Last Christmas | Chords + Lyrics
Intro
| Dmaj9 D6 | Dmaj9 (D6) |
| F#m7/B Bm | F#m7/B (Bm) |
| Bm7/E Em7 | Bm7/E (Em7) |
| A13sus4 A7 | A13sus4 (A7) |
Chorus 1
||: Dmaj9 D6 | Dmaj9 D6 |
||: Last Christmas, I gave you my heart.
| F#m7/B Bm | F#m7/B Bm |
But the very next day you gave it away.
| Bm7/E Em7 | Bm7/E Em7 |
This year, to save me from tears.
| A13sus4 A7 | A13sus4 A7 :||
I’ll give it to someone special. :||
Instrumental 1
| Dmaj9 D6 | Dmaj9 D6 |
| F#m7/B Bm | F#m7/B Bm |
| Bm7/E Em7 | Bm7/E Em7 |
| A13sus4 A7 | A13sus4 A7 |
Verse 1
| Dmaj9 D6 | Dmaj9 D6 |
Once bitten and twice shy.
| F#m7/B Bm | F#m7/B Bm |
I keep my distance but you still catch my eye.
| Bm7/E Em7 | Bm7/E Em7 |
Tell me baby, do you recognize me?
| A13sus4 A7 | A13sus4 A7 |
Well, it’s been a year, it doesn’t surprise me.
Verse 2
(Merry Christmas) I wrapped it up and sent it.
With a note saying “I love you”, I meant it.
Now I know what a fool I’ve been.
But if you kissed me now I know you’d fool me again.
Chorus 2
||: Last Christmas, I gave you my heart.
But the very next day you gave it away.
This year, to save me from tears.
I’ll give it to someone special. :||
Instrumental 2
Oh, oh, baby.
Verse 3
A crowded room friends with tired eyes.
I’m hiding from you and your soul of ice.
My god I thought you were someone to rely on.
Me? I guess I was a shoulder to cry on.
Verse 4
But a face on a lover with a fire in his heart.
A man under cover, but you tore me apart.
Oh, oh, now I’ve found a real love.
You’ll never fool me again.
Chorus 3
Last Christmas, I gave you my heart.
But the very next day you gave it away.
This year, to save me from tears.
I’ll give it to someone special, special.
Last Christmas, I gave you my heart (I gave you my heart).
But the very next day you gave it away (you gave it away).
This year, to save me from tears (oh, oh).
I’ll give it to someone special (special).
Verse 5
A face on a lover with a fire in his heart. (I gave you my heart).
A man under cover but you tore him apart.
Maybe next year.
I’ll give it to someone, I’ll give it to someone special.
Outro
| Dmaj9 D6 | Dmaj9 D6 |
Special.
| F#m7/B Bm | F#m7/B Bm | fade
Someone…
Last Christmas Chords: Learn the progressions
If you believe everything they tell you on the internet, Last Christmas chords are just I – VI – II – V, with the only extension being a min7 on the II chord, like this in the key of D:
||: D | D | Bm | Bm |
| Em7 | Em7 | A | A :||
Whenever this happens I always get excited as it gives me an opportunity to shine, be it in a band or here online as I know that there is more to Last Christmas chords than that dumbed-down version.
What is happening is that we extend all chords and what’s more, play two versions for each.
The D chord is a maj9 to a 6. The Bm is a slash chord using F#m7 to Bm (or even Bm7 if you’re on the keyboard). The notes are the same as for D, only the bass has changed.
This concept is moved to an E for the second half, so Bm7/E to Em7.
Finally, we go from an A13sus4 to an A7.
Put all this together and you get this chord progression for Last Christmas:
| Dmaj9 D6 | Dmaj9 (D6) |
| F#m7/B Bm | F#m7/B (Bm) |
| Bm7/E Em7 | Bm7/E (Em7) |
| A13sus4 A7 | A13sus4 (A7) |
As you can see, in the second bar, I’ve put the second chord in brackets. This is because, in the first bar, we play the first chord for two beats, and the second for two beats.
In the second bar, we move between the chords several times. You need TAB to understand this, here’s a link: Last Christmas – Guitar Lesson with TAB.
There is no guitar on the original recording so I had to transcribe the keyboard part, translate that to guitar TAB, and then design a part that would work live in a band.
Once you get the concept, a chord chart is all you need, mainly to give you the arrangement, the chords of Last Christmas are just that one loop forever.
If you play along with the original recording, you must tune down to 432 Hz or it’ll sound terrible.
Last Christmas Chords | PDF + iReal Pro
The chords are so easy in Last Christmas that the main thing you’re going to need the chord chart for is the structure.
Should you want to download my chord chart, here’s a PDF: Last Christmas Chord Chart PDF.
This chart was created using iRealPro, here’s a link to that file: Last Christmas iReal Pro. Using this and the iRealPro app, you can change the key which would be a nice last-minute challenge.
Last Christmas Chords | Related Pages
Last Christmas | Guitar Lesson + TAB
With this guitar lesson, you can learn to play Last Christmas by Wham using TAB and chord analysis.
| Dmaj9 D6 | Dmaj9 D6 |
Last Christmas, I gave you my heart…
Five similar tunes | Chords + Lyrics
- All I Want For Christmas Is You
- Driving Home For Christmas
- Fairytale of New York
- I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
- Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
George Michael tunes
As one of the most popular singers in Britain, George Michael‘s first success came with the duo Wham!
Following many hits with the duo, he set his sights on an even more lucrative solo career.
George Michael on the web
About me | Dan Lundholm
This was a guitar lesson about Last Christmas 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.
