Chords + Lyrics | Dock Of The Bay
Intro
||: G5 | G5 :||
Verse 1
||: G5 | B7 | C | A :||
Sittin’ in the mornin’ sun, I’ll be sittin’ when the evenin’ comes.
Watching the ships roll in. Then I watch ’em roll away again, yeah.
Chorus 1
| G | E |
I’m sittin’ on the dock of the bay.
| G | E |
Watchin’ the tide roll away, ooh.
| G | A | G | E |
I’m just sittin’ on the dock of the bay, wastin’ time.
Verse 2
I left my home in Georgia, headed for the Frisco Bay.
‘Cause I’ve had nothin’ to live for. It look like nothin’s gonna come my way.
Chorus 2
So I’m just gon’ sit on the dock of the bay.
Watchin’ the tide roll away, ooh.
I’m sittin’ on the dock of the bay, wastin’ time.
Middle 8
||: G5 D5 | C :||
Look like nothin’s gonna change.
Everything still remains the same.
I can’t do what ten people tell me to do.
| F (Fadd9) | D7 |
So I guess I’ll remain the same, yes.
Verse 3
Sittin’ here restin’ my bones and this loneliness won’t leave me alone, listen.
Two thousand miles, I roam. Just to make this dock my home.
Chorus 3
Now I’m just gon’ sit at the dock of the bay.
Watchin’ the tide roll away, ooh yeah.
Sittin’ on the dock of the bay, Wastin’ time.
Outro (whistle)
||: G | G (Gsus2) | G (Gsus2) | E7 :||
Dock Of The Bay Backing Tracks | Chord Analysis
Above, you’ll find backing tracks to use when learning Dock Of The Bay. I’ve used stem separation to extract the guitar while keeping the drums, bass, keys, horns, and vocals intact.
After studying the chords and TAB, use my backing tracks to prepare for playing this tune with a band.
Should you want to play along with the original recording instead, you need to tune your guitar sharp to 441Hz. In the backing tracks, I’ve done this job for you by tuning it to 440Hz.
Chord Progressions – What’s Going On?
The chords employed in (Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay are not diatonic. We’re in the key of G, but the song constantly wanders outside.
Verse
The verse moves G5–B7–C–A. Only G and C are diatonic. Both B and A should have been minor chords.
Using the Spytunes version of Roman numeral analysis, the ‘x’ indicates that a minor chord has become major, like this:
||: G5 (I) | B7 (IIIx) | C (IV) | A (IIx) :||
Chorus
(Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay‘s chorus chords continue the rule-breaking by moving G–E, rather than Em. We also get another A chord. The E is chord VI, so we call it a VIx, like this:
| G (I) | E (VIx) | G | E |
| G | A (IIx) | G | E |
Middle 8
The M8 section, which usually breaks away from the rest of the song, is initially diatonic as it goes I – V – IV, or G5–D5–C.
At the end of this section, we break the rules again with an F chord (bVIIx/backdoor dominant), like this:
||: G5 (I) D5 (V) | C (IV) :||
| F (bVIIx) (Fadd9) | D7 |
Outro
Finally, there’s one more twist. During the outro, we move from G to E again, but instead of playing the chords for one bar each, we play G for three bars and E for just one bar. That E is now also an E7, like this:
||: G (I) | G (Gsus2) | G (Gsus2) | E7 (VIx) :||
Tablature (TAB) is available showing how (Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay can be played on just one guitar. This involves incorporating the bass line and general rhythm (mainly) from the drums, similar to how I arranged Take Me To The River.
You’ll find this TAB further down this guitar lesson.
Once you have the TAB under your belt, a simple chord chart will suffice. Here’s one I made for you.
Dock Of The Bay Chord Chart | PDF + iReal Download
Should you want to download this chart, here’s a PDF: Dock Of The Bay chord chart PDF.
This chord chart was created using iReal Pro; here’s a link to that file: Dock Of The Bay iReal Pro.
Using this and the iReal Pro app, you can change the key. Although, it won’t sound quite right if you don’t play (Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay‘s chords in the key of G.
(Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay | TAB
Let’s look at TAB for each section. We begin with the intro, where the bass line has been included:
Here’s the verse. I prefer to use a G5 rather than a full G chord, so the chorus can sound bigger by contrast. Once again, the bass line is a prominent feature:
Here’s the chorus. This section is all about the bass again. Pay attention to where you should slide in or use a hammer-on:
Next up is the middle 8. I like to keep things repetitive here, mainly using power chords. It says D in the TAB, but really, it’s a D5:
Finally, here’s the outro—complete with whistling!
Otis Redding’s final song
(Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay was written by Otis Redding and Stax house band guitarist Steve Cropper.
Steve was a member of Stax house band Booker T and The M.G’s, and Otis was signed to the label as a singer and songwriter.
Having been recorded just three days before Otis died in a plane crash on December 10th, 1967, it became the first single to top the charts in the U.S. posthumously in January 1968.
In the U.K., (Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay reached #3.
The laid-back feel, overall production, vocal performance, lyrics with a deeper hidden meaning, and an interesting chord progression all contribute to the success of this legendary tune.
Study (Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay‘s chords and lyrics carefully; there’s so much to learn from a songwriting perspective.
If you’re interested in incorporating other instruments into your guitar parts, check out the TAB lesson for how to play the whistling melody on guitar during the outro.
Dock Of The Bay Chords: Continue Learning
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