Dock Of The Bay | Chords + Lyrics
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) | D |
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 Chords: Learn the progressions
The chords Dock Of The Bay employs are not diatonic. We are in the key of G, but we wander outside constantly.
The verse moves G5 – B7 – C – A. Only G and C are diatonic. B and A should have been minor.
Using the Spytunes version of the Roman Numeral language, the x indicates that a minor chord has become major, like this:
||: G5 (I) | B7 (IIIx) | C (IV) | A (IIx) :||
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 usually VI, so now we call it a VIx, like this:
| G (I) | E (VIx) | G | E |
| G | A (IIx) | G | E |
The M8, which is usually the section that breaks away from the rest of the song is at first diatonic as it goes I – V – IV, or G5 – D5 – C. At the end of this section, we break the rules again as we get an F chord (bVIIx/backdoor dominant), like this:
||: G5 (I) D5 (V) | C (IV) :||
| F (bVIIx) (Fadd9) | D |
Finally, we have 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) :||
There is TAB available for how Dock Of The Bay can be played on just one guitar. This means incorporating the bass and general rhythm created by (mainly) the drums, similar to how I arranged Take Me To The River.
Here’s a link to that part of the lesson: (Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay – Guitar Lesson with TAB.
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
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 iRealPro app, you can change the key. Although, it won’t sound quite right if you don’t play Dock Of The Bay’s chords in the key of G.
(Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay was 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 Booker T and The M.G’s, and Otis was signed to Stax as a singer and songwriter.
Having been recorded just three days before Otis died in a plane crash on December the 10th, 1967, it would become 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 Dock Of The Bay’s chords and lyrics above carefully, there is so much to learn here from a songwriting perspective and if you’re interested in incorporating other instruments into your guitar parts, check out the TAB (members only) for the whistling during the outro.
Dock Of The Bay Chords | Related Pages
Dock Of The Bay | Guitar Lesson + TAB
In this lesson, you get 5 pieces of TAB for how Dock Of The Bay could be played on just one guitar. We incorporate bass, drum beats, and whistling!
| G5 | B7 | C | A |
Sittin’ in the mornin’ sun, I’ll be sittin’ when the evenin’ comes…
Five similar tunes | Chords + Lyrics
- Let’s Stay Together chords by Al Green
- Lovely Day chords by Bill Withers
- Son Of A Preacher Man chords by Dusty Springfield
- Under The Boardwalk chords by The Drifters
- Wonderful World chords by Sam Cooke
Otis Redding tunes
Dubbed the King Of Soul, Otis Redding was an American singer-songwriter who wrote some of the most famous tunes of all time.
His career was tragically cut short only five years after his first studio album was released as he tragically died in a plane crash in 1967.
Otis Redding on the web
About me | Dan Lundholm
This was a guitar lesson about Dock Of The Bay 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 practising scales, and studying theory in isolation.
