Knocking On Heaven’s Door Chords + Lyrics
Intro
||: G D/F# | Am Am7 | G D/F# | C :||
Ooh-ooh-ooh. Ooh-ooh-ooh. Ooh-ooh-ooh.
Verse 1
| G D/F# | Am Am7 |
Mama take this badge off of me.
| G D/F# | C |
I can’t use it anymore.
| G D/F# | Am Am7 |
It’s getting dark, too dark to see.
| G D/F# | C |
I feel I’m knockin’ on heaven’s door.
Chorus 1
||: G D/F# | Am Am7 | G D/F# | C :||
||: Knock-knock-knockin’ on heaven’s door :||
Verse 2
Mama put my guns in the ground.
I can’t shoot them anymore.
That long black cloud is comin’ down.
I feel I’m knockin’ on heaven’s door.
Chorus 2
||: Knock-knock-knockin’ on heaven’s door :||
Outro
| G D/F# | Am Am7 |
Ooh-ooh-ooh.
| G D/F# | C |
Ooh-ooh-ooh.
Knocking On Heaven’s Door Chords: Learn the progressions
As one of the most obvious beginner guitar songs of all time and a classic introduction to Bob Dylan, we have Knocking On Heaven’s Door.
Since the early ’90s, perhaps more people have discovered this tune through Guns N’ Roses stadium rock version.
There is also what I heard first and still like the most, Clapton‘s reggae version. This one was released in 1975, two weeks after he’d gotten the idea from playing on Arthur Louis’s version as a session player.
All these versions are available in the playlist at the top of the page.
Dylan’s chords are I – V/3 – II, followed by I – V/3 – IV. In the key of G, that becomes:
||: G (I) D/F# (V/3) | Am (II) Am7 | G D/F# | C (IV) :||
On the C chord, Bob often adds the top G, that’s fret 3, string 1. This doesn’t change the chord as G is the 5th.
During the intro and in chorus 2, he adds the same note (G, fret 3, string 1) to the Am chord. This does change the chord into an Am7.
This is best described using TAB, here’s a link to that part of the lesson: Knocking On Heaven’s Door – Guitar Lesson with TAB.
On the Clapton version, he changes the chords. Instead of alternating between Am and C at the end, he just goes to Am, like this:
||: G D/F# | Am Am7 :||
There’s TAB for how to play this in a reggae style using barre chords as well (link above) which may not sound like you should be doing as a beginner but it’s easier than strumming the chords as Dylan does!
Here’s a chord chart I made for you.
Knocking On Heaven’s Door Chord Chart | PDF + iReal Pro
The chart above is very short. I did this because it’s the same chords for all sections so instead of writing the same thing three times, I wrote it once and then detailed the structure below.
Should you want to download this chart, here’s a PDF: Knocking On Heaven’s Door Chord Chart PDF.
This chord chart was created using iReal Pro, here’s a link to that file: Knocking On Heaven’s Door iReal Pro. Using this and the iRealPro app, you can change the key.
Knocking On Heaven’s Door was from a soundtrack!
Bob only ever did one soundtrack, the 1973 Pat Garrett & Billy The Kid.
He wrote all the songs for the movie and even starred in it as the character Alias.
The lead role was played by another singer, Kris Kristofferson (Me & Bobby McGee, Help Me Make It Through the Night).
Plenty of controversies surrounded the movie which is described as a revisionist Western, meaning it’s not a clear good guy/bad guy plot.
The director, Sam Peckinpah, fell out with the film studio and lost control over the editing process. This resulted in several editors removing so much of the plot the film stopped making sense and flopped at the box office.
Years later it was released closer to Peckinpah’s vision and was then hailed for its brilliance. At the time, it mainly became known for Bob’s hit, Knocking In Heaven’s Door.
Amazingly, another tune (Wagon Wheel) was half recorded during this time but scrapped by Bob who can be heard mumbling the chorus on a bootleg recording.
Later finished by Ketch Secor (2004) who wrote the verses, it became a huge hit in the hands of Nathan Carter (2012) and Darius Rucker (2013).
Knocking On Heaven’s Door Chords | Related Pages
Knocking On Heaven’s Door | Guitar Lesson + TAB
With this guitar lesson, you can learn to play Knocking On Heaven’s Door by Bob Dylan using TAB and chord analysis.
| G D/F# | Am Am7 |
Mama take this badge off of me…
Five similar tunes | Chords + Lyrics
Bob Dylan tunes
Widely regarded as the most influential artist in popular culture, Bob Dylan has been covered and copied by almost everyone who ever attempted to write a song. There are so many of his famous tunes, but it’s impossible to pick just a few.
Some say Dylan invented modern songwriting.
Bob Dylan on the web
Guns N’ Roses tunes
Formed in the mid-’80s in Los Angeles, Guns N’ Roses wrote almost all their best tunes before the release of the debut album.
Their biggest hits include Paradise City, Welcome To The Jungle, Sweet Child O’ Mine, Patience, You Could Be Mine, and November Rain.
Guns N’ Roses on the web
About me | Dan Lundholm
This was a guitar lesson about Knocking On Heaven’s Door chords, by Dan Lundholm. Discover more about him and how you can learn guitar with Spytunes.
Most importantly, find out why you should learn guitar through playing tunes, not practising scales, and studying theory in isolation.
