Rather Be | Chords + Lyrics
Intro
||: G#m D#m | Eadd9 B/D# F#/A# :|| x3
| Emaj7 Emaj7/C# N.C | N.C |
Oh, Woah, Ooh, ooh, yeah.
Verse 1
||: G#m D#m | Eadd9 B/D# F#/A# :||
We’re a thousand miles from comfort,
we have traveled land and sea.
But as long as you are with me,
| Emaj7 Emaj7/C# N.C | Emaj7 B6 |
there’s no place I’d rather be.
Verse 2
||: G#m D#m | Eadd9 B/D# F#/A# :||
I would wait forever,
exalted in the scene.
As long as I am with you,
| Emaj7 Emaj7/C# N.C | Emaj7 B6 |
my heart continues to beat.
Bridge 1
| Emaj7 | D#m7 | G#m11 | G#m11 |
With every step we take, Kyoto to The Bay, strolling so casually.
| Emaj7 | D#m7 | G#m11 | G#m11 B F# |
We’re different and the same, get you another name, switch up the batteries.
Chorus 1
||: G#m F#6 | Emaj7 B F# :||
If you gave me a chance I would take it.
It’s a shot in the dark but I’ll make it.
Know with all of your heart, you can’t shake me.
| Emaj7 | Emaj7/C# D#m7 |
When I am with you, there’s no place I’d rather be.
Chorus tag 1
||: G#m7 D#m7 | Eadd9 Gdim :||
No-no-no, no, no, no place I’d rather be.
No-no-no, no, no, no place I’d rather be.
| Emaj7 Emaj7/C# N.C | Emaj7 B6 |
No-no-no, no, no, no place I’d rather be. woah, oh.
Verse 3
||: G#m D#m | Eadd9 B/D# F#/A# :||
We set out on a mission,
to find our inner peace,
Make it everlasting,
| Emaj7 Emaj7/C# N.C | Emaj7 B6 |
so nothing’s incomplete.
Verse 4
||: G#m D#m | Eadd9 B/D# F#/A# :||
It’s easy being with you,
sacred simplicity.
As long as we’re together,
| Emaj7 Emaj7/C# N.C | Emaj7 B6 |
there’s no place I’d rather be.
Bridge 2
| Emaj7 | D#m7 | G#m11 | G#m11 |
With every step we take, Kyoto to The Bay, strolling so casually.
| Emaj7 | D#m7 | G#m11 | G#m11 B F# |
We’re different and the same, get you another name, switch up the batteries.
Chorus 2
||: G#m F#6 | Emaj7 B F# :||
If you gave me a chance I would take it.
It’s a shot in the dark but I’ll make it.
Know with all of your heart, you can’t shake me.
| Emaj7 | Emaj7/C# D#m7 |
When I am with you, there’s no place I’d rather be.
Chorus tag 2
| G#m7 D#m7 | Eadd9 Gdim :||
No-no-no, no, no, no place I’d rather be.
No-no-no, no, no, no place I’d rather be.
No-no-no, no, no, no place I’d rather be.
| N.C | N.C |
When I am with you, there’s no place I’d rather be, yeah.
Instrumental
||: G#m D#m | Eadd9 B/D# F#/A# :|| x3
| Emaj7 Emaj7/C# N.C | Emaj7 B6 |
Beeeeeeeeee, oooooooh, oh. Be [x9]
Yeah-e-yeah-e-yeah-e-yeah-e-yeah, yeah, yeah!
Bridge 3
||: G#m F#6 | Emaj7 B F# :||
If you gave me a chance I would take it.
It’s a shot in the dark but I’ll make it.
Know with all of your heart, you can’t shake me.
| Emaj7 | Emaj7/C# D#m7 |
When I am with you, there’s no place I’d rather be.
Chorus 3
| G#m7 D#m7 | Eadd9 Gdim :||
No-no-no, no, no, no place I’d rather be.
No-no-no, no, no, no place I’d rather be.
No-no-no, no, no, no place I’d rather be. woah, oh.
| Emaj7 Emaj7/C# N.C | Emaj7 |
When I am with you, there’s no place I’d rather be.
Rather Be’s chords and progressions
Let’s take a look at all of Clean Bandit‘s Rather Be, section by section. We’re in the key of B.
First, the chords are like this. G#m – D#m – Eadd9 – B/D# – F#/A#. That’s VI – III – IV – I – V. Both the I and V chords at the end have the 3rd in the bass.
These chords repeat for the verse and end like this. Emaj7 – Emaj7/C# – Emaj7 – B6. That’s chord IV, and instead of C#m, which would be chord II, we have a nice variation in Emaj7/C#. The B6 is chord I.
Next, we get the section that goes “With every step we take, Kyoto to The Bay…”. The chords are Emaj7 – D#m7 – G#m11 – G#m11. That’s IV – III – VI.
The chorus is similar to the initial chord riffs, as D#m and F#6 are very similar. G#m – F#6 – Emaj7 – B – F#. VI – V – IV – I – V.
Unusually, there’s another chorus after this, perhaps it should be called a chorus tag, it goes “no-no-no-no…”. G#m7 – D#m7 – Eadd9 – Gdim. Again, it’s similar to what we’ve already played, although there are small changes in there.
Even though Rather Be’s chords are very complex, it doesn’t actually go outside the key of B, not even once.
Rather Be TAB
If you stick with it, it’s possible to work out how to play the keyboard part on the guitar. Here’s what I came up with for the main riff. Since this is so complicated, you must read this using TAB.
One of the most successful songs of the 2010s
As a worldwide hit, Rather Be reached the #1 spot in the charts in almost every country, apart from the U.S.
Crafted by Clean Bandit, an electronic British group from Cambridge that has worked with many contemporary singers. For this song, they picked Jess Glynn. For Jess, Rather Be was her debut single!
Released in 2014, this was one of the most successful songs of the 2010s, with many bands on the circuit adding it to their repertoire and to this day, still playing it.
Rather Be is clearly a keyboard song, however, it is possible to play all that stuff on the guitar. I’ve provided some TAB above to get you going. Use the TAB, chords, and lyrics to get to terms with this diatonic masterpiece.
Rather Be chords | Related pages
Rather Be – 5 similar tunes
Clean Bandit
Fusing classical with dance music, Clean Bandit had great success with Rather Be, before the first album was even released.
Their biggest tunes include Mozart’s House, How Will I Know, Grace Kelly, Rockabye, and Symphony.
Clean Bandit on the web
