Love Train chords by The O’Jays


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Love Train | Chords + Lyrics


Intro

| C | D9 | F | G11 |

Chorus 1

| C | D9 |
People all over the world (everybody). Join in (join).
| F | G11 |
Start a love train, love train.
| C | D9 |
People all over the world (all the world, now). Join in (love ride).
| F | G11 |
Start a love train (love ride), love train.

Verse 1

| G | G6 G | F | F6 F |
The next stop that we make will be England.
| G | G6 G | F | F6 F |
Tell all the folks in Russia, and China, too.
| G | G6 G | Am7 | A11 Am7 |
Don’t you know that it’s time to get on board.
| Dm7 | Dm7 | G G/F | G/E G/D |
And let this train keep on riding, riding on through. Well, well.

Chorus 2

| C | D9 |
People all over the world (you don’t need no money) Join in (come on).
| F | G11 |
Start a love train, love train (don’t need no ticket, come on).
| C | D9 |
People all over the world (join in, ride this train) Join in (ride this train, y’all).
| F | G11 |
Start a love train (come on, train), love train.

Verse 2

| G | G6 G | F | F6 F |
All of you brothers over in Africa.
| G | G6 G | F | F6 F |
Tell all the folks in Egypt, and Israel, too.
| G | G6 G | Am7 | A11 Am7 |
Please don’t miss this train at the station.
| Dm7 | Dm7 | G G/F | G/E G/D |
‘Cause if you miss it, I feel sorry, sorry for you. Well.

Chorus 3

| C | D9 |
People all over the world (sisters and brothers). Join in (join, come on).
| F | G11
Start a love train (ride this train, y’all), love train (come on). 
| C | D9 |
People all over the world (don’t need no tickets). Join in (come on, ride).
| F | G11
Start a love train, love train.

Middle 8

| Eb Ebmaj7 | Eb6 Eb | C C6 | Cmaj7 C |
Ride, let it ride. 
| Eb Ebmaj7 | Eb6 Eb | Dm7/G | G7 |
Let it ride. Let it ride. People, ain’t no war.

Chorus 4

| C | D9 |
People all over the world (on this train). Join in (ride the train).
| F | G11
Start a love train, love train (ride the train, y’all).
| C | D9 |
People all over the world (come on). Join in (you can ride or stand, yeah).
| F | G11
Start a love train, love train (makin’ love).
| C | D9 |
People all over the world (’round the world, y’all). Join in (come on).
| F | G11
Start a love train, love train.

Outro

||: C | D9 | F | G11 :||
||: People all over the world. Join in. Start a love train, love train. :||


Love Train’s chords and progressions

In the key of C, Love Train’s chords have some clever changes to the chords. Let’s look at each section, starting with the intro/chorus.

| C | D9 | F | G11 |

C is chord I, D9 is a IIx chord, F is IV, G11 is chord V. Only the D’s major 3rd is outside the key of C. IV – V at the end is one of the most common chord progressions.

Next, let’s look at the verse, one of my favorite chord progressions ever, it just moves so nicely, and the 6 chords are perfect! Here’s the first bit:

||: G | G6 G | F | F6 F :||

This is moving between IV and V, with 6 extensions. We’re used to it already from the chorus. Next, we vary this by going to Am instead of F. The A11 doesn’t have a 3rd so we’re not going outside the key here. You could see it as a G/A.

| G | G6 G | Am7 | A11 Am7 |

Finally, here’s the last line, Now that II chord is actually a Dm7 (compare this to the chorus D9). The last bar is a V chord with a descending bass line.

| Dm7 | Dm7 | G G/F | G/E G/D |


Love Train is one of the best songs to finish a wedding gig with

Love Train is a single by The O’Jays. Released in 1972 on the album Back Stabbers. It reached #1 in the U.S. and sold over 1 million copies.

The song would end up being The O’Jays’ biggest hit and also considered the starting point of the Disco movement.

If you ever wanted to suggest a song for a soul band playing at a wedding, where crowd participation is needed – Love Train is the answer!

Not just covered by the working band every Saturday, The Supremes, Hall & Oates, The Rolling Stones, even Tommy Lee has covered it!

As far as songs to end a Motown/Soul night with, Love Train is as good of a choice as Proud Mary, Valerie, or Signed Sealed Delivered.

If you want to play guitar in a Soul/Motown band, you simply must know Love Train’s chords!


Love Train chords | Related pages


Intermediate Electric

intermediate electric T

The intermediate electric tunes will help you with learning the CAGED system all over the fretboard, both for chords and pentatonic scales.

Learn these Motown/Soul classics, and you’ll not just improve dramatically but also gain yourself a repertoire.


Five similar tunes

When you can play Love Train's chords, try these five tunes from the song book.

The O’Jays

Formed in 1958 under the name The Mascots, The O’Jays are amazingly still together, over six decades later.

Their best-known tunes include Back Stabbers, Now That We’ve Found Love, For The Love Of Money, and their signature song Love Train.


The O’Jays on the web

Listen to O'Jays on Spotify.

Motown & Soul

Motown and Soul tunes

You can learn how to play these Motown & Soul tunes, and in doing so, gain yourself a repertoire so you can jam with, or even join a working band.

Study these tunes in-depth and you will map out the fretboard, master the CAGED system, and learn how to design a rhythm guitar part that works in a band.