Knocking On Heaven’s Door Chords + Lyrics
Intro
| G | D | Am | Am | G | D | C | C |
Ooh-ooh-ooh
| G | D | Am | Am7 |
Ooh-ooh-ooh
| G | D | C | C |
Ooh-ooh-ooh
Verse 1
| G | D | Am | Am |
Mama take this badge off of me.
| G | D | C | C |
I can’t use it anymore.
| G | D | Am | Am |
It’s getting dark, too dark to see.
| G | D | C | C |
I feel I’m knockin’ on heaven’s door.
Chorus 1
||: G | D | Am | Am | G | D | C | C :||
||: Knock-knock-knockin’ on heaven’s door :||
Verse 2
| G | D | Am | Am |
Mama put my guns in the ground.
| G | D | C | C |
I can’t shoot them anymore.
| G | D | Am | Am |
That long black cloud is comin’ down.
| G | D | C | C |
I feel I’m knockin’ on heaven’s door.
Chorus 2
||: G | D | Am | Am7 | G | D | C | C :||
||: Knock-knock-knockin’ on heaven’s door :||
Outro
| G | D | Am | Am |
Ooh-ooh-ooh
| G | D | C | C |
Ooh-ooh-ooh
Knocking On Heaven’s Door chords and progressions
As one of the most obvious beginner guitar songs of all time, and a classic introduction to Bob Dylan, we have in Knocking On Heaven’s Door.
This super simple tune only has four chords from the key of G. The progression is I – V – II, followed by I – V – IV. In the key of G, that becomes:
||: G | D | Am | Am | G | D | C | C :||
On the C chord, Bob often adds the top G, that’s fret 3, string 1. This doesn’t change the C 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.
I’m not sure if this was done by mistake or if it was planned, but I doubt he’d put it in the exact same place when playing live!
For the purpose of training your ear, when you play along with the original recording, check if you can hear when this note is added.
Knocking On Heaven’s Door chords | Related pages
Five similar tunes
- Blowin’ In The Wind chords
- The Drugs Don’t Work chords
- One More Cup Of Coffee chords
- Redemption Song chords
- Wish You Were Here chords
Bob Dylan
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.
Some say he invented modern songwriting.