Robin Hood | Chords + Lyrics
Intro
| G5 |
Verse 1
| G5 D/F# | Em D5/A |
When you’re starting to choke take some pills with your coke,
| C | Dsus4 D |
it’s inspirational.
| G5 D/F# | Em D |
When your life is a mess light one more cigarette,
| C | Dsus4 D |
it’s so logical.
Chorus 1
| G5 D | C D |
Well, it’s something your mother can’t abide,
| G5 D | C D |
but it’s something that I freely prescribe.
Chorus tag 1
| G5 | D/F# | Em | A |
Take yourself for a ride, it never felt so good, as the night that you and I played Robin Hood.
| C | Dsus4 D |
Stealing from the backrooms of my mind,
| C | D | G5 D/F# | Em A | A |
remembering a time when we were five, a time I thought we’d left behind.
Verse 2
| G5 D/F# | Em D5 |
When you’re starting to cry, I’ll come and sit by your side,
| C | Dsus4 D |
I will love you so.
| G5 D/F# | Em D5 |
And when nightmares come, I will try to be fun, even though,
| C | Dsus4 D |
I’m so scared you know.
Chorus 2
| G5 D | C D |
‘Cause, it’s something your mother can’t abide,
| G5 D | C D |
but it’s something that I freely prescribe.
Chorus tag 2
| G5 | D/F# | Em | A |
Take yourself for a ride, it never felt so good, as the night that you and I played Robin Hood.
| C | Dsus4 D |
Stealing from the backrooms of our minds,
| C | D | G5 D/F# | Em A | A |
stealing from a time when we were five, a time I thought we’d left behind.
Chorus tag 3
| C | D |
Stealing from the backrooms of my mind,
| C | D | G5 D/F# | Em A | 2/4 A | 4/4 A |
stealing from a time when we were five, a time I thought we’d left behind.
Outro
| G5 D/F# | Em D5 | C | Dsus4 D | G5 |
When you started to choke take some pills with your coke, it’s hysterical.
Robin Hood’s chords and progressions
Ocean Colour Scene‘s Robin Hood is a tune I’ve chosen to include in the beginner course for a few reasons.
Firstly, it’s got great chords and strumming patterns that a beginner can learn a lot from.
But it’s also an interesting composition if you are interested in what makes a hit as Robin Hood was only a fan favorite, not a chart-topper (more about this below)
A few of Robin Hood’s chords have been manipulated, they’re not just open-position chords. First, the D/F# is a D chord with the 3rd of the chord (the F#) in the bass.
As the progression moves from G – D – Em, it makes sense to add the F# to the D as this creates a descending bass line of G – F# – E, continuing down to chords D and even C.
Later on, we also find a Dsus4 chord. Sus4 means suspended 4th. To create this chord, replace the 3rd (an F#) with the 4th (a G).
One chord in the song is a variation, it’s the A chord (chord IIx) which should have been an Am (chord II). This A appears during the chorus tag.
The best way to learn how to play chords like this is through playing songs and developing parts for each section of a song, learning new chords as you go along.
In the course we take this even further as by creating a 2nd guitar part, we have to learn even more chords when a capo is applied and we “think in a different key”.
Here’s a link to the complete lesson series (members only): Robin Hood 8 step-by-step guitar lessons with TAB.
Become a member today and get unlimited access to all step-by-step guitar courses, TAB for the songbook, the Self-Eliminating Practice Routine, and the eBook Spytunes Method.
Robin Hood – The hit that never was!
Ocean Colour Scene’s best album, the 1996 Moseley Shoals had three top 20 singles that in many ways made the band; The Day We Caught the Train, The Riverboat Song, and You’ve Got It Bad.
Robin Hood, which you see the chords and lyrics for above and will spend 8 lessons playing, even developing in the beginner course, didn’t even make the album.
Instead, it was a B-side to the aforementioned You’ve Got It Bad. To me, it should have been included on the album and even released as a single, it has all the ingredients to be a hit.
You may say (and I bet you this is what the label preached) that it’s too sad, too depressing even but then how do you explain hits such as Everybody Hurts, Mad World, and The Drugs Don’t Work?
The fans of the band clearly agreed with me as Robin Hood has gone on to become a fan favorite, the one that you only know about if you’re a true Ocean Colour Scene fan, it’s a hidden gem if you like.
Robin Hood chords | Related pages
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Ocean Colour Scene
Ocean Colour Scene (OCS) is an English rock band from Birmingham. The band had the most success with their 1996 album Moseley Shoals.
The album contained the band’s three biggest hits The Riverboat Song, The Day We Caught The Train, and You’ve Got It Bad.
Ocean Colour Scene on the web
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