Chords + Lyrics | Red
Intro
| E | E Eadd9 |
Verse 1
||: Asus2 | Asus2 | E Eadd9 | E :||
And I’m alright, standing in the streetlights here.
Is this meant for me, my time on the outside is over.
Bridge 1
| C#m | Bsus4 | Asus2 | Asus2 (Bsus2) |
And we don’t know how you’re spending all of your days, knowing that love isn’t here.
| C#m | Bsus4 | Asus2 | Asus2 |
You see the pictures but you don’t know their names, cause love isn’t here.
Chorus 1
| E | E | C#m | A |
And I can’t do this by myself, all of these problems, they’re all in your head.
| E | E | C#m | A (A6) | E Eadd9 | E Eadd9 |
And I can’t be somebody else, you took something perfect and painted it red.
Verse 2
| A | A | E | E Eadd9 |
No sympathy, when shouting out is all you know.
| A | A | E Eadd9 | E |
Behind your lies, I can see the secrets you don’t show.
Bridge 2
No, we don’t know how you’re spending all of your days, knowing that love isn’t here.
You see the pictures but you don’t know their names, ’cause love isn’t here.
Chorus 2
| E | E Eadd9 E7 | C#m | A |
I can’t do this by myself, all of these problems, they’re all in your head.
| E | E Eadd9 E7 | C#m | A | E Eadd9 | E Eadd9 |
And I can’t be somebody else, you took something perfect and painted it red, oh,
| C#m | A | E Eadd9 | E Eadd9 |
you took something perfect and painted it red.
Middle 8
| C#m7 | Badd4 | Aadd9 | Aadd9 (Badd4) |
You take the best things from me, then everything gets empty, that’s not a world that I need.
| C#m7 | Badd4 | Aadd9 | Aadd9 |
Ooh, you take the best things from me, then everything gets empty, that’s not a world that I need.
Instrumental
| E | E Eadd9 E7 | C#m | A |
Chorus 3
| E | E | C#m | Asus2 |
And I can’t do this by myself, all of these problems, they’re all in your head.
| E | E Eadd9 E7 | C#m | A | E | E Eadd9 E7 |
And I can’t be somebody else, you took something perfect and painted it red. Red.
Outro
| C#m | A | E | E Eadd9 E7 |
Red, you took something perfect and you painted it red.
| C#m | A | E | E Eadd9 E7 | C#madd9 | A | E |
You took something perfect and painted it red, you took something perfect and painted it red.
Red Chords: Understanding the Simple Progressions and Ever-Changing Extensions
In the key of E, Red only uses four diatonic chords: the I, IV, V, and VI chords—E, A, B, and C#m.
Intro
Starting with the intro/instrumental section, which is harmonically very simple, we stay on the I chord, adding an add9 extension, like this:
| E (I) | Eadd9 |
Verse
The verse begins on the IV chord before returning to chord I. With a couple of extensions, it looks like this:
||: Asus2 (IV) | Asus2 | E (I) Eadd9 | E :||
Bridge
The bridge takes the tune to the VI and V chords for the first time, before dropping down to IV, like this:
||: C#m (VI) | Bsus4 (V) | Asus2 (IV) | Asus2 :||
It’s important to note the big impact the VI chord has, as up until this point the harmonic progression has been very sparse. This is a great songwriting tip!
Chorus
The chorus chords start on the I, then move to VI – IV, like this:
||: E (I) | E | C#m (VI) | A (IV) :|| E Eadd9 | E Eadd9 |
Middle 8
The middle 8 recycles the chords from the bridge, now with add9 and add4, not sus2 extensions:
| C#m7 (VI) | Badd4 (V) | Aadd9 (IV) | Aadd9 (Badd4) |
The middle 8 uses the same chords as the bridge—such minimalism, I love it.
Here’s a chord chart for Red. Consider how you like this compared to reading chords and lyrics.
Red Chord Chart | PDF + iReal Pro Download
Should you want to download this chart, here’s a PDF: Red chord chart PDF.
This chart was created using iReal Pro, here’s a link to that file: Red iReal Pro. Using this and the iRealPro app, you can change the key.
In the course, we look at TAB and play along to loops to learn Red in extreme depth, below is a preview.
Red TAB | Course Preview
To compensate for the lack of massive production and adapt for one acoustic guitar, I’ve incorporated open strings as drones.
Above, you can try out a play-along loop of the TAB for the intro and verse 1. This gives you a taste of what learning guitar with Spytunes is all about.
As a member, you’ll get TAB with play-along loops for the bridge and all other sections of Red, just like you saw for the intro and verse above.
What makes my one-guitar arrangement unique is how I’ve extended some of the chords. By using the same open strings throughout, we get different extensions depending on the chord being played.
For example, the C#m with an open B and E string produces a C#m7, but over an A chord, it gives an add9 extension. This technique is similar to what you hear in Wonderwall, where the drones on the top two strings are fretted.
I’ve used this approach to compensate for the lack of the original recording’s massive production.
In the course, to truly understand the song, we dive into modes and incorporate the vocal melody, which is essential when layering it over certain chords.
Here’s a link to the 8 step-by-step guitar lessons: Red – Guitar Lessons with TAB.
The hit that never was
Red was the second single from Australian artist Daniel Merriweather’s album Love & War, produced by Mark Ronson.
Before this, Merriweather recorded The Fifth Season in 2006, though it was never released. After debuting with Change in February 2009, he followed up with Red in May. The song entered the U.K. charts at #5, staying there for a month.
Despite strong airplay and predictions that it would be the song of the year (including from myself), it never reached the heights expected. The music video, directed by Anthony Mandler—who has worked with Rihanna, Jay-Z, The Killers, and John Legend—was filmed in Brooklyn, featuring dramatic shadows and handheld cinematography.
Both the song’s production and video fit the 2009 sound, similar to bands like The Script, who were on the same label as Merriweather.
My version of Red is much slower than the original—though, like the song itself, it didn’t reach the success I had anticipated!
Red Chords: Continue Learning
The relatively unknown Red has some fantastic vocal melody secrets that can teach us more about music.
To fully understand this song, we need to explore the modes and play the vocal melody.
Start learning with the full lesson series: Red – Guitar Lessons with TAB.
Alternatively, here are five similar tunes you might enjoy:
