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
Hey there Delilah don’t you worry about the distance.
I’m right there if you get lonely give this song another listen, close your eyes.
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
Hey there Delilah I know times are getting hard.
But just believe me girl someday I’ll pay the bills with this guitar, we’ll have it good.
We’ll have the life we knew we would, my word is good.
Verse 4
Hey there, Delilah, I’ve got so much left to say,
if every simple song I wrote to you, would take your breath away, I’d write it all.
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 (as Chorus 2)
Oh, it’s what you do to me, oh it’s what you do to me.
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 Chords: Learn the Simple Yet Captivating Progressions
Plain White T’s monster hit Hey There Delilah begins with the I – III progression (#8 on my Top 10 Chord Progression list), followed by VI.
A bass line then leads into IV – V – VI, before resolving on 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 |
If you’ve checked out the TAB (see further down the page), simply reading the chords should be enough to remind you how to play Hey There Delilah like the original.
Chorus Progression
The chorus moves between I (D) and VI (Bm) with the help of a bass line:
||: D5 (I) D5/A | Bm (VI) Bm/C# :||
Again, once you’ve gone through the TAB and figured out the fingering, reading the chords will make it easy to follow.
Middle 8
The middle 8 recycles the chords into a new progression:
| G5 (IV) | A (V) | D5 (I) D5/A | Bm (VI) Bm/A |
Here’s a chord chart I made for you.
Hey There Delilah Chord Chart | PDF + iReal Pro
Even though Hey There Delilah has simple chords and an easy-to-remember structure, having a chord chart handy can be useful—especially if you have a large repertoire.
You can download the chart as a PDF: Hey There Delilah chord chart PDF.
This chart was created using iReal Pro—here’s a link to the file: Hey There Delilah chord chart iReal Pro. With the iRealPro app, you can easily change the key.
In the course, we explore Hey There Delilah in more depth by using TAB and playing along to loops. Below is a preview.
Hey There Delilah TAB | Course Preview
What makes this sound so good is how Tom Higgenson picks these chords using very compact shapes.
The D chord is played as D5, omitting the 3rd and the top string. When switching to F#m, the F# acts as the 3rd of D, and again, the top string is left out.
This creates a defined, structured part. Try switching to C – Em in open position instead—you’ll notice the difference.
TAB Example
Here’s the TAB for how he plays it.
Members also get TAB and a play-along loop for the chorus, making it easy to learn. The same applies to the middle 8.
Full Course Breakdown
In the course, there are 8 in-depth guitar lessons covering all parts of Hey There Delilah, including how to create second guitar parts. We even use the CAGED system to improvise.
At the top of this page, you’ll find a playlist of videos where I play these parts with the singer.
Here’s a link to the step-by-step guitar lessons: Hey There Delilah – Guitar Lessons with TAB.
Hey There Delilah was one of 2007’s biggest hits!
Plain White T’s, an American pop-rock band, found their greatest success with Hey There Delilah, which topped the charts in multiple countries that year.
The song’s rise was anything but overnight—it was pushed relentlessly for over two years before finally reaching #1. In the process, it carried the promotion of two albums: first appearing on All That We Needed (2005) and later re-released on Every Second Counts (2006).
The latter version featured a string arrangement added to the original acoustic guitar track. This became the version that received daily radio play worldwide throughout 2007.
At the 2008 Grammy Awards, Hey There Delilah was nominated for Song of the Year but lost to Rehab by Amy Winehouse—who, ironically, was unable to attend as she was in rehab.
Time magazine ranked it #7 on their Best Songs of 2007 list, noting that “the concept of an aching guy reaching out to a distant girl felt fresh.”
Hey There Delilah Chords: Continue Learning
In this first series of lessons in the intermediate acoustic course, we learn how to play Hey There Delilah by Plain White T’s, fingerstyle.
We do this alongside learning about the CAGED system and how it helps us play all over the fretboard.
Start learning with the full lesson series: Hey There Delilah – Guitar Lessons with TAB.
Alternatively, here are five similar tunes you might enjoy: