Riptide | Chords + Lyrics (capo 1)
Intro
||: Am G | C :||
Verse 1
||: Am G | C :||
I was scared of dentists and the dark.
I was scared of pretty girls and starting conversations.
Oh, all my friends are turning green.
You’re the magician’s assistant in their dream.
Bridge 1
| Am G | C |
Ah-ooh-ooh-ooh.
| Am G | C (hold) |
Ah-oh-oh, and they come unstuck
Chorus 1
||: Am G | C :||
Lady, running down to the riptide, taken away to the
dark side, I wanna be your left-hand man.
I love you when you’re singing that song and I got a lump in my
throat, ’cause you’re gonna sing the words wrong.
Verse 2
||: Am G | C :||
There’s this movie that I think you’ll like.
This guy decides to quit his job and heads to New York City.
This cowboy’s running from himself.
And she’s been living on the highest shelf.
Bridge 2
| Am G | C |
Ah-ooh-ooh-ooh.
| Am G | C (hold) |
Ah-oh-oh, and they come unstuck
Chorus 2
||: Am G | C :||
Lady, running down to the riptide, taken away to the
dark side, I wanna be your left-hand man.
I love you when you’re singing that song and I got a lump in my
throat, ’cause you’re gonna sing the words wrong.
Instrumental
| Cadd9 | Cadd9 |
Middle 8
| Am | G | C | Fsus2 |
I just wanna, I just wanna know, If you’re gonna, if you’re gonna stay
| Am | G | C | F |
I just gotta, I just gotta know, I can’t have it, I can’t have it any other way
Breakdown
||: Am (hold) G (hold) | C (hold) :||
I swear she’s destined for the screen.
Closest thing to Michelle Pfeiffer that you’ve ever seen, oh.
Chorus 3
||: Am G | C :||
Lady, running down to the riptide, taken away to the
dark side, I wanna be your left-hand man.
I love you when you’re singing that song and I got a lump in my
throat, ’cause you’re gonna sing the words wrong.
Chorus 4
||: Am G | C :||
Oh, Lady, running down to the riptide, taken away to the
dark side, I wanna be your left-hand man.
I love you when you’re singing that song and I got a lump in my
throat, ’cause you’re gonna sing the words wrong.
Chorus 5
||: Am G | C :||
Oh, Lady, running down to the riptide, taken away to the
dark side, I wanna be your left-hand man.
I love you when you’re singing that song and I got a lump in my
throat, ’cause you’re gonna sing the words wrong, yeah. I got a lump in my
throat, ‘cause you’re gonna sing the words wrong.
Riptide | Chords + Lyrics (capo 6)
Intro
||: Em D | G :||
Verse 1
||: Em D | G :||
I was scared of dentists and the dark.
I was scared of pretty girls and starting conversations.
Oh, all my friends are turning green.
You’re the magician’s assistant in their dream.
Bridge 1
| Em D | G |
Ah-ooh-ooh-ooh.
| Em D | G (hold) |
Ah-oh-oh, and they come unstuck
Chorus 1
||: Em D | G :||
Lady, running down to the riptide, taken away to the
dark side, I wanna be your left-hand man.
I love you when you’re singing that song and I got a lump in my
throat, ’cause you’re gonna sing the words wrong.
Verse 2
||: Em D | G :||
There’s this movie that I think you’ll like.
This guy decides to quit his job and heads to New York City.
This cowboy’s running from himself.
And she’s been living on the highest shelf.
Bridge 2
| Em D | G |
Ah-ooh-ooh-ooh.
| Em D | G (hold) |
Ah-oh-oh, and they come unstuck
Chorus 2
||: Em D | G :||
Lady, running down to the riptide, taken away to the
dark side, I wanna be your left-hand man.
I love you when you’re singing that song and I got a lump in my
throat, ’cause you’re gonna sing the words wrong.
Instrumental
| Gadd9 | Gadd9 |
Middle 8
| Em | D | G | Csus2 |
I just wanna, I just wanna know, If you’re gonna, if you’re gonna stay
| Em | D | G | C |
I just gotta, I just gotta know, I can’t have it, I can’t have it any other way
Breakdown
||: Em (hold) D (hold) | G (hold) :||
I swear she’s destined for the screen
Closest thing to Michelle Pfeiffer that you’ve ever seen, oh.
Chorus 3
||: Em D | G :||
Lady, running down to the riptide, taken away to the
dark side, I wanna be your left-hand man.
I love you when you’re singing that song and I got a lump in my
throat, ’cause you’re gonna sing the words wrong.
Chorus 4
||: Em D | G :||
Oh, Lady, running down to the riptide, taken away to the
dark side, I wanna be your left-hand man.
I love you when you’re singing that song and I got a lump in my
throat, ’cause you’re gonna sing the words wrong.
Chorus 5
||: Em D | G :||
Oh, Lady, running down to the riptide, taken away to the
dark side, I wanna be your left-hand man.
I love you when you’re singing that song and I got a lump in my
throat, ’cause you’re gonna sing the words wrong, yeah. I got a lump in my
throat, ‘cause you’re gonna sing the words wrong.
Play Riptide’s chords using a capo
Riptide is played with a capo. You can apply it on fret 1 and think of Riptide’s chords as if in Am. Or, you can place the capo on fret 6 and think of this Vance Joy tune as if in Em.
Should there be two of you playing the song at the same time, perhaps you should do both as you will avoid clashing.
In the beginner acoustic guitar course, we do this all the time so we can play the songs together. It’s a great way to learn more about playing guitar, without learning another song. In fact, it’s much better to dig deeper like this (explore the song in more depth), than it is to go further (just learn another song).
For another example of a tune that use a capo on fret 1 and 6, try Cannonball by Damien Rice. Above, you find the chords for Riptide, first in Am, then in Em, try both!
Riptide chords | Related pages
Beginner Acoustic
This collection of beginner acoustic tunes will teach you how to arrange for one acoustic guitar, as well as how to create a supporting part.
Playing songs will help you with switching between open-position chords and give you the context you need in order to understand how music works theoretically.
Five similar tunes
- Down Under chords
- Little Lion Man chords
- Wake Me Up chords
- Whistle For The Choir chords
- Wonderwall chords
Vance Joy
Following the tradition of great Australian one-hit wonder bands, Vance Joy became world-famous in 2013.
His worldwide hit Riptide stayed in the top 100 for over 100 weeks. In ten years, the video has been played over 500 million times on YouTube.
Vance Joy on the web
Pop & Rock
Whenever a tune doesn’t fit into a specific genre, it tends to end up here, in the Pop & Rock section.
Learn tunes from Tom Petty, Eagles, Toto, Oasis, Elvis, Clapton, John Mayer, Kings Of Leon, R.E.M., Radiohead, Bruno Mars, and more.
