King Of The Road | Chords + Lyrics
Intro
| Bb Bb/D | Eb | F | F |
Verse 1
| Bb | Eb | F | Bb |
Trailers for sale or rent, rooms to let, 50 cents.
| Bb | Eb | F7 N.C | N.C |
No phone, no pool, no pets, I ain’t got no cigarettes.
| Bb | Eb | F | Bb |
Ah, but, two hours of pushin’ broom, buys an eight by twelve four-bit room.
| Bb | Eb | F7 N.C | N.C |
I’m a man of means by no means, King of the road.
Verse 2 (same as verse 1)
Third boxcar, midnight train. Destination Bangor, Maine.
Old, worn-out suit and shoes, I don’t pay no union dues.
I smoke old stogies I have found, short, but not too big around.
I’m a man of means by no means, King of the road.
Verse 3 (key change, short)
| B | E | F# | B |
I know every engineer on every train. All of their children, and all of their names.
| B | E | F#7 N.C | N.C |
And every handout in every town. And every lock that ain’t locked, when no one’s around.
Verse 4
| B | E | F# | B |
I sing, Trailers for sale or rent, rooms to let, 50 cents.
| B | E | F#7 N.C | N.C |
No phone, no pool, no pets, I ain’t got no cigarettes.
| B | E | F# | B |
Ah, but, two hours of pushin’ broom, buys an eight by twelve four-bit room.
| B | E | F#7 N.C | N.C |
I’m a man of means by no means, King of the road.
Verse 5 (same as verse 4)
Trailers for sale or rent, rooms to let, 50 cents.
No phone, no pool, no pets, I ain’t got no cigarettes.
Ah, but, two hours of pushin’ broom, buys an eight by twelve four-bit room.
I’m a man of means by no means, King of the road.
King of the Road Chords: Understanding the Key Choice and Modulation
King of the Road by singer-songwriter Roger Miller is a classic country tune that stands out for its key choice and chord voicings.
As seen in the video above, when Roger plays it himself, there are no open-position cowboy chords—instead, we use barre chords, starting in Bb.
The chord progression follows the classic I – IV – V pattern, with a stop every other time. After two verses, the song modulates up a semitone from Bb to B, where we play a shorter verse—that’s the only variation!
Here’s the main progression:
||: Bb (I) | Eb (IV) | F (V) | Bb (I) |
| Bb (I) | Eb (IV) | F7 (V) N.C | N.C :||
For the key change and shorter verse, the chords shift to:
| B (I) | E (IV) | F# (V) | B (I) |
| B | E | F#7 N.C | N.C |
While the chords cycle every 8 bars, the melody and lyrics extend over 16 bars, apart from the shortened verse after the modulation.
This clever structuring—one idea repeating over 8 bars (chords) and another over 16 bars (melody/lyrics)—is a stroke of genius. Many songwriters struggle by cramming too many ideas into one song. Next time that happens, I’ll play them King of the Road!
I’ve created TAB that works perfectly for a band setting. You can find it here: King of the Road – Guitar Lesson with TAB.
Once you’ve gone through the TAB and played along with the original recording, you’re ready to gig this hilarious tune! Here’s a chord chart to keep you on track.
King Of The Road Chord Chart | PDF + iReal Pro
Should you want to download this chart, here’s a PDF: King Of The Road chord chart PDF.
This chord chart was created using iReal Pro, here’s a link to that file: King Of The Road chord chart iReal Pro. Using this and the iRealPro app, you can change the key.
King of the Road Bagged Five Grammy Awards!
Roger Miller released King of the Road in 1965 as a single from his album The Return of Roger Miller.
This was his second album, and with the success of Dang Me the year before, the stage was set for his signature song to make him world-famous.
King of the Road hit #1 in the U.S., Norway, and the U.K. The following year, it won five Grammy Awards, further cementing Miller’s reputation for lighthearted yet masterful songwriting.
Several cover versions have emerged over the years, including:
- The Proclaimers (1991)
- Randy Travis (1997)
- Queen of the House (1965) – a rewritten version by Jody Miller (no relation to Roger!)
There’s also a live, drunken rendition by R.E.M., which was so rough that the band later joked Roger Miller should have sued them for it!
You can hear all these versions in the playlist at the top of this page.
King Of The Road Chords: Continue Learning
Want to master this song? Check out the full TAB lesson here: King Of The Road (Roger Miller) Guitar Lesson with TAB.
Alternatively, here are five similar tunes you might enjoy: