Last Nite | Chords + Lyrics
Intro
||: C5 | C5 :|| x4
||: C5/F | C5/F | C5/G | C5/G :|| x4
Verse 1 (x3)
| C | C | C | C | Dm | Dm |
Last night she said, “Oh, baby, I feel so down”.
| G | G | Em7 | Em7/D |
“Oh, it turn me off, when I feel left out”.
| C | C | C | C | Dm | Dm |
So I, I turned around, oh, baby, I don’t care no more.
| G | G | Em7 | Em7/D |
I know this for sure, I’m walking out that door.
| C | C | C | C | Dm | Dm |
Well, I’ve been in town for just about fifteen, oh, minutes now. Oh baby, I feel so down.
| G | G | Em7 | Em7/D |
And I don’t know why. I keep walking for miles.
Bridge 1
||: C5/F | C5/F | C5/G | C5/G :||
And see, people, they don’t understand.
Your girlfriends, they can’t understand.
Your grandsons, they won’t understand.
On top of this, I ain’t ever gonna understand.
Verse 2 (x2)
Last night she said, ”Oh, baby, don’t feel so down”.
“Oh, it turn me off, when I feel left out”.
So I, I turned around, oh, baby, gonna be alright.
It was a great big lie, ’cause I left that night, yeah.
Instrumental
||: C5 | C5 :||
||: C5/F | C5/F | C5/G | C5/G :||
Solo
| C | C | C | C |
| F | F | F | F |
| G | G | G | G |
Bridge 2
||: C5/F | C5/F | C5/G | C5/G :||
Oh, people, they don’t understand.
No, girlfriends, they don’t understand.
In spaceships, they won’t understand.
| C5/F | C5/F | C5/G | C5/G N.C |
And me, I ain’t ever gonna understand.
Verse 3 (x2)
Last night she said, ”Oh, baby, I feel so down”.
“See, it turn me off when I feel left out”.
So I, I turned around, oh little girl, I don’t care no more.
I know this for sure, I’m walking out that door, yeah.
Outro
||: C5 | C5 :||
||: C5/F | C5/F | C5/G | C5/G :||
||: C5 | C5 :|| C5 N.C |
Last Nite Chords: Guitar Stays, Bass Shifts – A Hit Writing Trick
In the key of C, Last Nite‘s chords employ a harmonic trick where one guitar stays on a C5, while the bass moves between F and G.
Compare with Money (That’s What I Want), where the guitar stays on the chord while the rest of the band moves to pther parts of the 12-bar.
The C5 held by the guitar during the bridge is what transforms a simple IV – V progression (which sits at #2 on my Top 10 chord progression list) into something more interesting. Without this, the bridge would be just another straightforward progression.
Here’s how it looks:
||: C5/F | C5/F | C5/G | C5/G :|| (x4)
| C5/F | C5/F | C5/G | C5/G N.C |
What The Strokes have done here is use a classic hit-writing trick: Familiarity with a twist.
The verse progression starts simply with the I – II, but then it becomes more complex. First, we move to the V chord, a G. As the guitar stay on G for four bars, the bass shifts the meaning of this G to Em7, and then to Em7/ – genius!
||: C (I) | C | C | C | Dm (II) | Dm |
| G (V) | G | Em7 (III) | Em7/D (III/b7) :||
These two sections represent all the chords used in Last Nite.
If you’re an aspiring songwriter, there are two great lessons here: Keep it simple and don’t be afraid to stick to the basics—but be sure to add a twist to keep things fresh!
Here’s a chord chart.
Last Nite Chord Chart | PDF + iReal Pro
I can’t see this tune ever being played in a key different from the original, so the iReal Pro version might be superfluous. That said, you may want to alter my layout!
Last Nite – A Rock Standard
New York garage rockers The Strokes released Last Nite in 2001, achieving moderate success and reaching the #1 spot on the U.K. Indie chart. However, the song would become a slow burner, embraced by working bands worldwide and still regularly played on the radio and by DJs decades later.
It fits comfortably alongside Are You Gonna Be My Girl, Molly’s Chambers, and Seven Nation Army on indie rock covers band setlists and will continue to be a staple for many years to come.
During the writing of Last Nite, the band drew inspiration from Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers’ classic American Girl and Freddie King’s raw, powerful solo tone. This blend of influences worked wonders, propelling the song—and the band—into worldwide fame, despite not releasing a significant follow-up.
Tom Petty, recognising the influence of his own classic tune, didn’t mind at all. He invited The Strokes to support him on his worldwide tour five years after the song’s release.
Other notable influences include Money (That’s What I Want) for the interplay of stationary guitars and a shifting bass, and You Can’t Hurry Love for its distinctive rhythm.
A few years later, Jet released Are You Gonna Be My Girl, which adopted the same rhythm, making these two songs a perfect medley for the indie rock band on the circuit.
Last Nite Chords | Related Pages
Five similar tunes | Chords + Lyrics
- Are You Gonna Be My Girl
- I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor
- Molly’s Chambers
- Song 2
- You Really Got Me