Chords + Lyrics | My Guy
Intro
||: Bb bass line :|| Cm7 Dm7 |
Verse 1
| Bb Bb6 | Bb Bb6 | Bb Bb6 | Bb Bb6 |
Nothing you could say could tear me away from my guy.
| Bb Bb6 | Bb Bb6 | Bb Bb6 | Bb Bb6 | D7 D D7 | D7 |
Nothing you could do ’cause I’m stuck like glue to my guy.
Bridge 1
| Cm7 F7 | Cm7 F |
I’m sticking to my guy like a stamp to a letter,
| Cm7 F7 | Cm7 N.C |
like birds of a feather, we stick together.
Turnaround 1
| Bb G | C7 F | Bb Bb6 Bb | Cm7 Dm7 |
I’m tellin’ you from the start I can’t be torn apart from my guy.
Verse 2
Nothing you could do could make me untrue to my guy (my guy).
Nothing you could buy could make me tell a lie to my guy (my guy, my guy, my guy).
Bridge 2
I gave my guy my word of honor,
to be faithful and I’m gonna,
Turnaround 2
you best be believing I won’t be deceiving my guy.
Bridge 3
| Cm7 F7 | Cm7 F7 |
As a matter of opinion, I think he’s tops,
| Cm7 F7 | Bb Bb6 Bb |
my opinion is he’s the cream of the crop.
Middle 8
| Gm7 Dm | Gm7 Dm | C7 | F |
As a matter of taste to be exact, he’s my ideal as a matter of fact.
Verse 3
| Bb Bb6 | Bbmaj7 Bb6 | Bb Bb6 | Bbmaj7 Bb6 |
No muscle-bound man could take my hand from my guy (my guy).
| Bb Bb6 | Bbmaj7 Bb6 | D7 D | D7 D D6 |
No handsome face could ever take the place of my guy (my guy, my guy, my guy).
Bridge 4 (as bridge 1)
He may not be a movie star,
but when it comes to being happy, we are.
Turnaround 3
There’s not a man today who could take me away from my guy.
Breakdown (as intro)
||: Bb bass line :|| Cm7 Dm7 |
Verse 4 (as verse 1)
No muscle-bound man (muscle-bound man) could take my hand from my guy (my guy).
No handsome face (handsome face) could ever take the place of my guy (my guy, my guy, my guy).
Bridge 5 (as bridge 1)
He may not be a movie star,
but when it comes to being happy, we are.
Turnaround 4
There’s not a man today who could take me away from my guy. What you say?
Outro
||: Bb G | C7 F | Bb Bb6 Bb | Cm7 Dm7 :||
There’s not a man today who could take me away from my guy. Tell me more!
There’s not a man today who could take me away from my guy. What’s that?
There’s not a man today who could take me away from my guy.
My Guy Backing Track | Chord Analysis
Above is a backing track I recorded with a live band in the studio. Use it alongside the chord chart below to prepare for playing My Guy with a band.
In the course, we loop each section to help you fine-tune your part and build fretboard fluency.
Chord Progressions – What’s Going On?
The key of My Guy is immediately established in the intro, thanks to the diatonic harmony built on two minor chords a tone apart—something that only appears in one place in the scale.
Intro
The intro begins with a major pentatonic bass line, leading into II and III chords:
||: Bb (bass line) :|| Cm7 Dm7 |
Verse
In the verse, we decorate the I chord with 6th extensions before heading to a dominant III chord:
||: Bb (I) Bb6 | Bb Bb6 :||x4
| D7 (IIIx) D D7 | D7 |
For verse 3, I swap the second Bb for a maj7 to create a smoother harmonic colour:
||: Bb Bb6 | Bbmaj7 Bb6 :||x4
| D7 (IIIx) D D7 | D7 |
Bridge
No matter which version you play, the D7 (IIIx) sets up the bridge, which follows a classic II–V progression:
||: Cm7 F7 :|| x3
| Cm7 N.C |
Turnaround
The final section is a turnaround that brings in two new chords—VIx and IIx:
| Bb (I) G (VI) | C7 (IIx) F (V) |
| Bb (I) Bb6 Bb | Cm7 (II) Dm7 (III) |
This movement is a familiar harmonic device—like in Baby Won’t You Please Come Home—where the VI and II chords can be played as either minor or dominant.
Here’s a chord chart:
My Guy Chord Chart | PDF + iReal Pro Download
Want to download the chart? Here’s the PDF: My Guy chord chart PDF
This chart was made using iReal Pro, which you can access here: My Guy iReal Pro
With the app, it’s easy to transpose to another key if your singer makes a last-minute change. It’s also a useful tool for practising My Guy’s chords in every key—great for building real-world fluency.
In the course, we map these chord shapes all across the fretboard. Below is a preview of how that works.
Just imagine being able to do this effortlessly, in any key, on the spot. That’s the level we’re aiming for.
My Guy TAB | Course Preview
Compared to most early Motown songs, My Guy includes some unexpectedly jazzy chords, making it a perfect vehicle for chord licks and tasteful fills.
A great way to start is by transcribing licks from the original track and then adapting or expanding them across the neck. In the course, we do exactly that—working through chord shapes in multiple positions, with rhythmic variations, to give you total freedom on the fretboard.
Here’s some TAB showing how we approach My Guy’s verse chords:
The first example uses the G shape for Bb. In the second, we shift to an E shape, continuing across the neck to link all your barre chord knowledge into a cohesive whole.
We then apply the same method to the bridge, turnaround, middle eight, and instrumental, using play-along loops and TAB to lock it all in.
You’ll explore multiple variations for each section, all with full TAB and looping tracks, before playing with the band in the final step.
Here’s a link to the 8 step-by-step guitar lessons: My Guy – Guitar Lessons with TAB.
One of Motown’s first major hits
Sung by Motown’s first female superstar, Mary Wells, My Guy became a smash hit in 1964. It reached #1 in the U.S., topped the charts in New Zealand, and landed at #3 in Australia and #5 in the U.K.
Written by Smokey Robinson, the song embodies Motown’s early, sweeter, and more innocent sound. Even seven decades later, My Guy remains a staple for working Motown bands, often played in the first set before things get more lively.
As Motown’s rising female star, success may have gone to Mary’s head. Believing she could make it anywhere, she walked away from the career Berry Gordy had set up for her. Before leaving, she recorded just a few duets with Marvin Gaye before signing with 20th Century Fox in 1965, hoping to become a movie star as well.
Motown, however, didn’t dwell on her departure. With groups like Martha and the Vandellas and The Supremes, they had no shortage of female talent. Marvin Gaye soon found even greater success with new duet partners like Tammi Terrell and Kim Weston.
Meanwhile, Mary never landed any major film roles or hit records on her new label—My Guy remained her one and only big success.
My Guy Chords: Continue Learning
There are plenty of jazzy-sounding chords to explore as you progress through My Guy‘s eight step-by-step lessons.
Along the way, you’ll learn multiple variations for each section, ultimately giving you the freedom to improvise your guitar part when playing with a band in the final step.
Start learning with the full lesson series: My Guy – Guitar Lessons with TAB.
Alternatively, here are five similar tunes you might enjoy:
