Message In A Bottle | Chords + Lyrics
Intro
||: C#sus2 Asus2 | Bsus2 F#madd9 :|| x4
Verse 1
||: C#sus2 Asus2 | Bsus2 F#madd9 :||
Just a castaway, an island lost at sea, oh.
Another lonely day, with no one here but me, oh.
More loneliness, than any man could bear.
Rescue me before I fall into despair, oh.
Bridge 1
| A5 | D5 E5 | A5 | D5 E5 |
I’ll send an S.O.S to the world, I’ll send an S.O.S to the world.
| F#5 | D5 | F#5 | D5 | F#5 | D5 |
I hope that someone gets my, I hope that someone gets my. I hope that someone gets my.
Chorus 1
| C#m7 | F#m7/A | C#m7 | F#m7/A |
Message in a bottle, yeah.
| C#m7 | F#m7/A | F#m | F#m |
Message in a bottle, yeah.
Verse 2
||: C#sus2 Asus2 | Bsus2 F#madd9 :||
A year has passed since I wrote my note.
I should have known this right from the start.
Only hope can keep me together.
Love can mend your life or love can break your heart.
Bridge 2
| A5 | D5 E5 | A5 | D5 E5 |
I’ll send an S.O.S to the world, I’ll send an S.O.S to the world.
| F#5 | D5 | F#5 | D5 | F#5 | D5 |
I hope that someone gets my. I hope that someone gets my. I hope that someone gets my.
Chorus 2
| C#m7 | F#m7/A | C#m7 | F#m7/A |
Message in a bottle, yeah.
| C#m7 | F#m7/A | C#m7 | F#m7/A |
Message in a bottle, yeah.
| C#m7 | F#m7/A | C#m7 | F#m7/A |
Oh, message in a bottle, yeah.
| C#m7 | F#m7/A | F#m | F#m | F#m | F#m |
Message in a bottle, yeah.
Verse 3
||: C#sus2 Asus2 | Bsus2 F#madd9 :||
Walked out this morning, I don’t believe what I saw.
Hundred billion bottles washed up on the shore.
Seems I’m not alone at being alone.
Hundred billion castaways, looking for a home.
Bridge 3
| A5 | D5 E5 | A5 | D5 E5 |
I’ll send an S.O.S to the world, I’ll send an S.O.S to the world.
| F#5 | D5 | F#5 | D5 | F#5 | D5 |
I hope that someone gets my, I hope that someone gets my. I hope that someone gets my.
Chorus 3
| C#m7 | F#m7/A | C#m7 | F#m7/A |
Message in a bottle, yeah.
| C#m7 | F#m7/A | C#m7 | F#m7/A |
Message in a bottle, yeah.
| C#m7 | F#m7/A | C#m7 | F#m7/A |
Message in a bottle, oh.
| C#m7 | F#m7/A | F#m | F#m |
Message in a bottle, yeah.
Instrumental
||: C#sus2 Asus2 | Bsus2 F#madd9 :|| x4
Outro
||: C#sus2 Asus2 | Bsus2 F#madd9 :||
||: Sending out an S.O.S. I’m sending out an S.O.S.
I’m sending out an S.O.S. I’m sending out an S.O.S :||
Message In A Bottle’s chords, progressions, and TAB
The extremely stretchy chords Andy Summers came up with for The Police‘s smash hit Message In A Bottle have terrorized many guitar players since.
Let’s look at how we can play these chords accurately, as well as what happens if we try to make life easier for ourselves.
First of all, let’s get the chord names right. Most resources will tell you that the chords for the main riff are:
||: C#madd9 Aadd9 | Badd9 F#madd9 :||
This is not correct but if you think of these as VI – IV – V – II, it’s easy to see why someone may automatically assume C# and F# are minor, and A and B are major.
Add9 is a chord that says the 3rd is included, as well as the 9. This is what happens in Every Breath You Take, another Andy Summers classic. Definitely compare these two tunes!
For Message In A Bottle, there is no 3rd for the first three chords, therefore we must call these chords sus2 instead, like this:
||: C#sus2 Asus2 | Bsus2 F#madd9 :||
Here’s the main riff in TAB, notice how the shapes are all the same, the reason we call the last chord an F#madd9 is that the last two notes are the 9 – m3rd.
Clearly, the most difficult part of playing this riff is its stretchy nature. Watch the music video above and you’ll see how Andy plays it exactly like the TAB above described it.
When you play this, you must release the tension of the previous finger, not hold all notes down for the entire time. Should this still be too difficult, you could modify this by changing how you fret it.
There will be a small difference in sound as playing a note on a thinner string sounds different, although this may be a sacrifice you’re willing to make in order to play all the way through!
Here’s an alternative way to fret Message In A Bottle’s chords.
Next, let’s look at the bridge section, this is easier, or is it?
If you grew up playing Green Day tunes in your bedroom, this section will be super easy. If you grew up playing blues, chugging fast like this is much more difficult than it seems!
Finally, the chorus. The final two bars I’ve modified a bit. On the recording, there are overdubs going on so what you see here in TAB is for when you play Message In A Bottle live with a band as the only guitarist.
The second chord says F#m7/A, although there is no A in the bass. This is because the bass player is playing this note, followed by a G# but I thought if I put that in as well, that would just be taking it too far.
If you’re turning this into an acoustic arrangement, try an open A string!
Message In A Bottle chords | Related pages
Five similar tunes
- Englishman In New York chords
- Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic chords
- Locked Out Of Heaven chords
- Mr. Brightside chords
- Rosanna chords
The Police
The Police was a New Wave band from England comprising Sting, Andy Summers, and Stewart Copeland.
Unusually, it was Stewart’s father, Miles Copeland III who managed the band and later, Sting’s solo career.
The Police on the web
