Hey Joe | Chords + Lyrics
Intro
| N.C Em7 | E5 Em7 E6sus2 | E5 (min p lick) |
Verse 1
||: C G | D A | E7 | E7 :||
Hey Joe, ah where you goin’ with that gun of your hand?
Hey Joe, I said, where you goin’ with that gun in your hand? Oh.
I’m going down to shoot my old lady, you know I caught her messin’ ’round with another man, yeah.
I’m going down to shoot my old lady, you know I caught her messin’ ’round with another man. Huh, and that ain’t too cool.
Verse 2
||: C G | D A | E7 | E7 :||
Hey Joe, I heard you shot your mama down, you shot her down now.
Hey Joe, I heard you shot your lady down, shot her down in the ground, yeah. Yeah.
Yes, I did, I shot her, you know I caught her messin’ round, messin’ round town.
Yes, I did, I shot her, you know I caught my old lady messin’ ’round town, and I gave her the gun, I shot her!
Verse 3
||: C G | D A | E7 | E7 :||
(Hey Joe) Alright, shoot her one more time again, baby.
(Hey Joe) Yeah. Oh, dig it.
| C (E F F#) G (B C C#) | D (F# G G#) A (C# D D#) | E7 | E7 |
(oh, oh) Ah, alright.
Verse 4
||: C G | D A | E7 | E7 :||
Hey, Joe, where you gonna run to now? Where you gonna run to?
Hey Joe, I said, where you gonna run to now? Where you, where you gonna go?
Well, dig, I’m goin’ way down south, way down to Mexico way, alright.
| C (E F F#) G (B C C#) | D (F# G G#) A (C# D D#) | E7 | E7 |
I’m goin’ way down south, way down where I can be free, ain’t no one gonna find me.
| C G | D A | E7 | E7 |
Ain’t no hangman gonna, he ain’t gonna put a rope around me, you better believe right now, I gotta go now.
Outro
||: C (E F F#) G (B C C#) | D (F# G G#) A (C# D D#) | E7 | E7 :|| to fade
Hey, Joe, you better run on down. Goodbye, everybody, ow
Hey, hey, Joe.
Hey Joe chords and progressions
The form and lyrics for Hey Joe are not set in stone, this is evident listening to the two first videos in the playlist above.
In the second video, Jimi plays a solo after verse 2, the lyrics are also different from what was on the “original” recording. Also, verses 3 and 4 are difficult to tell when one ends and the next begin.
The only thing that is certain when it comes to Hey Joe is that it should never be played exactly the same way twice.
Perhaps you should take a similar approach and just look at Hey Joe’s chords as two different sections, and then jam it out.
Here’s the first section:
||: C G | D A | E7 | E7 :||
This is not a diatonic progression (it’s the same as Take Me To The River’s bridge chords), we’re going the “wrong way” around the cycle of 4th, moving up to the V chord, like this:
- C – G is I – V in the key of C.
- G – D is I – V in the key of G.
- D – A is I – V in the key of D,
- A – E7 is I – V in the key of A,
- E7 is the I chord in a blues and our final destination.
Or, you could see this as you’re moving back to the I chord, like this:
- C – G is IV – I in the key of G.
- G – D is IV – I in the key of D.
- D – A is IV – I in key of A,
- A – E7 is IV – I in the key of E,
- E7 is the I chord in the blues and our final destination.
Or, you could think of this as all a minor blues, although E is major (compare with I Heard It Through The Grapevine’s chords)
- C is IV
- G is I
- D is bVIIx
- A is IV
- E7 is chord VIx, the home of a minor blues. Although the chord is major.
The next section is the same, but instead of playing the chords, we apply a bass line, which is chromatic. I feel that I Wish is necessary to reference here. Still, keep those chords in mind as you play:
||: C (E F F#) G (B C C#) | D (F# G G#) A (C# D D#) | E7 | E7 :||
On a final note, in the playlist above I’ve also included the original version by Billy Roberts, it’s remarkable how similar it is to Hendrix’s cover.
There’s also a Gypsy Jazz version by Joscho Stephan trio, it’s pretty scary!
Other artists that have covered Hey Joe include Robert Plant, Patti Smith, The Byrds, and Wilson Picket.
Before I let you play along to the videos at the top of the page, here’s the TAB of the intro, both of Billy Roberts and Jimi Hendrix’s cover. When you play along with Jimi, tune slightly sharp to 442 Hz.
Do try both versions, Billy’s is better for the acoustic, and Jimi’s is better for the electric. I find it interesting how the chord names differ, even though to the untrained ear, they probably sound the same.
I didn’t put a chord name on the last two beats as this is an E minor pentatonic lick.
Hey Joe chords | Related pages
Five similar tunes
- All Along The Watchtower – coming soon
- Born Under A Bad Sign chords
- Come Together chords
- The Joker chords
- Like A Rolling Stone chords
Jimi Hendrix
The world’s most famous guitarist, Jimi Hendrix had a short career spanning only 4 years and as many albums before he joined the 27 Club following misadventure.
His best tunes include Hey Joe, All Along The Watchtower, Little Wing, Foxy Lady, Purple Haze, Crosstown Traffic, The Wind Cries Mary, and Voodoo Chile.
Jimi Hendrix on the web
