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, progressions, and TAB
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, members look at how to play the chords the way Tina Turner does Proud Mary.
This includes playing the good old hoky-tonk, which can be done in many, many ways. The best way to learn more about it is to study how different tunes put their spin on it.
If you compare the way Chuck Berry generally 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.
Proud Mary has yet another way, including quick C and G chords, incorporated within the D – D6 pattern.
Studying the honky tonk in this much depth will enable you to adjust it for different tunes, rather than play one tired way every time it comes around.
Here’s a link to the complete lesson (members only): Proud Mary chord analysis and TAB.
Become a member today and get unlimited access to all my guitar courses, the SEPR practice route, and the eBook Spytunes Method – You can learn guitar!
Proud Mary chords | Related pages
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Tina Turner on the web
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