Hey There Delilah | Chords + Lyrics
Intro
||: D5 | F#m :||
Verse 1
| D5 | F#m |
Hey there Delilah what’s it like in New York City?
| D5 | F#m | Bm Bm/A |
I’m a thousand miles away, but girl tonight you look so pretty, yes you do.
| G A | Bm | A A5 |
Times Square can’t shine as bright as you, I swear it’s true.
Verse 2
| D5 | F#m |
Hey there Delilah don’t you worry about the distance,
| D5 | F#m | Bm Bm/A |
I’m right there if you get lonely give this song another listen, close your eyes.
| G A | Bm | A A5 |
Listen to my voice it’s my disguise, I’m by your side
Chorus 1
| D5 D5/A | Bm Bm/C# | D5 D5/A | Bm Bm/C# |
Oh, it’s what you do to me, oh it’s what you do to me.
| D5 D5/A | Bm Bm/C# | D5 D5/A | Bm Bm/C# | D5 D5/A |
Oh, it’s what you do to me, oh it’s what you do to me, what you do to me.
Verse 3
| D5 | F#m |
Hey there Delilah I know times are getting hard,
| D5 | F#m | Bm Bm/A |
but just believe me girl someday I’ll pay the bills with this guitar, we’ll have it good.
| G A | Bm | A A5 |
We’ll have the life we knew we would, my word is good
Verse 4
| D5 | F#m |
Hey there, Delilah, I’ve got so much left to say,
| D5 | F#m | Bm Bm/A |
if every simple song I wrote to you, would take your breath away, I’d write it all.
| G A | Bm | A A5 |
Even more in love with me you’d fall, we’d have it all.
Chorus 2
| D5 D5/A | Bm Bm/C# | D5 D5/A | Bm Bm/C# |
Oh, it’s what you do to me, oh it’s what you do to me.
| D5 D5/A | Bm Bm/C# | D5 D5/A | Bm Bm/A |
Oh, it’s what you do to me, oh it’s what you do to me.
Middle 8
| G5 | A |
A thousand miles seems pretty far, but they’ve got planes and trains and cars,
| D5 D5/A | Bm Bm/A |
I’d walk to you if I had no other way.
| G5 | A |
Our friends would all make fun of us, and we’ll just laugh along because,
| D5 D5/C# | Bm Bm/A |
we know that none of them have felt this way.
| G5 | A |
Delilah, I can promise you, that by the time that we get through,
| Bm | Bm | A | A5 |
the world will never ever be the same, and you’re to blame.
Verse 5
| D5 | F#m |
Hey there Delilah you be good and don’t you miss me,
| D5 | F#m | Bm Bm/A |
two more years and you’ll be done with school, and I’ll be making history like I do.
| G A | Bm Bm/A | G A | Bm Bm/A |
You’ll know it’s all because of you, we can do whatever we want to.
| G A | Bm | A | A5 |
Hey there Delilah here’s to you, this one’s for you.
Chorus 3
| D5 D5/A | Bm Bm/C# | D5 D5/A | Bm Bm/C# |
Oh, it’s what you do to me, oh it’s what you do to me.
| D5 D5/A | Bm Bm/C# | D5 D5/A | Bm Bm/C# |
Oh, it’s what you do to me, oh it’s what you do to me, what you do to me.
Outro
||: D5 D5/A | Bm Bm/C# :|| x4
Oh, oh, oh…
| D5 D5/A | D |
Hey There Delilah Guitar Lesson | Course Preview
Plain White T’s monster hit Hey There Delilah’s chords start off with chords I – III (#8 on my top 10 chord progression list).
This is followed by chord VI. A bass line then takes us to chords IV – V, and VI before we finally finish on chord V. Like this:
| D5 (I) | F#m (III) | D5 (I) | F#m (III) | Bm (VI) Bm/A |
| G (IV) A (V) | Bm (VI) | A (V) A5 |
The chorus is just moving between chords I (D) and VI (Bm) with the help of a bass line.
| D5 (I) D5/A | Bm (VI) Bm/C# | D5 (I) D5/A | Bm (VI) Bm/C# |
During the m8 we recycle Hey There Delilah’s chords and mix them up, like this.
| G5 (IV) | A (V) | D5 (I) D5/A | Bm (VI) Bm/A |
However, just playing these chords anywhere on the neck won’t make you sound like the original, one acoustic guitar part. To achieve this, you need the TAB of exactly how this was played on the original recording.
Below, you find this for the verse and chorus, note-for-note, exactly how Mr. Higgenson plays Hey There Delilah.
Hey There Delilah’s verse and chorus chords
By using fractions of the CAGED shapes, we get a compact and recognizable part.
Here’s the TAB for the verse, as demonstrated in the video lesson above.
Let’s also take a look at the chorus, looks like this in TAB.
Hey There Delilah’s 8 guitar lessons in the course
In the course, we next learn the m8 section before we play Hey There Delilah on one acoustic guitar, note-for-note, just like Tom Higgenson does.
Following this, we look at playing all of Hey There Delilah’s chords, all over the neck using the CAGED system. Once you can do this, we can build 2nd guitar parts.
This is what happens in steps 6-8. In the end, you’ll be able to play the song with me and the singer, anywhere on the neck using a complementary part.
In total, there are 8 step-by-step lessons for Hey There Delilah available. Here are links to each lesson in the course (members only):
- Step 1 – Introduction to the CAGED system
- Step 2 – Verse & Chorus
- Step 3 – M8
- Step 4 – The complete song, with TAB
- Step 5 – The CAGED system in the context of a song
- Step 6 – 2nd guitar part
- Step 7 – Another 2nd guitar part
- Step 8 – Improvise with the CAGED system and 2nd guitar part with pick
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Hey There Delilah 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
Plain White T’s
Plain White T’s is an American rock band that had great success with their song Hey There Delilah, charting at #1 in many countries in 2007.
Using a very persistent marketing technique, Hey There Delilah was pushed for over two years before it was finally #1.
Plain White T’s 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.
