’s what you, do.
Have I Told You Lately Backing Tracks | Chord Analysis
Above, you’ll find backing tracks to use when learning Have I Told You Lately. I’ve used stem separation to extract the guitar while keeping the drums, bass, piano, strings, and vocals intact.
There is also a version without vocals and one without piano available.
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?
Similar to an earlier Van Morrison hit, Crazy Love, Have I Told You Lately follows the I – III – IV chord movement.
The key difference is that instead of resolving back to the I chord, it moves to B11, an extended V chord.
Verse
Here’s the verse progression:
||: E (I) G#m (II) | A (IV) B11 (V) :||
| Amaj7 (IV) | G#m7 (III) |
| F#m7 (II) B11 (V) | E B11 |
This is fairly straightforward, but what makes it interesting is how the first three chords have no extensions—until B11 suddenly appears. Then, in the second half, every chord is extended: maj7 – m7 – m7 – 11.
Van Morrison clearly knows how to craft a song—this progression builds beautifully!
Bridge
The bridge section is another stroke of genius. It mirrors the second half of the verse but stretches it out, creating a sense of anticipation:
| Amaj7 (IV) | Amaj7 | G#m7 (III) | G#m7 |
| Amaj7 | Amaj7 | G#m7 | B11 (V) |
The outro repeats the second half of the verse.
The intro is originally played on piano, but I’ve transcribed it for guitar. You can find the TAB further down this guitar lesson.
I’ve also created two verse examples and a bridge section. Once you’ve learned and understood these, you’ll be able to improvise confidently using the chord changes.
After playing through the TAB, this chord chart is all you need!
Have I Told You Lately Chord Chart | PDF + iReal Pro Download
Should you want to download this chart, here’s a PDF: Have I Told You Lately chord chart PDF.
This chord chart was created using iReal Pro, here’s a link to that file: Have I Told You Lately iReal Pro. Using this and the iRealPro app, you can change the key.
Have I Told You Lately | TAB
It took a while to work out, but it was worth it — that piano intro is so gorgeous!
After the first two bars, I didn’t feel the need to copy any more of the original, as when the whole band comes in, I want to build a guitar part that captures the essence of it all, not just one instrument.
Here’s what I came up with for the intro:
Notice how the rhythms repeat a lot — the G#m7 lick will come back later on. We calm down in the last two bars.
Here’s the verse; it is much more empty to leave space for the vocal:
Notice that the G#m lick is now smaller.
Here’s another way to play the verse:
Practice both versions before you attempt to blend and play freely.
Here’s the bridge:
There is no singing over the G#m chord, so lots can happen here!
Practice all examples until they feel natural, then play through the complete song with Van using my backing tracks. Remember, whatever happens, happens, just keep improvising!
The Perfect Father-Daughter Dance
I’ve played this song countless times as a first dance at weddings, but I think it’s even better suited for the father-daughter dance—right up there with My Girl.
If you’re ever called upon to perform it with a band, there’s something important to keep in mind: there are two—maybe even three—versions!
First, we have Van Morrison’s original (1989), which I discussed above. But in 1991, Rod Stewart recorded a hugely popular cover for his album Vagabond Heart.
Rod’s version even has a slightly different title—Have I Told You Lately That I Love You. But don’t let that lull you into a false sense of security—there’s also an Elvis song with that exact title, and it’s a completely different tune!
The seasoned super-pro writes out two charts—one in E (Van’s original) and one in Bb (Rod’s version)—then casually asks, “Are we doing Van the Man’s original or Rod’s cover?”
As panic spreads among the band members, you can save the day by handing them the right chart. Just pray nobody’s learned the Elvis tune!
Have I Told You Lately Chords: Continue Learning
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