Proud Mary | Chords + Lyrics (Tina Turner)
Intro
| D | D |
Intro talk
||: D :|| x18
You know, every now and then I think you might like to hear something from us, nice and easy.
But there’s just one thing you see, we never, ever, do nothing, nice, and easy.
We always do it nice, and rough. So we’re gonna take the beginning of this song and do it, easy.
But then we’re gonna do the finish, rough, the way we do “Proud Mary”.
(And we) rollin’, rollin’, rollin’ on the river. Listen to the story now.
Verse 1 (slow)
| D | D | D | D |
Left a good job (down) in the city, working for my man every night and day.
| D | D | D | D (F# G G#) |
And I never lost one minute of sleeping I was worryin’ ’bout the way the thing might have been.
| A | A | Bm | G |
Big wheel keep on turnin’, oh the Proud Mary keep on burnin’.
| D | D | D | D |
And we rollin’ (rollin’), rollin’ yeah (rollin’). Rollin’ on the river (rollin’ on the river).
Verse 2 (slow)
| D | D | D | D |
Cleaned a lot of plates in Memphis. (And I) pumped a lot of tane down in New Orleans.
| D | D | D | D (F# G G#) |
But I never saw the good side of the city until I hitched a ride on the Riverboat Queen.
| A | A | Bm | G |
(You know that) big wheel keep on turning, oh the Proud Mary keep on burnin’.
| D | D | D | D |
And we’re rollin’ (rollin’), rollin’ yeah (rollin’). Rollin’ on the river (rollin’ on the river).
| D | D | D | D | (slow down)
Say we’re rollin’ (rollin’) rollin’ (rollin’). Rollin on the river (rollin’ on the river).
Instrumental (up-tempo)
||: D | D | D | D :||
Verse 3
| D (D6) | D D6 C G | D (D6) | D (D6) |
Oh, I left a good job in the city. Working for the man every night and day.
| D (D6) | (D6) | D (D6) | D (D6) (F# G G#) |
And I never lost one minute of sleepin’, worryin’ ’bout the way the thing might have been.
| A | A | Bm | G |
Big wheel keep on turnin’ (turnin’), Proud Mary keep on burnin’ (burnin’).
| D (D6) | D (D6) | D (D6) | D (D6) |
Rollin’ (yeah), rollin’ (all right), rollin’ on the river (go ahead now).
| D (D6) | (D6) | D (D6) | D (D6) |
Rollin’, say we’re rollin’ (yeah), rollin’ on the river.
Tag 1
| D | D | D |
Move up! Du du du…
| C A | C A | C A G F | F D |
| D | D | D | D |
Oh, yeah. All right!
Verse 4
| D (D6) | D D6 C G | D (D6) | D (D6) |
Cleaned a lot of plates in Memphis y’all. Pumped a lot of tane down in New Orleans.
| D (D6) | (D6) | D (D6) | D (D6) (F# G G#) |
But I never saw the good side of the city ’til I hitched a ride on the Riverboat Queen.
| A | A | Bm | G |
Big wheel keep on turnin’ (turnin’), Proud Mary keep on burnin’ (burnin’).
| D (D6) | (D6) | D (D6) | D (D6) |
Rollin’ (roll roll), rollin’ (yeah), rollin’ on the river (go ahead, baby).
| D (D6) | (D6) | D (D6) | D (D6) |
Rollin’, rollin’, rollin’ on the river (hey).
Tag 2
| D | D | D |
Move up! Du du du…
| C A | C A | C A G F | F D |
| D | D | D | D |
Oh, yeah, yeah. All right, yeah, yeah…
Verse 5
| D (D6) | D D6 C G | D (D6) | D (D6) |
If you come down to the river. Yeah, I bet you gonna find some people who live.
| D (D6) | (D6) | D (D6) | D (D6) (F# G G#) |
You don’t have to worry, if you got no money, the people on the river are happy to give.
| A | A | Bm | G |
Big wheel keep on turnin’ (turnin’), Proud Mary keep on burnin’ (burnin’).
| D (D6) | (D6) | D (D6) | D (D6) |
Rollin’ (ah-ha), said we’re rollin’ (yeah), rollin’ on the river (all right now).
| D (D6) | (D6) | D (D6) | D (D6) |
Rollin’, rollin’, rollin’ on the river.
Tag 3
| D | D | D |
Move up! Du du du…
| C A | C A | C A G F | F D |
| D | D | D | D |
(Rollin’) yeah, (rollin’). All right, all right, now, now.
Outro
||: D (D6) | (D6) | D (D6) | D (D6) :|| to fade
(Rollin’) yeah, (rollin’) a-ha, (rollin’ on the river) give me one more time.
(Rollin’) yeah, (rollin’) wo-wee, (rollin’ on the river) da da da da da.
(Rollin’) aow, (rollin’) yeah, (rollin’ on the river) one more time now.
(Rollin’) yeah, (rollin’) woo, (rollin’ on the river).
Proud Mary chords and progressions
Even though Creedence Clearwater Revival wrote Proud Mary, and had a hit with it, it is the Tina Turner version you’d be expected to play at gigs.
With this in mind, let’s look at how Tina played Proud Mary’s chords, starting with the slow intro. In total, this is just 20 bars of a D chord over the talking interlude.
Once the verse kicks in we play the same chord progression twice, like this:
||: D | D | D | D |
| D | D | D | D (F# G G#) |
| A | A | Bm | G |
| D | D | D | D :||
That bass line in bar 9 is played rhythmically differently on the recording over different verses. In my experience, bands always play it the same way every time.
After two slow verses, the tempo goes up as the band kicks in over four bars of a D chord.
When the verse starts now, and this is the same for all verses until the end, we add that honky tonk 6 extension to the D chord. To avoid writing too many chords, I’ve put D6 in brackets, like this:
| D (D6) | D D6 C G | D (D6) | D (D6) |
| D (D6) | (D6) | D (D6) | D (D6) (F# G G#) |
| A | A | Bm | G |
| D (D6) | (D6) | D (D6) | D (D6) |
| D (D6) | (D6) | D (D6) | D (D6) |
There is also a quick C – G in bar two, the bass line is still there in bar 9.
The tag “…move up! du du du…” is three bars of D before the fast changes happen, like this:
| D | D | D |
| C A | C A | C A G F | F D |
| D | D | D | D |
Proud Mary TAB
If you compare the way Chuck Berry Honky Tonk, with how I play I Can’t Stand The Rain, as well as Ike Turner’s pattern on Nutbush City Limits, you’ll find small variations on the concept.
Using TAB, here’s how I’d recommend you play Proud Mary’s D chords once the band has joined you. The D6 is on the 2 and 4. Also, notice how the chords C and G are very similar to how you’d play D7 – D6.
Finally, the chord riff from the tag. This can be played using different inversions but these are probably the chord shapes that sound best.
Proud Mary chords | Related pages
Proud Mary – 5 similar tunes
- (Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher And Higher chords
- Don’t Stop Me Now chords
- Love Train chords
- Nutbush City Limits chords
- River Deep, Mountain High chords
Creedence Clearwater Revival
One of the best ways to create contrast in songs is to use opposite messages in the music and lyrics.
John Fogerty, the lead singer, and songwriter of Creedence Clearwater Revival is a master of this technique, perhaps the perfect example is Bad Moon Rising.
Creedence Clearwater Revival tunes.
Creedence Clearwater Revival on the web
Tina Turner
Tina was discovered by Ike Turner, joined his band, and even married him. Together they achieved great success with many hits.
Off stage, Ike was an abusive husband, when they divorced Tina would embark on a remarkable solo career and Ike would end up the most hated man in America.
Tina Turner on the web
