Lyin’ Eyes | Chords + Lyrics
Intro
| G | Gmaj7 (G) | C | Cmaj7 |
| Am7 | D7 | G (C/G) | G (C/G) |
Verse 1
| G | G | C | C |
City girls just seem to find out early.
| Am | Am | D | D |
How to open doors with just a smile.
| G | G | C | C |
A rich old man and she won’t have to worry.
| Am | C | G | G (C/G) |
She’ll dress up all in lace, go in style.
Verse 2
| G | G | C | C |
Late at night, a big old house gets lonely.
| Am | Am | D | D (D7) |
I guess every form of refuge has its price.
| G | G (Gmaj7) | C | C |
And it breaks her heart to think her love is only.
| Am | C | G | C D5 |
Given to a man with hands as cold as ice.
Verse 3
| G | G | C | C |
So she tells him she must go out for the evening.
| Am | Am | D Dsus2 | D7 D6 |
To comfort an old friend who’s feeling down.
| G | Gmaj7 | C | C |
But he knows where she’s going as she’s leaving.
| Am | C | G (C/G) | G N.C |
She is headed for the cheatin’ side of town.
Chorus 1
| G | C/G | G (C/G) | G |
You can’t hide your lyin’ eyes.
| Em7 | Bm7 | Am7 | D7 |
And your smile is a thin disguise.
| G | G7 | C | A7 |
I thought by now you’d realize.
| Am | D7omit3 |
There ain’t no way to hide your lyin’ eyes.
Instrumental 1
| G | Gmaj7 (G) | C | Cmaj7 |
| Am7 | D7 | G (C/G) | G (C/G) |
Verse 4
| G | G | C | C |
On the other side of town a boy is waiting.
| Am | Am | D | D (D7) |
With fiery eyes and dreams no one could steal.
| G | G (Gmaj7) | C | C |
She drives on through the night, anticipating.
| Am | C | G | C D5 |
‘Cause he makes her feel the way she used to feel.
Verse 5
| G | G | C | C |
She rushes to his arms, they fall together.
| Am | Am | D | D (D7) |
She whispers that “it’s only for a while”.
| G | G | C | C |
She swears that soon she’ll be comin’ back forever.
| Am | C | G (C/G) | G N.C |
She goes away and leaves him with a smile.
Chorus 2
| G | C/G | G (C/G) | G |
You can’t hide your lyin’ eyes.
| Em7 | Bm7 | Am7 | D7 |
And your smile is a thin disguise.
| G | G7 | C | A7 |
I thought by now you’d realize.
| Am7 | D7omit3 |
There ain’t no way to hide your lyin’ eyes.
Instrumental 2
| G | Gmaj7 (G) | C | Cmaj7 |
| Am7 | D7 | G (C/G) | G (C/G) |
Verse 6
| G | G | C | C |
She gets up and pours herself a strong one.
| Am | Am | D | D7omit3 |
And stares out at the stars up in the sky.
| G | G | C | C |
Another night, it’s gonna be a long one.
| Am | C | G | C D5 |
She draws the shade and hangs her head to cry.
Verse 7
| G | Gmaj7 | C | C |
She wonders how it ever got this crazy.
| Am | Am | D Dsus2 | D7 D6 |
She thinks about a boy she knew in school.
| G | G | C | C |
Did she get tired or did she just get lazy?
| Am | C | G | G (C/G) |
She’s so far gone, she feels just like a fool.
Verse 8
| G | G (Gmaj7) | C | C |
My, oh my, you sure know how to arrange things.
| Am | Am | D Dsus2 | D7 D6 |
You set it up so well, so carefully.
| G | Gmaj7 | C | C |
Ain’t it funny how your new life didn’t change things?
| Am | C | G (C/G) | G N.C |
You’re still the same old girl you used to be.
Chorus 3
| G | C/G | G (C/G) | G |
You can’t hide your lyin’ eyes.
| Em7 | Bm7 | Am7 | D7omit3 |
And your smile is a thin disguise.
| G | G7 | C | A7 |
I thought by now you’d realize.
| Am | D7 | G | Gmaj7 (G) |
There ain’t no way to hide your lyin’ eyes.
| Am7 | D7omit3 | G | Gmaj7 (G) |
There ain’t no way to hide your lyin’ eyes.
| Am7 | D7omit3 | G | Gmaj7 (G) |
Honey, you can’t hide your lyin’ eyes.
Outro
| Am7 | D7omit3 | G Gsus4 G Gadd9 | G |
Lyin’ Eyes chords and progressions
Almost completely diatonic to the key of G, the impressive part of the Eagles Lyin’ Eyes chords is not how they modulate or use strange progressions, it’s how they subtly change from one verse to another.
Should you learn this exactly as I’ve written above using chords and lyrics? For example, the D – Dsus2 – D7 – D6 movement in verses 3 and 7 only? Of course not, that would be pointless unless everyone in the band does it.
Instead, what you should do is study how these subtle changes affect the arrangement and learn from it so that when your band has written a song that needs similar treatment, you have a great reference.
The basic chord progression of a Lyin’ Eyes verse is this:
| G | G | C | C |
| Am | Am | D | D |
| G | G | C | C |
| Am | C | G | G |
So that’s I – IV, II – V. I – IV, II – IV – I.
All verses then vary slightly in extensions. The main thing to look out for is the last line which is important to get right.
We either stay on G and use a quick C/G, or move G – C – D5. Before a chorus, go from G – C/G – G, and hold that last G chord.
The chorus, which happens three times is always the same, like this:
| G | C/G | G (C/G) | G |
| Em7 | Bm7 | Am7 | D7 |
| G | G7 | C | A7 |
| Am | D7omit3 |
First of all, that Bm7 chord, how incredible is that! To me, that’s the peak of the song, it’s so unexpected. Notice how this part of the chorus has the movement of a minor blues (compare it with Ain’t No Sunshine’s chords). This is followed by a II – V – I.
Once we repeat the final line, the Am turns into an Am7. As for the D7omit3, you could make a case for a plain D7 as well, I just felt it worked better without that 3rd.
You could probably argue that those initial C/G chords are actually C chords as the bass guitar does go to a C, but I reckon if it’s just you on one guitar, C/G sounds better.
Finally, the A7 is the only chord that is not diatonic, it’s a IIx.
After the last two bars of the chorus, we go straight into an instrumental section which is also what happened during the intro, looks like this:
| G | Gmaj7 (G) | C | Cmaj7 |
| Am7 | D7 | G (C/G) | G (C/G) |
Lyin Eyes the edited version
On a final note, there is a shorter, more radio-friendly 4-minute version out there of Lyin’ Eyes. What they’ve done then is take out verses 4, 5, and 7, as well as chorus 2.
As you’re unlikely to be singing this in harmony on a gig without rehearsing it, you don’t need to worry about getting caught out.
I’d also like to point out how this must be the worst wedding song of all time, but saying that, I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve played I Heard It Through The Grapevine in that environment so you never know!
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