Mustang Sally | Chords + Lyrics
Intro
| C7 | C7 | C7 | C7 |
Verse 1
| C7 | C7 | C7 | C7 |
Mustang Sally, huh, uh. Guess you better slow your Mustang down.
| C7 | C7 | C7 | C7 |
Oh Lord, what I say now.
| F7 | F7 | F7 | F7 | C7 | C7 | C7 | C7 |
Mustang Sally now baby, oh Lord. Guess you better slow your Mustang down, huh, oh yeah.
| G7 | G7 |
You’ve been running all over the town now.
| F7 N.C | N.C | C7 | C7 | C7 | C7 |
Oh, I’ll guess I have to put your flat feet on the ground, huh. What I said now.
Chorus 1
| C7 | C7 | C7 | C7 |
Listen, all you wanna do is ride around Sally (ride, Sally, ride) huh.
| C7 | C7 | C7 | C7 |
All you wanna do is ride around Sally (ride, Sally, ride) uh.
| F7 | F7 | F7 | F7 |
All you wanna do is ride around Sally (ride, Sally, ride) huh.
| C7 | C7 | C7 | C7 |
All you wanna do is ride around Sally (ride, Sally, ride) oh Lord.
| G7 | G7 |
One of these early mornings, yeah.
| F7 N.C | N.C | C7 | C7 | C7 | C7 |
You gonna be wiping those weeping eyes, huh. What I said now.
Verse 2
I bought you a brand new Mustang, a 1965, ha.
Now you come around signifyin’ a woman, you don’t wanna let me ride.
Mustang Sally now baby. Oh Lord, guess you better slow that Mustang down. Ha, oh Lord, listen.
You’ve been running all over the town.
Oh, I’ll have to put your flat feet on the ground, ha, what I said now. Listen one more time y’all.
Chorus 2
| C7 | C7 | C7 | C7 |
All you wanna do is ride around Sally (ride, Sally, ride).
| C7 | C7 | C7 | C7 |
All you wanna do is ride around Sally (ride, Sally, ride).
| F7 | F7 | F7 | F7 | to fade
All you wanna do is ride around Sally, oh yeah (ride, Sally, ride).
Mustang Sally Chords: Learn the progressions
The ultimate covers band tune, Mustang Sally by Wilson Pickett, doesn’t feature any complicated chords—that’s for sure!
All we’re dealing with here is a simple blues, although the structure is slightly more intricate than expected. It’s a 24-bar progression, not a 12-bar one, like this:
||: C7 (I) | C7 | C7 | C7 | C7 | C7 | C7 | C7 |
| F7 (IV) | F7 | F7 | F7 | C7 | C7 | C7 | C7 |
| G7 (V) | G7 | F7 N.C | N.C | C7 | C7 | C7 | C7 :||
To get TAB for exactly how to play these chords, check the TAB lesson here: Mustang Sally – Guitar Lesson with TAB.
You may wonder, why has Mustang Sally become so popular with audiences and bands over the years? I believe it’s due to two extremely important factors:
- Simple chords and structure, making it accessible to any musician
- Audience participation (“Ride Sally, ride”)
These two points remain just as relevant today. If you want to pen a hit, make sure it’s easy for other people to play and find a way for the audience to get involved.
Music history is filled with similar examples, whether for a dance craze (e.g., Do You Love Me, Get Ready, Twist & Shout) or in the modern era, with fans creating YouTube videos (Happy, Can’t Stop the Feeling).
Here’s a chord chart. You could even give this to people as a joke, as it’s universally understood that everyone knows how to play the chords in Mustang Sally!
Mustang Sally Chord Chart | PDF + iReal Pro Download
To download my chart and spread it, use either of these two formats:
Mustang Sally TAB | Course Preview
In the course, we progressively build more and more complex parts, starting at beginner level, going all the way to advanced, complete with TAB of course.
As a preview, here’s the third of five ideas that will enable to improvise a suitable part for your band. This is a traditional honky-tonk concept.
One of the songs that changed music
The story of Mustang Sally is perhaps best told by Produce Like A Pro. In the video above, you’ll discover how Aretha Franklin was involved in naming the tune!
The connection between Aretha and Wilson Pickett lies within the record label Atlantic and Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals.
Much like the seed for I Heard It Through the Grapevine came from Barrett Strong walking around town and hearing the expression, Mustang Sally’s inspiration came from the writer, Mack Rice (Wilson’s old bandmate). When Rice was told about the Ford Mustang, he combined it with an old nursery rhyme.
Anyway, I’ll let Warren Huart of Produce Like A Pro tell the full story.
Mustang Sally Chords: Continue Learning
Want to master this song? Check out the full TAB lesson here: Mustang Sally (Wilson Pickett) Guitar Lesson with TAB.
Alternatively, here are five similar tunes you might enjoy:
