River Deep, Mountain High | Chords + Lyrics
Intro
| N.C (F) |3/4 Bb Intro riff | 4/4 Bb Intro riff | Intro riff |
Verse 1
| Bb N.C | N.C | Eb | Eb | Eb | Eb | Bb | Bb |
When I was a little girl, I had a rag doll, only doll I’ve ever owned.
| Bb | Bb | Eb | Eb | Eb | Eb | Bb | Bb |
Now I love you just the way I loved that rag doll. But only now my love has grown.
Bridge 1
||: F | F | Bb | Bb :|| x3
And it gets stronger, in every way.
And it gets deeper, let me say.
And it gets higher, day by day.
Chorus 1
| Ab | Ab | Ab (Ab G Ab) | Ab (Bb Ab G Ab) |
And do I love you, my oh my.
| Bb | Bb | Bb (Bb A Bb)| Bb (C Bb A Bb) |
Yeah, river deep, mountain high, yeah, yeah, yeah.
| Ab | Ab | Ab (Ab G Ab) | Ab (Bb Ab G Ab) |
If I lost you would I cry.
| Bb | Bb | Bb |6/4 Bb (F) |
Oh how I love you baby. Baby, baby, baby.
Instrumental 1
|3/4 Intro riff | 4/4 Intro riff | Intro riff |
Verse 2
| Bb N.C | N.C | Eb | Eb | Eb | Eb | Bb | Bb |
When you were a young boy did you have a puppy, that always followed you around?
| Bb | Bb | Eb | Eb | Eb | Eb | Bb | Bb |
Well, I’m gonna be as faithful as that puppy. No, I’ll never let you down.
Bridge 2
||: F | F | Bb | Bb :|| x3
‘Cause it grows stronger, like a river flows.
And it gets bigger baby, and heaven knows.
And it gets sweeter baby, as it grows.
Chorus 2
| Ab | Ab | Ab (Ab G Ab) | Ab (Bb Ab G Ab) |
And do I love you, my oh my.
| Bb | Bb | Bb (Bb A Bb)| Bb (C Bb A Bb) |
Yeah, river deep, mountain high, yeah, yeah, yeah.
| Ab | Ab | Ab (Ab G Ab) | Ab (Bb Ab G Ab) |
And if I lost you would I cry.
| Bb | Bb | Bb | Bb |6/4 Bb (F Ab A) |
Oh how I love you baby. Baby, baby, baby.
Middle 8
||: Bb (M8 riff) | Bb (M8 riff) :|| x6
I love you baby like a flower loves the spring.
And I love you baby like a Robin loves to sing.
||: Eb (M8 riff) | Eb (M8 riff) :||
And I love you baby like a school boy loves his pet.
| Bb (M8 riff) | Bb (M8 riff) | Bb N.C (Bb F Ab) | Bb (F Ab A) |
And I love you baby, river deep, mountain high.
Instrumental 2
||: Bb (M8 riff) | Bb (M8 riff) :|| x6
Oh baby, hey yeah, baby, oh, baby, yeah, hey, yeah.
| Ab | Ab | Ab (Ab G Ab) | Ab (Bb Ab G Ab) |
Do I love you my oh my, oh my.
| Bb | Bb | Bb (Bb A Bb)| Bb (C Bb A Bb) |
Yeah river deep, mountain high, yeah, yeah, yeah.
| Ab | Ab | Ab (Ab G Ab) | Ab (Bb Ab G Ab) |
If I lost you would I cry.
| Bb | Bb | Bb |6/4 Bb (F) |
Oh, how I love you baby. Baby, baby, baby.
Outro
|3/4 Intro riff | 4/4 Intro riff | Intro riff | Bb N.C |
River Deep, Mountain High’s chords and progressions
Tina Turner and Phil Spector‘s epic River Deep, Mountain High is surprisingly not on too many working Soul band’s repertoires. I put this down to the arrangement having different time signatures, not strange chords.
I’ve played in a few bands that attempted this tune and without rehearsal or a new member booked last minute, it often turned into a car crash.
Saying that, if you have a band with a steady lineup, all you have to do is get your time signatures right and you have an awesome tune, maybe even the highlight of the night. Let’s go through the arrangement.
First up, we have the intro, which starts on beat 4 & with the 5th of a Bb chord. This then turns into a 3/4 bar, then two 4/4 bars before it stops on the 1. The intro riff uses the Bb Minor Pentatonic and looks like this in TAB.
The verse is easier, starting with a stop, and only has chords IV and I.
| Bb N.C | N.C | Eb | Eb | Eb | Eb | Bb | Bb |
| Bb | Bb | Eb | Eb | Eb | Eb | Bb | Bb |
The bridge is just chords V – I, like this:
||: F | F | | Bb | Bb :||
The chorus starts on chord bVIIx but uses the maj7 as a bass line which is unusual. When we then go back to chord I, we use the same intervals for this chord, again, this is a bit strange.
| Ab | Ab | Ab (Ab G Ab) | Ab (Bb Ab G Ab) |
| Bb | Bb | Bb (Bb A Bb) | Bb (C Bb A Bb) |
The last part of the chorus varies depending on where we go next. chorus 1 and 3 go to the intro riff, chorus 2 goes to the middle 8 riff. Both of them have a 6/4 bar at the end. This is where most bands fall apart.
| Ab | Ab | Ab (Ab G Ab) | Ab (Bb Ab G Ab) |
1.3 | Bb | Bb | Bb |6/4 Bb (F) |
2. | Bb | Bb | Bb | Bb |6/4 Bb (F Ab A) |
The middle 8 is using a Bb Conspirian scale for the Bb riff, then an Eb Conspirian for the Eb riff, looks like this in TAB.
The outro is just the intro riff again.
As I mentioned above, it’s not difficult to get River Deep, Mountain High’s chords right, it’s the time signatures that will cause a problem!
River Deep, Mountain High chords | Related pages
Five similar tunes
- Ain’t No Mountain High Enough chords
- Can I Get A Witness chords
- Nutbush City Limits chords
- Respect chords
- Sir Duke chords
Phil Spector
Phil Spector is a guitarist, record producer, and songwriter who found fame working with The Crystals, The Ronettes, Tina Turner, and The Beatles.
His biggest hits include River Deep, Mountain High, Unchained Melody, Be My Baby, The Long And Winding Road, My Sweet Lord, Let It Be, and Imagine.
Phil Spector 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
