Sunshine Of Your Love | Chords + Lyrics
Intro
||: D blues scale riff :|| x8
Verse 1
||: D blues scale riff :|| x8
It’s getting near dawn, when lights close their tired eyes.
I’ll soon be with you my love, to give you my dawn surprise.
| G riff | G riff | G5 G7 | G riff G7#9 ||: D blues scale riff :|| x4
I’ll be with you darling soon, I’ll be with you when the stars start falling.
Chorus 1
| A | C/G G |
I’ve been waiting so long,
| A | C G/D |
to be where I’m going,
| A7 | C5 G5 | A5 | A5 | D riff | D riff |
in the sunshine of your love.
Verse 2
||: D blues scale riff :|| x8
I’m with you my love, the light’s shining through on you.
Yes, I’m with you my love, it’s the morning, and just we two.
| G riff | G riff | G5 G7 | G riff G7#9 ||: D blues scale riff :|| x4
I’ll stay with you darling now, I’ll stay with you till my seeds are all dried up.
Chorus 2
| A7 | C5 G5 |
I’ve been waiting so long,
| A5 | C5 G/D |
to be where I’m going,
| A7 | C G5 | A | A7 A7#9 |
in the sunshine of your love.
Solo
||: D blues scale riff :|| x8
| G riff | G riff | G5 G7 | G riff |
||: D blues scale riff :|| x4
| A5 | C/G G5 | A5 | C/G G5 |
| A7 | C/G G5 | A | A7 |
||: D riff :|| x4
Verse 3
||: D blues scale riff :|| x8
I’m with you my love, the light shining through on you.
Yes, I’m with you my love, it’s the morning, and just we two.
| G riff | G riff | G5 G7 | G riff ||: D blues scale riff :|| x4
I’ll stay with you darling now, I’ll stay with you till my seeds are all dried up.
Chorus 3
| A | C5 G | A | C G |
I’ve been waiting so long, I’ve been waiting so long.
| A | C5 G | A | C G |
I’ve been waiting so long, I’ve been waiting so long.
| A | C5 G | A | A7 | A7 | A7#9 | D riff | D riff D7#9 |
To be where I’m going, in the sunshine of your love.
Sunshine Of Your Love Guitar Lesson | Course Preview
My version of Sunshine Of Your Love is a combination of Cream‘s original and Spanky Wilson‘s cover. I do wish I could have integrated Ella Fitzgerald‘s version as well but I guess you can’t win them all!
Using the main riff as a starting point, the chords have sometimes been extended to a dom7#9.
Spanky’s version uses this and since it is Jimi Hendrix’s signature chord, and Jack Bruce wrote this tune on the back of an early Hendrix gig in London, I thought I’d keep that in.
Sunshine Of Your Love is a great example of a tune that can be easily jammed with a band.
Rather than the traditional V to IV movement of your average 12-bar blues, Sunshine Of Your Love stays on the V chord much longer than usual before it returns to chord I. As we stay on this A chord, we also get a C (bVIIx) and G (IV) for extra tension.
To keep the arrangement interesting and build tension, the chords are varied by finding different shapes.
This type of approach is more likely to keep a song alive compared to using muscle memory and set parts like you would have to in a strict rock band. It also makes it more fun to jam with friends.
Perhaps most importantly, if you always play like this, writing parts for your own songs becomes easier.
In order to be free like this, you must first understand the chords and progressions of the song so let’s take a look at Sunshine Of Your Love without the lyrics and focus on how it changes/builds for each section.
Sunshine Of Your Love’s chords and progressions
Intro
||: D blues scale riff :|| x8
Verse 1
||: D blues scale riff :|| x8
| G riff | G riff | G5 G7 | G riff G7#9 |
||: D blues scale riff :|| x4
Chorus 1
| A | C/G G | A | C G/D |
| A7 | C5 G5 | A5 | A5 | D riff | D riff |
The second verse adds a D7#9.
Chorus 2 is not exactly the same as the first. Making subtle changes like this is what brings an arrangement alive, looks like this.
| A7 | C5 G5 | A5 | C5 G/D |
| A7 | C G5 | A | A7 A7#9 |
The solo stays on the D longer, before we return to a verse again. This is followed by verse 3.
The final chorus repeats more times and stays on A for longer.
| A | C5 G | A | C G |
| A | C5 G | A | C G |
| A | C5 G | A | A7 | A7 | A7#9 | D riff | D riff D7#9 |
Sunshine Of Your Love solo
Eric Clapton‘s solo on the original recording is fantastic. Using huge bends, he manipulates the minor and major thirds, as well as the bluesy b5 better than most.
In the mid-60s when this was recorded, Eric had been pronounced a God in his native England. Nobody could believe their eyes as he played lightning-fast blues solos to adoring fans on the London live scene.
One of Eric’s secrets was that he swapped his 3rd string for one that was plain, just like the E and B naturally are. This gave him less tension and the possibility to bend further. Today this is of course standard on all electric guitars, at the time it was revolutionary.
As we learn this on the acoustic guitar, we can’t play those huge bends since our acoustic strings are (still) too heavy.
To solve this, the solo has been moved down the neck and instead of massive bends, we switch frets. Somebody should have pointed this out to Eric at the time!
In the advanced acoustic guitar course, four steps are spent on learning the Sunshine Of Your Love solo by starting slowly and nailing every single note until it sounds like Clapton played it.
Notice how he references the melody of Blue Moon at the beginning of the solo, this and the play on straight vs swung demonstrates the musical humor Cream as a band possessed.
Sunshine Of Your Love’s 8 guitar lessons in the course
The most difficult part of playing Sunshine Of Your Love is without a doubt the solo. All those huge bends have to be changed in order to work on the acoustic guitar.
Learning the riff, the turnaround, and practicing the blues scale is in comparison super simple.
In total, there are 8 step-by-step lessons for Sunhsine Of Your Love available. Here are links to each lesson in the course (members only):
- Step 1 – The Blues scale
- Step 2 – 10 variations on the riff
- Step 3 – Dom7#9 & Turnaround
- Step 4 – The complete song, with TAB
- Step 5 – Solo as individual licks
- Step 6 – Solo as longer phrases
- Step 7 – Complete solo
- Step 8 – 2nd guitar part
Become a member today and get unlimited access to all my guitar courses, the SEPR practice route, and the eBook Spytunes Method – You can learn guitar!
Sunshine Of Your Love chords | Related pages
Advanced Acoustic
The advanced acoustic tunes 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.
Five similar tunes
- Born Under A Bad Sign chords
- Get Ready chords
- I Can’t Stand The Rain chords
- Piece of My Heart chords
- Soul Man chords
Eric Clapton
As well as a member of bands like Derek & The Dominos, The Yardbirds, and Cream, Eric Clapton has successfully played sessions for more stars than any other guitar player.
His long career earned him three inductions into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame.
Eric Clapton on the web
Cream
The 60s British super-group that Eric Clapton joined after his time with John Mayhall and The Bluesbreakers was Cream.
Cream’s sound could be described as a hybrid of blues, pop, and psychedelic rock. Hits include Crossroads, Sunshine Of Your Love, Strange Brew, and White Room.
Cream on the web
Spanky Wilson
Spanky Wilson is an American vocalist best known for her version of Sunshine Of Your Love, by Cream.
Wilson has shared the stage alongside many Soul and Jazz legends, including Marvin Gaye, Sammy Davis Jr., Jimmy McGriff, and Jimmy Smith.
Spanky Wilson on the web
Blues & Jazz
The foundation upon which popular music stands, Blues & Jazz tunes must be explored in depth by the serious guitar player.
Learn from the best by studying the greatest tunes of the genres. Study the iconic licks and melodies to grasp the language of these most important styles.
Pop & Rock
Whenever a tune doesn’t fit into a specific genre, it tends to end up here, in the Pop & Rock section.
Learn tunes from Tom Petty, Eagles, Toto, Oasis, Elvis, Clapton, John Mayer, Kings Of Leon, R.E.M., Radiohead, Bruno Mars, and more.
