Sweet Home Alabama | Chords + Lyrics
Intro
||: D5 Csus2 | G (fill) :|| (guitar)
One, two, three. Turn it up.
||: D5 Csus2 | G (fill) :|| (band)
Verse 1
||: D5 Csus2 | G (fill) :||
Big wheels keep on turnin’.
Carry me home to see my kin.
Singin’ songs about the south-land.
I miss Alabamy once again and I think it’s a sin, yes.
Instrumental 1
||: D/F# C/E | G/B :||
Verse 2
Well, I heard Mister Young sing about her.
Well, I heard ol’ Neil put her down.
Well, I hope Neil Young will remember.
A southern man don’t need him around anyhow.
Chorus 1
||: D5 Csus2 | G (fill) :||
Sweet home Alabama.
Where the skies are so blue.
Sweet home Alabama.
Lord, I’m comin’ home to you.
Solo 1
||: D5 Csus2 | G (fill) :||
Verse 3
| D5 Csus2 | G5 F C/E |
In Birmingham, they love the governor (boo-hoo-hoo).
||: D5 Csus2 | G (fill) :||
Now we all did what we could do.
Now Watergate does not bother me.
Does your conscience bother you? Tell the truth.
Chorus 2
Sweet home Alabama.
Where the skies are blue.
Sweet home Alabama (oh yeah).
Lord, I’m comin’ home to you. Here I come, Alabama.
Solo 2
||: D5 Csus2 | G (fill) :|| x8
Instrumental 2
||: D/F# C/E | G/B :||
Verse 4
Now Muscle Shoals has got the Swampers.
And they’ve been known to pick a song or two (yes they do).
Lord, they get me off so much.
They pick me up when I’m feelin’ blue, now how about you?
Chorus 3
Sweet home Alabama.
Where the skies are so blue.
Sweet home Alabama.
| D5 Csus2 | G F C/E |
Lord, I’m comin’ home to you.
Chorus 4
Sweet home Alabama (oh, sweet home).
Where the skies are so blue.
And the governor’s true.
Sweet home Alabama (lordy).
Lord, I’m comin’ home to you, yeah, yeah.
Solo 3 (piano)
||: D5 Csus2 | G (fill) :|| to fade
Montgomery’s got the answer.
Sweet Home Alabama Chords: Understanding the Key, Progressions, and Essential Riffs
Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Sweet Home Alabama is every covers band’s secret weapon – the go-to song when nothing else seems to work!
Let’s break down the key, chords, progressions, and a few iconic licks you absolutely need to know to play this classic.
This song is in the key of G. The D is the V chord, C is the IV, and G is the I. Over the G chord, you’ll play G major blues licks, which consist of the major pentatonic scale with a minor 3rd added.
The chords themselves are simple. We follow the V – IV – I progression in G, like this:
||: D5 (V) Csus2 (IV) | G (I) :||
There’s also an instrumental section where the 3rd of each chord is played in the bass, like this:
||: D/F# (V/3) C/E (IV/3) | G/B (I/3) :||
Additionally, the F chord (bVIIx) appears twice—first at the start of verse 3 and then at the end of chorus 3, like this:
| D5 (V) Csus2 (IV) | G5 (I) F (bVIIx) C/E (IV/3) |
But as you likely know, you can’t just strum these chords. You need to play the legendary chord riff, which requires TAB to really capture it. There’s simply no way around it.
Here’s a link to the TAB lesson: Sweet Home Alabama – Guitar Lesson with TAB.
To keep it exciting, don’t forget to add some improvisation. I’m still experimenting with my Sweet Home Alabama licks, even decades after first playing it. Lately, I’ve even started looking forward to performing it again!
Here’s a chord chart for Sweet Home Alabama, which will help you remember the chords and, more importantly, the song’s structure.
Sweet Home Alabama Chord Chart | PDF + iReal Pro
If you’d like to download the chord chart, here’s a PDF: Sweet Home Alabama chord chart PDF.
This chart was created using iReal Pro, and you can access the file here: Sweet Home Alabama chord chart iReal Pro.
With iRealPro, you can change the key, but in the case of Sweet Home Alabama, that would be a terrible idea!
Sweet Home Alabama: How the Working Band Made It a Classic
Lynyrd Skynyrd‘s classic Sweet Home Alabama was released in 1974 on the band’s second album. Despite its immense popularity today, it wasn’t a major chart success at the time. Sales were modest, with just over a million copies sold in the U.S.
For most songs, these are solid numbers, but for Sweet Home Alabama—arguably the most commonly covered tune by bands—it feels somewhat surprising.
The best comparison might be to songs like Mustang Sally, I Feel Good, and (in the U.K.) Valerie—tunes that you simply can’t show up to a gig without knowing.
Sweet Home Alabama Chords: Continue Learning
Want to master this song? Check out the full TAB lesson here: Sweet Home Alabama (Lynyrd Skynyrd) Guitar Lesson with TAB.
Alternatively, here are five similar tunes you might enjoy: