Chords + Lyrics | Hit The Road Jack
Intro
||: G#m F# | E7 D#7 :||
Chorus 1
||: G#m F# | E7 D#7 :||
Hit the road Jack, and don’t you come back,
no more, no more, no more, no more.
Hit the road Jack, and don’t you come back no more. What you say?
Hit the road Jack, and don’t you come back,
no more, no more, no more, no more.
Hit the road Jack, and don’t you come back no more.
Verse 1
||: G#m F# | E7 D#7 :||
Oh woman, oh woman, don’t treat me so mean,
you’re the meanest old woman that I’ve ever seen.
I guess if you said so, I’ll have to pack my things and go (that’s right).
Chorus 2
Hit the road Jack, and don’t you come back,
no more, no more, no more, no more.
Hit the road Jack, and don’t you come back no more. What you say?
Hit the road Jack, and don’t you come back,
no more, no more, no more, no more.
Hit the road Jack, and don’t you come back no more.
Verse 2
Now baby, listen baby, don’t ya treat me this a way,
’cause I’ll be back on my feet some day.
(Don’t care if you do ’cause it’s understood, you ain’t got no money, you just ain’t no good)
Well, I guess if you say so. I’ll have to pack my things and go (that’s right).
Chorus 3
Hit the road Jack, and don’t you come back,
no more, no more, no more, no more.
Hit the road Jack, and don’t you come back no more. What you say?
Hit the road Jack, and don’t you come back,
no more, no more, no more, no more.
Hit the road Jack, and don’t you come back no more.
Outro
||: G#m F# | E7 D#7 :||
Well (don’t you come back no more).
Uh, what you say? (don’t you come back no more).
I didn’t understand you (don’t you come back no more).
You can’t mean that (don’t you come back no more).
Oh, now baby, please (don’t you come back no more).
What you tryin’ to do to me? (don’t you come back no more).
Oh, don’t treat me like that (don’t you come back no more).
Hit The Road Jack | Chords + Lyrics (Helen Reddy)
Intro
| Gm | Gm |
Chorus 1
| Gm F | Eb D7 |
Hit the Road Jack, don’t you come back, no more, no more, no more, no more.
| Gm F Eb D7 | Gm D7 |
Hit the Road Jack and don’t you come back no more.
| Gm F | Eb D7 |
Hit the Road Jack, don’t you come back, no more, no more, no more, no more.
| Gm F Eb D7 | Gm D7 |
Hit the Road Jack and don’t you come back no more.
Verse 1
| Gm N.C | N.C |
Oh Daddy, oh Daddy, why you’d treat me so mean. You’re the meanest old Daddy that I’ve ever have seen.
| Gm N.C | N.C |
You know if and I say so: You’ll have to pack your things and go, that’s right!
Chorus 2
Hit the Road Jack, don’t you come back, no more, no more, no more, no more.
Hit the Road Jack, and don’t you come back no more. Hear what I say!
Hit the Road Jack, don’t you come back, no more.
Hit the Road Jack and don’t you come back no more.
Instrumental (key change)
| Gm | Gm | Abm | Abm |
Verse
| Abm N.C | N.C |
Now Baby, listen Baby, don’t you treat me this way, well I’ll be back on my feet some day.
| N.C | N.C |
Don’t care what you do, cause it’s understood, if you ain’t got money you ain’t no good.
| Abm N.C | N.C |
You know if and I say so: You’ll have to pack your things and go, that’s right!
Chorus 3
| Abm Gb | E Eb7 |
Hit the Road Jack, don’t you come back. Hit the road Jack, don’t you come back.
| Abm Gb E Eb7 | Abm Eb7 |
Hit the Road Jack, don’t you come back no more.
| Abm Gb | E Eb7 |
Hit the Road Jack, don’t you come back no more, no more, no more.
| Abm Gb E Eb7 |
Hit the Road Jack, don’t you come back no more.
Outro
||: Abm7 | Db9 :|| x4
| Abm |
||: Abm7 | Db9 :|| x4
| Abm |
Hit The Road Jack Chords: A Look at the Classic Soul Progression and how to change it!
Built on an endless VI – V – IV – IIIx loop in the key of Abm, Hit the Road Jack keeps driving forward, constantly building tension.
This progression—Abm – Gb – E – Eb7—is ranked #9 on Spytunes’ top 10 chord progression list. Compare it to One More Cup of Coffee by Bob Dylan.
For the Ray Charles version, I’ve written the chords as G#m above rather than Abm, even though soul bands with horn sections tend to avoid sharp keys. So, theoretically, calling it Abm is “more” correct.
That said, there’s a quirk—E and Eb would both appear, and technically, E should be written as Fb for consistency. But let’s be honest, who calls it Fb with a straight face?
For clarity, it makes more sense to write the progression as G#m – F# – E – D#7, sidestepping the whole Fb debate altogether. That’s why I’ve used G#m for the chords and lyrics of Hit the Road Jack, as well as in the chord chart below.
In the course, we practice this progression all over the neck using TAB, it’s not easy! Here’s a link: Hit The Road Jack – Guitar Lesson with TAB.
We also look at the Helen Reddy version, mainly because it’s so incredibly clever. Let’s take a look at teh chords.
The intro is a riff for which you need TAB (follow link!). This riff comes back as an instrumental section where it modulates up to Abm, here I don’t call it G#m as I did in the Ray Charles version.
Chorus (Helen Reddy)
Anyway, the chorus is where the magic happens. Instead of playing the descending progression over and over, she plays it half time, like this:
| Gm F | Eb D7 |
This is followed by playing it at double tempo, so all four chords in a bar, then go Gm – D7, like this:
| Gm F Eb D7 | Gm D7 |
I don’t know about you but I reckon this is one of the best cover versions of a tune I’ve ever heard, she’s pretty much rewritten the tune!
The verse is almost the same, just with a different length the second time. The outro moves II – V, Abm7 – Db9, the TAB finds a way to play this in a really cool way.
Here are chord charts for both versions:
Hit The Road Jack Chord Chart | PDF + iReal Pro Download
If you want my chord chart in the key of G#m, you can download it as a static PDF or in the more flexible iReal Pro format. With iReal Pro, you can change the key to whatever suits you best.
Transposing is a great way to practise soloing over this classic progression, and iReal Pro even provides MIDI backing tracks in various styles. The real question is—how far down the road will you go with Jack?
- Hit The Road Jack chord chart PDF
- Hit The Road Jack iReal Pro
- Hit The Road Jack chord chart (HR) PDF
- Hit The Road Jack (HR) iReal Pro
Hit The Road Jack TAB | Course Preview
In the course, we first look at five examples of how to play the Ray Charles version all over the neck, it will look really easy but trust me, it’s a proper workout!
Following this, we look at TAB for the Helen Reddy version, complete with incorporated horn lines.
As a preview, here’s the Helen Reddy intro.
A cover of a cover
Hit the Road Jack was released as a single by Ray Charles in 1961, but he didn’t write it.
The song was penned by Percy Mayfield a year earlier and sent to record executive Art Rupe, who had known Ray from his early days recording with Guitar Slim. Rupe, a key figure in rhythm and blues, also played a role in launching Little Richard, bringing hits like Tutti Frutti and Long Tall Sally to the world.
A massive success, Hit the Road Jack reached #1 in the U.S., Sweden, and New Zealand, becoming one of Ray Charles’s signature songs. Its call-and-response style—famously delivered by The Raelettes, with Ray answering—has kept it a staple in Soul and Motown cover bands’ setlists for over seven decades.
With its super simple chord progression, this one is easy to memorise in seconds… That’s until you discover the Helen Reddy version which is just incredible! In my opinion, one of the best cover versions ever recorded.
Hit The Road Jack Chords: Continue Learning
Want to master this song? Check out the full TAB lesson here: Hit The Road Jack (Ray Charles + Helen Reddy) Guitar Lesson with TAB.
Alternatively, here are five similar tunes you might enjoy:
