Old Man | Chords + Lyrics
Intro
||: 6/4 Dm9add4 |4/4 Dsus2 (D Dsus4) :||
Chorus 1
| 6/4 Dm9add4 |4/4 Dsus2 (D Dsus4) |
Old man look at my life I’m a lot like you were.
| 6/4 Dm9add4 |
Old man look at my life I’m a lot like you were.
Instrumental 1
| 4/4 D Fadd9 | C6/9 G5 |
| D Fadd9 | C6/9 Fadd9 |
Verse 1
| D Fadd9 | C6/9 G |
Old man look at my life, twenty-four and there’s so much more.
| D Fadd9 | C Fadd9 |
Live alone in a paradise that makes me think of two.
| D Fadd9 | C6/9 G |
Love lost, such a cost, give me things that don’t get lost.
| D C | F G (A B C) |
Like a coin that won’t get tossed, rolling home to you.
Instrumental 2
| D (Dsus4 Dsus2) | Am7 Em7 G |
Chorus 2
| D (Dsus4 Dsus2) | Am7 Em7 G |
Old man take a look at my life, I’m a lot like you.
| D (Dsus4 Dsus2) | Am7 Em7 G |
I need someone to love me the whole day through.
| D (Dsus4 Dsus2) | Am7 Em7 Cadd9 |
Ah, one look in my eyes and you can tell that’s true.
Instrumental 3
| D Fadd9 | C6/9 G |
| D Fadd9 | C Fadd9 |
Verse 2
Lullabies, look in your eyes, run around the same old town.
Doesn’t mean that much to me, to mean that much to you.
I’ve been first and last, look at how the time goes past.
But I’m all alone at last, rolling home to you.
Instrumental 4
| D (Dsus4 Dsus2) | Am7 Em7 G |
Chorus 3 (as chorus 2)
Old man take a look at my life, I’m a lot like you.
I need someone to love me the whole day through.
Ah, one look in my eyes and you can tell that’s true.
Instrumental 5
| 6/4 Dm9add4 |4/4 D (Dsus4 Dsus2) |
Outro
| 6/4 Dm9add4 |4/4 D (Dsus4 Dsus2) |
Old man look at my life, I’m a lot like you were.
| 6/4 Dm9add4 |
Old man look at my life, I’m a lot like you were.
End
| 4/4 D Fadd9 | C6/9 G5 | D |
Old Man Chords: Learn the progressions
You can describe what Neil Young plays during the intro using chord names, I’ve done it above as:
||: 6/4 Dm9add4 |4/4 Dsus2 (D Dsus4) :||
However, this will only help you if you know exactly how to play it and for that you need TAB, here’s a link to that part of the lesson: Old Man – Guitar Lesson with TAB.
Once you’ve got it down, the chord names tell you about the intervals used and serve as a reminder.
The intro is also played for the first chorus.
As great as the intro/chorus 1 is, I think the verse chords are even better! We now get a D major, not a D minor chord but when the F enters, that suggests it should have been Dm, so clever.
This play between the Dm and D chords is essential in order to fuse the blues with folk music. Also notice how we vary the verse by first going to G (chord IV if D), then F (chord I if in Dm), like this:
| D Fadd9 | C6/9 G |
| D Fadd9 | C Fadd9 |
| D Fadd9 | C6/9 G |
| D C | F G (A B C) |
This move between Dm (Aeolian, if we’re in the key of F) and D (Ionian, if we’re in the key of D) is a modal interchange.
There’s TAB for the verse too which has been somewhat modified to work on just one guitar (follow link above).
Following the first verse, we get an instrumental section which is the same as the upcoming chorus 2, these are the chords:
||: D (Dsus4 Dsus2) | Am7 Em7 G :||
| D (Dsus4 Dsus2) | Am7 Em7 Cadd9 |
There’s TAB for this as well which is all you need to play Old Man’s chords. Once you’ve practiced with the TAB a simple chord chart will suffice. Here’s one I made for you.
Old Man Chord Chart | PDF + iReal Pro
Should you want to download this chart, here’s a PDF: Old Man Chord Chart PDF.
This chord chart was created using iReal Pro, here’s a link to that file: Old Man iReal Pro. Using this and the iRealPro app you can change the key, although I can’t see how that would work for Old Man’s chords…
Old Man is one of Neil Young’s best tunes from his golden era!
One of Neil Young‘s best tunes, Old Man was released in 1972, just after Heart Of Gold and with The Needle And The Damage Done as a B-side!
This must be considered three of the best tunes released in a row by anyone, ever.
Neil’s greatness as a songwriter is clear for everyone to see, once you start really digging into the material, and transcribing this in detail, you’ll discover that this is beyond great, perhaps up there with the best ever.
I have personally found a new level of respect for Neil since I transcribed his, in my opinion, greatest hits.
Following the deep dive into his greatest tunes, I went back and listened to his ’70s albums and was truly blown away, I would advise any aspiring songwriter and/or guitar player to do the same, it’s truly a goldmine.
Old Man Chords | Related Pages
Old Man | Guitar Lesson + TAB
With this guitar lesson, you can learn to play Old Man by Neil Young using TAB and chord analysis.
| 6/4 Dm9add4 |4/4 D (Dsus4 Dsus2) |
Old man look at my life I’m a lot like you were…
Five similar tunes | Chords + Lyrics
- The Drugs Don’t Work
- Heart Of Gold
- Needle And The Damage Done
- One More Cup Of Coffee
- Wish You Were Here
Neil Young tunes
Neil Young started out with Buffalo Springfield, briefly joined Crosby, Stills & Nash, and collaborated with Pearl Jam but is best known for his solo career.
His best tunes include Harvest Moon, Heart Of Gold, Old Man, The Needle And The Damage Done, My My, Hey Hey, and Like A Hurricane.
Neil Young on the web
About me | Dan Lundholm
This was a guitar lesson about Old Man chords, by Dan Lundholm. Discover more about him and how you can learn guitar with Spytunes.
Most importantly, find out why you should learn guitar through playing tunes, not practising scales, and studying theory in isolation.
