Save Tonight | Chords + Lyrics
Intro
||: Am F/C | C G :||
||: Am F/C | C G :||
||: Du du du du, du du du du. :||
Verse 1
||: Am F/C | C G | Am F/C | C G :||
Go on and close, the curtains, ’cause all we need, is candlelight.
You and me, and a bottle of wine, to hold you tonight (ah, yeah).
Well we know, I’m going away and how I wish, I wish it weren’t so.
So take this wine, and drink with me, and let’s delay our misery.
Chorus 1
||: Am F/C | C G | Am F/C | C G :||
Save tonight, and fight the break of dawn, come tomorrow, tomorrow I’ll be gone.
Save tonight, and fight the break of dawn, come tomorrow, tomorrow I’ll be gone.
Verse 2
There’s a log on the fire, and it burns like me for you.
Tomorrow comes, with one desire, to take me away (oh it’s true).
It ain’t easy to say goodbye, Darlin’ please, don’t start to cry.
‘Cause girl you know I’ve got to go (oh) and Lord I wish it wasn’t so.
Chorus 2
Save tonight, and fight the break of dawn, come tomorrow, tomorrow I’ll be gone.
Save tonight, and fight the break of dawn, come tomorrow, tomorrow I’ll be gone.
Instrumental
||: A5 F | C G5 :|| x4
Breakdown
||: Am F/C | C G | Am F/C | C G :||
Tomorrow comes to take me away, I wish that I, that I could stay.
But girl you know I’ve got to go (oh) and Lord I wish wasn’t so.
Chorus 3
||: Save tonight, and fight the break of dawn, come tomorrow, tomorrow I’ll be gone. :|| x4
Outro
||: Am F/C | C G | Am F/C | C G :||
||: Tomorrow I’ll be gone :|| x4
||: Am F/C | C G | Am F/C | C G :||
||: Am F/C | C G | Am F/C | C G :||
Save tonight, save tonight.
Save tonight, save tonight (oh, that’s right).
Save tonight, save tonight.
Save Tonight Chords: Learn the progressions
One of the best things about a four-chord song like this is that you can learn it quickly and in a band setting, focus on dynamics, and communicate with band members, rather than remember the chords.
One endless loop of VI – IV – I – V, or Am – F/C – C – G, is all we get in Save Tonight. How come it works so well?
Perhaps it’s got to do with the initial VI – IV, this is pretty unusual. I – IV being the most common movement around, having the relative minor first instead, does feel different, but still familiar somehow.
Following this, we are moving backwards through the cycle of 4th. Normally you’d go up from G – C – F, but in Save Tonight, the chords move the other way, F – C – G. This is clear enough to be familiar, but with a twist.
Another tune that does this backward cycle of 4th thing is Wonderwall, both very well suited to the one acoustic guitar party repertoire.
Incubus Mike Einziger clearly likes Save Tonight as he “took inspiration” from it when he cowrote Wake Me Up with Avicii, yet another must on the solo performer’s party setlist.
I’ve designed three bits of TAB that once practised, will enable you to play Save Tonigth’s chords well, just bashing your way through them will sound very annoying.
Here’s a link to that part of the lesson: Save Tonight – Guitar Lesson with TAB.
Once you sorted your strumming out, all you need is a simple chord chart, here’s one I made for you.

Save Tonight Chord Chart | PDF + iReal Pro
As the chords are so simple, with only the breakdown section being slightly different, all we need is to put these sections on repeat, and then somehow indicate the structure.
In the case of Save Tonight, I’ve done this using simple text. For other songs, I’ve used a different approach.
Should you want to download this chart, here’s a PDF: Save Tonight Chord Chart PDF.
This chord chart was created using iReal Pro, here’s a link to that file: Save Tonight iReal Pro.
Using this and the iRealPro app, you can change the key. You can also change the way I described the structure and do what you feel is the best way to explain Save Tonight’s chords.
Eagle-Eye Cherry drew on his training as an actor when recording the music video for Save Tonight!
As a breakthrough single, you can’t do much better than Eagle-Eye Cherry and his worldwide smash hit Save Tonight (1997).
It sits perfectly next to other acoustic ’90s Anthems like What’s Up, Mr Jones, Iris, Torn, and Two Princes. I remember playing all these at after-ski parties in the French Alps and at the beach bars in Greece during 1999.
And just like the above mentioned, this was a global hit, reaching the top 10 in 16 countries. In the U.K., the single sold over 1 million copies.
Eagle-Eye, who went to New York acting school with Jennifer Aniston, played several roles in his music video and must have thought he’d made it.
The Swedish press got behind him, hailing Mr Cherry as the next big thing, but after the award for Song of the Year had been handed out, he didn’t manage to follow it up.
Save Tonight Chords | Related Pages
Save Tonight | Guitar Lesson + TAB
With this guitar lesson, you can learn to play Save Tonight by Eagle-Eye Cherry using TAB and chord analysis.
| Am F | C G5 | Am F | C G5 |
Go on and close, the curtains, ’cause all we need, is candlelight…
Five similar tunes | Chords + Lyrics
Eagle-Eye Cherry tunes
Swedish Eagle-Eye Cherry went to acting school in New York with Jennifer Aniston in the early ’90s.
His acting skills were capitalized on as he played all characters in the music video for his hit Save Tonight.
Eagle-Eye Cherry on the web
About me | Dan Lundholm
This was a guitar lesson about Save Tonight’s chords, by Dan Lundholm. Discover more about him and how you can learn guitar with Spytunes.
Most importantly, find out why you should learn guitar through playing tunes, not by practising scales or studying theory in isolation.