Chords + Lyrics | On Broadway
Intro
||: Ab7 Gb | Ab7 Gb7 :|| x4
Verse 1
| Ab7 Gb | Ab7 Gb7 | Ab7 Gb | Ab7 Gb7 |
They say the neon lights are bright on Broadway.
| Ab7 Gb | Ab7 Gb7 | Ab7 Gb | Ab7 Gb7 |
They say there’s always magic in the air.
| Db7 B | Db7 B7 | Db7 B | Db7 D7 Eb7 |
But when you’re walking down that street, and you ain’t had enough to eat.
| Ab7 Gb | Ab7 Gb7 | Ab7 Gb | Ab7 Gb7 |
The glitter rubs right off and you’re nowhere.
Instrumental 1 (key change)
||: A G | G A :||
Verse 2
| A7 G | A7 G7 | A7 G | A7 G7 |
They say the women treat you right on Broadway.
| A7 G | A7 G7 | A7 G | A7 G7 |
But looking at them just gives me the blues.
| D7 C | D7 C7 | D7 C | D7 D#7 E7 |
‘Cause how you gonna make some time, when all you got is one thin dime.
| A7 G | A7 G7 | A7 G | A7 G7 |
And one thin dime won’t even shine your shoes.
Instrumental 2 (key change)
||: Bb7 Ab | Bb7 Ab7 :|| x4
Verse 3
| Bb7 Ab | Bb7 Ab7 | Bb7 Ab | Bb7 Ab7 |
They say I won’t last too long on Broadway.
| Bb7 Ab | Bb7 Ab7 | Bb7 Ab | Bb7 Ab7 |
I’ll catch a Greyhound bus for home, they all say.
| Eb7 Db | Eb7 Db7 | Eb7 Db | Eb7 E7 F7 |
But they’re dead wrong, I know they are, ’cause I can play this guitar.
| Bb7 Ab | Bb7 Ab7 | Bb7 Ab | Bb7 Ab7 |
And I won’t quit til I’m a star on Broadway.
Solo
||: Bb7 Ab | Bb7 Ab7 :|| to end
I won’t quit til I’m a star on Broadway.
No, no, no, no.
I won’t quit til I’m a star on Broadway
Do do do do…
On Broadway Backing Tracks | Chord Analysis
Above, you’ll find backing tracks to use when learning On Broadway. I’ve used stem separation to extract the guitar while keeping the drums, bass, keys, horns, strings and vocals intact.
After studying the chords and TAB, use my backing tracks to prepare for playing this tune with a band.
Chord Progressions – What’s Going On?
George Benson‘s version of On Broadway, originally made famous by The Drifters, has terrified guitar players for years.
Using a simple V – IV style chord progression, On Broadway provides a foundation for George’s insane improvisations.
Before we dive into those, we experience two key changes and a unique twist on the blues format, with constant movement around chords I and IV.
Here’s the chord progression for verse 2, in the key of A:
| A7 (I) G (bVIIx) | A7 G7 | A7 G | A7 G7 |
| A7 G | A7 G7 | A7 G | A7 G7 |
| D7 (IV) C (bIIIx) | D7 C7 | D7 C | D7 D#7 (#IV) E7 (V) |
| A7 G | A7 G7 | A7 G | A7 G7 |
In the TAB, we begin with the bass line and then build the chords that support the vocal and solo, ensuring they don’t overpower. keep scrolling to find said TAB further down this guitar lesson.
Once you get past the initial confusion, this chord chart will be a helpful reference.
On Broadway Chord Chart | PDF + IReal Pro Download
Explaining the chords for On Broadway is easier than writing a chart for it—let me give it a try:
The progression is essentially a 16-bar blues that moves chromatically from Ab to A, and then to Bb.
We begin by staying on the I chord for 8 bars. Then, we spend 4 bars on the IV chord, before returning to the I chord for another 4 bars.
Each chord is played with another chord a tone below in every bar, except in the last bar of the IV chord, where we chromatically move up to the V chord.
To change the key, we simply move up and repeat the main riff until the vocals start.
Capturing all of this in a chart proved challenging because the chromatic movement between the IV and V chords needed ample space to be properly represented. The result doesn’t quite capture the simplicity of the progression, which I believe is simpler than the chart conveys.
I could have solved this by using two pages for the chord chart, which would have looked simpler and communicated the idea more clearly. But, of course, that would have meant a two-page chart…
If you’d like to download my chart, here’s a PDF: On Broadway chord chart PDF.
This chord chart was created using iReal Pro. Here’s a link to the file: On Broadway iReal Pro.
With this and the iReal Pro app, you can change the key. But, perhaps more importantly, you could aim to create a better representation of On Broadway’s chords than I have.
Or, you could spend the time you saved transcribing George’s licks instead!
On Broadway | TAB
Before you start to transcribe George’s crazy licks, a good starting point is to learn the bass line that this tune is based around. Here it is in TAB, in the key of Ab:
Don’t rush ahead—play this along with the backing tracks, from beginning to end, through all key changes.
Next, learn the chords. I’ve written these as Ab7 – Gb, then Ab7 – Gb7. For the first Ab7, we hammer on from minor to major; for the second Ab7, we slide in.
This creates enough variation to make it interesting, but not too much that it takes away focus from either the vocal or the solo.
Here are On Broadway’s chords in TAB for verse 1:
Use what you’ve learned here and apply it to the full tune, in all keys.
Only when you feel comfortable playing both the bass and the chords is it a good idea to move on to figuring out what George plays in his solo—expect this to take you a lifetime!
On Broadway Chords: Continue Learning
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