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
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: Learn the 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 begins.
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 the 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 the 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 this 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.
I feel the best way to look at it is as if it’s in the key of Em, although there is no Em, it’s an E7, a bit like a blues.
Using this approach we have C as chord IV, G as I. We then temporarily modulate up a tone and play as if in the key of F#m using the same chords, IV – I, or D – A, like this:
| C (IV) G (I) | (key of Em)
| D (IV) A (I) | (key of F#m)
| E7 | E7 | (key of Em!)
Another interesting connection is Smells Like Teen Spirit which uses a similar approach although in a different key and order (E – A – G – C).
Comparing versions and similarities to other songs like this is the best way to develop your ear, songwriting skills, and guitar playing.
The next section is the same, but instead of playing the chords, we apply a bass line, which is chromatic. I feel that Stevie Wonder’s I Wish bassline is necessary to reference here.
Keep the chords in mind as you play:
||: C (E F F#) G (B C C#) | D (F# G G#) A (C# D D#) | E7 | E7 :||
The chromatic line, which is the only variation we get is completely genius. It moves from root to 3rd, 4th, 5th. The 5th is the new root of the following chord.
The genius part is that we first go to the lower 3rd, then the higher 3rd. This, and the intro is best described using TAB, here’s a link to that part of the lesson: Hey Joe – Guitar Lesson with TAB.
When you know how to play the intro and the chromatic line, a simple chord chart is all you need, here’s one I made for you.

Hey Joe Chord Chart | PDF + iReal Pro
In the playlist at the top of the page, I’ve 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 is pretty scary!
Other artists that have covered Hey Joe include Robert Plant, Patti Smith, The Byrds, and Wilson Pickett.
As Hey Joe is best played in a jammed way, a simple chord chart like the one above is probably the best way forward.
Should you want to download this chart, here’s a PDF: Hey Joe Chord Chart PDF.
This chord chart was created using iReal Pro, here’s a link to that file: Hey Joe iReal Pro. Using this and the iRealPro app, you can change the key.
Hey Joe was a standard until Jimi made it his own!
Jimi Hendrix really did make Hey Joe his own, so much so that when Chas Chandler heard it live he decided to manage Jimi. He flew him to the U.K. to record it and the rest is, as they say, music history.
Before Jimi made Hey Joe his, it was just a common standard that everybody played, written by a man named Billy Roberts.
After Jimi, everybody would see it as if they played a Hendrix cover.
Hey Joe Chords | Related Pages
Hey Joe | Guitar Lesson + TAB
With this guitar lesson, you can learn to play Hey Joe by Jimi Hendrix using TAB and chord analysis.
||: C G | D A | E7 | E7 :||
Hey Joe, ah where you goin’ with that gun of your hand…
Five similar tunes | Chords + Lyrics
Jimi Hendrix tunes
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
About me | Dan Lundholm
This was a guitar lesson about Hey Joe chords, by Dan Lundholm. Discover more about him and how you can learn guitar with Spytunes.
Most importantly, find out why you should learn guitar through playing tunes, not by practising scales or studying theory in isolation.