High and Dry | Chords + Lyrics
Intro
| N.C | N.C E/G# |
||: E/G# F#7sus4 E/G# |
| Asus2 | E5 | E5 E/G# :||
Verse 1
| F#m11 | Asus2 | E | E |
Two jumps in a week, I bet you think that’s pretty clever, don’t you, boy?
| F#m11 | Asus2 | E (Esus4) | E (Esus4) |
Flying on your motorcycle, watching all the ground beneath you drop.
| F#m11 | Asus2 | E | E |
You’d kill yourself for recognition. Kill yourself to never, ever stop.
| F#m11 | Asus2 | E (Esus4) | E |
You broke another mirror, you’re turning into something you are not.
Chorus 1
| F#m11 | Asus2 | E | E |
Don’t leave me high. Don’t leave me dry.
| F#m11 | Asus2 (hold) | E | E E/G# |
Don’t leave me high. Don’t leave me dry.
Instrumental 1
| E/G# F#7sus4 E/G# |
| Asus2 | E5 | E5 |
Verse 2
| F#m11 | Asus2 | E | E |
Drying up in conversation, you will be the one who cannot talk.
| F#m11 | Asus2 | E | E |
All your insides fall to pieces, you just sit there wishing you could still make love.
| F#m11 | Asus2 | E | E |
They’re the ones who’ll hate you when you think you’ve got the world all sussed out.
| F#m11 | Asus2 | E | E |
They’re the ones who’ll spit at you, you will be the one screaming out.
Chorus 2
| F#m11 | Asus2 | E | E |
Don’t leave me high. Don’t leave me dry.
| F#m11 | Asus2 | E | E |
Don’t leave me high. Don’t leave me dry.
Solo
||: F#m11 | Asus2 | E | E :||
Verse 3 (breakdown)
| F#m11 | Asus2 | E | E |
Oh, it’s the best thing that you’ve ever had, the best thing that you’ve ever, ever had.
| F#m11 | Asus2 | E | E |
It’s the best thing that you’ve ever had, the best thing you have had is gone away.
Outro
| F#m11 | Asus2 | E | E |
So don’t leave me high. Don’t leave me dry.
| F#m11 | Asus2 | E | E |
Don’t leave me high. Don’t leave me dry.
| F#m11 | Asus2 | E | E |
Don’t leave me high.
| F#m11 | Asus2 (hold) | E | E |
Don’t leave me high. Don’t leave me dry
High and Dry chords, progressions, and TAB
Just like Radiohead‘s first hit, Creep, High and Dry uses just a few chords on a loop, changing the extensions to vary the arrangement.
Using Roman Numerals, High and Dry’s verse and chorus chords spell II – IV – I. In the key of E, with the extensions, we get these chords:
||: F#m11 | Asus2 | E | E :||
The intro and instrumental sections spice this concept up by adding the I chord with its 3rd in the bass, like this:
||: E/G# F#7sus4 E/G# |
| Asus2 | E | E E/G# :||
To play this intro can be done in two ways. Like Radiohead do, or further down the neck, which I feel works better if you’re on your own.
Should you play High and Dry using two acoustic guitars, pick one of these each!
These are the differences between the two sections:
- The original part plays an octave of the 3rds for the E/G# chord, the alternative only has one
- The F#m11 in the original part doesn’t actually have a m3rd, making it an F#7sus4
- The rhythms on beat two have fewer strums in the alternative part
- The last two bars in the original part is a power chord, the alternative part has the full triad
The verse chords, on one guitar, are probably best played mainly like this:
Notice how we in the verse now play a full F#m11, and also how the rhythm is that of the alternative part on beat 2.
Every other time, you could put that Esus4 in, although on the original recording, they only do this during verse 1.
The chorus needs more of an 8th note feel, try playing High and Dry’s chorus chords like this:
High and Dry chords | Related pages
Five similar tunes
Radiohead
Formed in the mid-80s as the members met in a boarding school, Radiohead went on to become the most credible band from the U.K. in the 90s.
Their best tunes include Creep, Fake Plastic Trees, High and Dry, No Surprises, Karma Police, Paranoid Android, and Everything In Its Right Place.
Radiohead on the web
