Roxanne | Chords + Lyrics
Intro
| Gm | Gm |
| Gm | Dm/F | Ebmaj7 | Dm |
| Cm7 | Fsus4 | Gsus4 | Gsus4 |
Verse 1
| Gm | Dm/F | Ebmaj7 | Dm |
Roxanne, you don’t have to put on the red light.
| Cm7 | Fsus4 | Gsus4 | Gsus4 |
Those days are over, you don’t have to sell your body to the night.
Verse 2
| Gm | Dm/F | Ebmaj7 | Dm |
Roxanne, you don’t have to wear that dress tonight,
| Cm7 | Fsus4 | Gsus4 | Gsus4 |
walk the streets for money, you don’t care if it’s wrong or if it’s right.
Bridge 1
| Cm7 | Fsus4 | Gsus4 | Gsus4 |
Roxanne, you don’t have to put on the red light.
| Cm7 | Fsus4 | Gsus4 | Gsus4 Cm7 |
Roxanne, you don’t have to put on the red light.
Chorus 1
| Bb5 | Bb5 Eb | F5 | F5/E F5 | Gm | Gm Cm7 |
| Bb Bb5 | Bb5 Eb | F5 F5/E | F5/E F5 | Gsus4 | Gsus4 |
||: Roxanne (put on the red light) :|| x4
You don’t have to put on the red light, oh.
Instrumental
||: Gm | Gm/F :||
Verse 3
| Gm | Dm/F | Ebmaj7 | Dm |
I loved you since I knew you, I wouldn’t talk down to you.
| Cm7 | Fsus4 | Gsus4 | Gsus4 |
I have to tell you just how I feel, I won’t share you with another boy.
Verse 4
| Gm | Dm/F | Ebmaj7 | Dm |
I know my mind is made up, so put away your makeup.
| Cm7 | Fsus4 | Gsus4 | Gsus4 |
Told you once I won’t tell you again, it’s a bad way.
Bridge 2
| Cm7 | Fsus4 | Gsus4 | Gsus4 |
Roxanne, you don’t have to put on the red light,
| Cm7 | Fsus4 | Gsus4 | Gsus4 Cm7 |
Roxanne, you don’t have to put on the red light.
Chorus 2
||: Bb5 | Bb5 Eb | F5 | F5/E F5 | Gm | Gm Cm7 :||
||: (Roxanne) put on the red light :|| x4
You don’t have to put on the red light.
||: (Roxanne) put on the red light :|| x4
| Bb5 | Bb5 Eb | F5 | F5/E F5 | Gsus4 |
(Roxanne) put on the red light. You don’t have to put on the red light.
Roxanne | Chords + Lyrics (capo 3)
Intro
| Em | Em |
| Em | Bm/D | Cmaj7 | Bm |
| Am7 | Dsus4 | Esus4 | Esus4 |
Verse 1
| Em | Bm/D | Cmaj7 | Bm |
Roxanne, you don’t have to put on the red light.
| Am7 | Dsus4 | Esus4 | Esus4 |
Those days are over, you don’t have to sell your body to the night.
Verse 2
| Em | Bm/D | Cmaj7 | Bm |
Roxanne, you don’t have to wear that dress tonight,
| Am7 | Dsus4 | Esus4 | Esus4 |
walk the streets for money, you don’t care if it’s wrong or if it’s right.
Bridge 1
| Am7 | Dsus4 | Esus4 | Esus4 |
Roxanne, you don’t have to put on the red light.
| Am7 | Dsus4 | Esus4 | Esus4 Am7 |
Roxanne, you don’t have to put on the red light.
Chorus 1
| G5 | G5 C | D5 | D5/C# D5 | Em | Em Am7 |
| G G5 | G5 C | D5 D5/C# | D5/C# D5 | Esus4 | Esus4 |
||: Roxanne (put on the red light) :|| x4
You don’t have to put on the red light, oh.
Instrumental
||: Em | Em/D :||
Verse 3
| Em | Bm/D | Cmaj7 | Bm |
I loved you since I knew you, I wouldn’t talk down to you.
| Am7 | Dsus4 | Esus4 | Esus4 |
I have to tell you just how I feel, I won’t share you with another boy.
Verse 4
| Em | Bm/D | Cmaj7 | Bm |
I know my mind is made up, so put away your makeup.
| Am7 | Dsus4 | Esus4 | Esus4 |
Told you once I won’t tell you again, it’s a bad way.
Bridge 2
| Am7 | Dsus4 | Esus4 | Esus4 |
Roxanne, you don’t have to put on the red light,
| Am7 | Dsus4 | Esus4 | Esus4 Am 7 |
Roxanne, you don’t have to put on the red light.
Chorus 2
||: G5 | G5 C | D5 | D5/C# D5 | Em | Em Am7 :||
||: (Roxanne) put on the red light :|| x4
You don’t have to put on the red light.
||: (Roxanne) put on the red light :|| x4
| G5 | G5 C | D5 | D5/C# D5 | Esus4 |
(Roxanne) put on the red light. You don’t have to put on the red light.
You can learn how to play Roxanne!
My version of Roxanne is an attempt to capture what The Police played but on just one acoustic guitar. We achieve this by breaking up the strumming and playing lower strings to imitate the bass line from the original recording.
In the first guitar lesson, we look at a transcription of the guitar, bass, and drums to work out what rhythm is best suited for the verse.
This gives us four examples of how to play the verse for Roxanne. This is then easily developed for the bridge (step 2).
Even though the song never changes key, it does clearly move from a minor verse to a major chorus.
This is seemingly the simplest way to write a song, but few artists do it well, Sting is one of the masters.
In the course, over just four lessons, you’ll have everything you need to play Roxanne, just like I do in the video above. But we don’t stop there.
Roxanne’s 8 guitar lessons
Following learning the one acoustic guitar arrangement, we play the vocal melody (with extreme attention to detail) and even improvise over the verse progression.
In the advanced acoustic guitar course, we don’t just learn the tune, we learn from it!
In total, there are 8 step-by-step lessons for Roxanne available. Here are links to each lesson in the course (members only):
- Step 1 – Verse
- Step 2 – Bridge
- Step 3 – Chorus
- Step 4 – The complete song
- Step 5 – Vocal melody
- Step 6 – Aeolian, master exercises
- Step 7 – Aeolian Improvisation technique
- Step 8 – Aeolian Improvisation technique, part 2
Roxanne chords | Related pages
Five similar tunes
- Englishman In New York chords
- I Shot The Sheriff chords
- Locked Out Of Heaven chords
- Master Blaster chords
- Message In A Bottle chords
The Police
The Police was a New Wave band from England comprising Sting, Andy Summers, and Stewart Copeland.
Unusually, it was Stewart’s father, Miles Copeland III who managed the band and later, Sting’s solo career.
The Police on the web
Sting
Sting is an English musician who, prior to his solo career, had a band called The Police, with Stewart Copeland and Andy Summers.
Formed in 1977, The Police reached worldwide success after releasing their first single Roxanne only a year after they formed the band.
Sting on the web
Advanced Acoustic Songs
These songs use big chord extensions and sometimes, unique and complex chords that incorporate open strings.
Study these in-depth and you will gain a complete understanding of the guitar fretboard, including how to build any scale, arpeggio, or chord.
