Love Me Tender | Chords + Lyrics
Intro
| D D/A |
Verse 1
| D D/A | E7 E7/B | A7 | D D/A |
Love me tender, love me sweet, never let me go.
| D D/A | E7 E7/B | A7 A7/B | D D/A |
You have made my life complete and I love you so
Bridge 1
| D F#7/C# | Bm D7/A | G Gm6 | D D/A |
Love me tender, love me true, all my dreams fulfilled.
| D B7 | E7 E7/B | A7 A7/B | D D/A |
For my darling I love you and I always will.
Verse 2
| D D/A | E7 E7/B | A7 | D D/A |
Love me tender, love me long, take me to your heart.
| D D/A | E7 E7/B | A7 A7/B | D D/A |
For it’s there that I belong and we’ll never part.
Bridge 2
| D F#7/C# | Bm D7/A | G Gm6 | D D/A |
Love me tender, love me true, all my dreams fulfilled
| D B7 | E7 E7/B | A7 A7/B | D D/A |
For my darling I love you, and I always will
Verse 3
| D D/A | E7 E7/B | A7 | D D/A |
Love me tender, love me dear, tell me you are mine.
| D D/A | E7 E7/B | A7 A7/B | D D/A |
I’ll be yours through all the years, ’til the end of time.
Bridge 3
| D F#7/C# | Bm D7/A | G Gm6 | D D/A |
Love me tender, love me true, all my dreams fulfilled.
| D B7 | E7 E7/B | A7 | D | D/A |
For my darling I love you, and I always will.
Love Me Tender’s chords and progressions
The chords for Love Me Tender are so great, they don’t even need rhythm. In the key of D, we get mainly open-position chords strummed in a way reminiscent of a beginner.
The verse chords make use of an alternating bass, like this:
| D D/A | E7 E7/B | A7 | D D/A |
| D D/A | E7 E7/B | A7 A7/B | D D/A |
That E chord is a variation, moving outside the key, using Roman numerals D is I, E is IIx, and A is V.
The bridge chords are more sophisticated, can you spot the IVm, for example?
| D F#7/C# | Bm D7/A | G Gm6 | D D/A |
| D B7 | E7 E7/B | A7 A7/B | D D/A |
The chords may be easy to play but you do need TAB to make it sound like Elvis did it, members get this as well as a full analysis of the progressions.
Here’s a link to the complete lesson (members only): Love Me Tender chord analysis and TAB.
Become a member today and get unlimited access to all step-by-step guitar courses, TAB for the songbook, the Self-Eliminating Practice Routine, and the eBook Spytunes Method.
Love Me Tender – A cover that was covered!
Love Me Tender by Elvis is an adaptation of an old tune from 1861 called Aura Lea.
The lyrics are credited to Vera Matson but Elvis did tweak it for both the single and then the subsequent movie it was written for.
As a #1 single in 1956, Love Me Tender sold 3 million copies in the U.S. alone.
Post Elvis’s release, many famous singers have covered Love Me Tender, including Johnny Cash, Nat King Cole, Albert King, B.B. King, Cliff Richard, Julie Andrews, Barry Manilow, Norah Jones, James Brown, Frank Sinatra, Jim Morrison, and Barbara Streisand.
This makes Love Me Tender a cover that was well covered. Will you play it like Elvis, or make it your own?
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