I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles) | Chords + Lyrics
Intro
||: E | E :||
Verse 1
| E | E |
When I wake up, well I know I’m gonna be,
| A5 B5 | E |
I’m gonna be the man who wakes up next to you.
| E | E |
When I go out, yeah I know I’m gonna be,
| A5 B5 | E |
I’m gonna be the man who goes along with you.
| E | E |
If I get drunk, well I know I’m gonna be,
| A5 B5 | E |
I’m gonna be the man who gets drunk next to you.
| E | E |
And if I haver, hey I know I’m gonna be,
| A5 B5 | E |
I’m gonna be the man who’s havering to you.
Chorus 1
| E | E | A5 | B5 |
But I would walk 500 miles and I would walk 500 more.
| E | E | A5 | B5 |
Just to be the man who walked a thousand miles to fall down at your door.
Verse 2
| E | E |
When I’m working, yes I know I’m gonna be,
| A5 B5 | E |
I’m gonna be the man who’s working hard for you.
| E | E |
And when the money, comes in for the work I do,
| A5 B5 | E |
I’ll pass almost every penny on to you.
| E | E |
When I come home (when I come home), oh I know I’m gonna be,
| A5 B5 | E |
I’m gonna be the man who comes back home to you.
| E | E |
And if I grow old, well I know I’m gonna be,
| A5 B5 | E |
I’m gonna be the man who’s growing old with you.
Chorus 2
| E | E | A5 | B5 |
But I would walk 500 miles and I would walk 500 more.
| E | E | A5 | B5 |
Just to be the man who walks a thousand miles to fall down at your door.
Chorus tag 1
||: E | E |
||: Da-da da da (da-da da da). Da-da da da (da-da da da).
| A B | E :||
Da-da-da dun-diddle un-diddle un-diddle un da-da :||
Instrumental
| E | E |
Verse 3
| E | E |
When I’m lonely, well I know I’m gonna be,
| A5 B5 | E |
I’m gonna be the man who’s lonely without you.
| E | E |
And when I’m dreaming, well I know I’m gonna dream,
| A5 B5 | E |
I’m gonna dream about the time when I’m with you.
| E | E |
When I go out (when I go out), well I know I’m gonna be,
| A5 B5 | E |
I’m gonna be the man who goes along with you.
| E | E |
And when I come home (when I come home), yes I know I’m gonna be,
| A5 B5 | C#m |
I’m gonna be the man who comes back home with you.
| A B | 2/4 B | 4/4 E | E |
I’m gonna be the man who’s coming home, with you.
Chorus 3
| E | E | A5 | B5 |
But I would walk 500 miles and I would walk 500 more.
| E | E | A5 | B5 |
Just to be the man who walks a thousand miles to fall down at your door.
Chorus tag 2
||: E | E |
||: Da-da da da (da-da da da). Da-da da da (da-da da da).
| A B | E :|| x4
Da-da-da dun-diddle un-diddle un-diddle un da-da :|| x4
Chorus 4
| E | E | A5 | B5 |
And I would walk 500 miles and I would walk 500 more.
| E | E | A5 | B5 | E | E |
Just to be the man who walked a thousand miles to fall down at your door.
500 Miles chords, progressions, and TAB
There’s more to The Proclaimers‘ 500 Miles chords than one may first assume. It’s easy to just dismiss this as just a I – IV – V song in E.
I feel there’s a very important lesson here, a great introduction to the concept of playing simple things well which is grounded in attention to detail and subtle variation.
For example, when do you play 5 chords, and when do you play the triad? How do you break up the strumming for the E chord so it sounds powerful but not boring?
500 miles is also a great lesson in arranging a tune well to make it sound like a hit. Let’s start with the chords.
The verse and chorus tag chords move like this:
| E | E | A5 B5 | E |
Using Roman Numerals, this is: I – IV – V – I. The IV – V shares a bar.
The chorus chords move like this:
| E | E | A5 | B5 |
Both chord progressions are over four bars, but the chorus uses a bar each for the IV – V movement. This is extremely simple, but also very effective!
The only variation we get to this is in verse 3 where we go:
| A5 B5 | C#m |
| A B | 2/4 B | 4/4 E | E |
The C#m is chord VI, a relative minor of the E, or the sad cousin as I like to say. The 2/4 bar over the B helps build the intensity for the next chorus.
Let’s now look at how to break up the strumming so we get a part that works no matter if you play 500 Miles chords on your own using an acoustic, or an electric guitar in a band, as the only guitarist.
This is not what they play on the record, but a part that could work for you as a working player.
Here are 500 Miles’s verse chords in TAB. Notice how this is done over 8 bars, not 4. This is so you can apply some variation over the initial E chord.
Here are 500 Miles’s chorus chords in TAB. Notice how this is slightly simpler than the verse. I want all focus to be on the vocal here.
And finally, here’s the chorus tag, it’s the same as the verse, although now we play A and B, not A5 and B5, like this:
500 miles arrangement
On a final note, the arrangement is very well thought through, this was designed to be a hit. Here’s how it’s set up.
- Intro – Just four bars set up the tune, we know within a second what this is from just hearing that chugging E chord. Perfect for radio play.
- Verse 1 – 4 repetitions of the same progressions, no variations, this sets up familiarity.
- Chorus 1 – The basic chorus presents the main theme.
- Verse 2/Chorus 2 – Identical to the previous verse and chorus, familiarity.
- Chorus tag 1 – Audience participation! This is the key to the tune’s success, we invite everyone to sing along.
- Instrumental – This functions like a short re-intro, we gather ourselves to do it all again.
- Verse 3 – This is where we find a variation on the final line which goes to C#m, holds a chord, and waits for half a bar.
- Chorus 3 – Identical to previous choruses, let’s not complicate things now that everyone is in on this.
- Chorus tag 2 – Audience participation – again! And for longer than last time. This is the big payoff.
- Chorus 4 – This rounds it all off, it would have been easy to just fade during the last section, instead we do this with an actual ending, much better!
The only other song I can think of that is this perfectly arranged to be a hit is Bryan Adams Summer Of ’69.
Perhaps this was the reference track when The Proclaimers recorded it only three years after Bryan had proved the concept worked.
500 Miles chords | Related pages
Five similar tunes
The Proclaimers
Formed in 1983, Scottish twins The Proclaimers had their debut album, This Is the Story by 1987.
Best-known tunes include Letter from America, I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles), and covers of Get Ready and These Arms Of Mine.
The Proclaimers on the web
