Tenderness | Chords + Lyrics (key of G)
Intro
|12/8 G9b5 |
Verse 1
| C | B7 | Em G | C C#dim7 |
What can I do, what can I do? Much of what you say is true,
| G/D | D D11 | G Bb/F F | Em G |
I know you see through me, but there’s no tenderness, beneath your honesty.
Verse 2
| C | B7 | Em G | C C#dim7 |
Right and wrong, right and wrong, never helped us get along.
| G/D | D D11 | G Bb/F F | Em B7 |
You say you care for me, but there’s no tenderness, beneath your honesty.
Bridge
|15/8 C#m G#7 A7 G#7 |12/8 E A B | E D#9 G#7 |
You and me, were such good friends, what’s your hurry?
|15/8 C#m G#7 A7 G#7 |12/8 E B/D# | F#m D7 | G G7 |
You and me, could make amends, I’m not worried, I’m not worried.
Verse 3
| C | B7 | Em G | C C#dim7 |
Honesty, honesty, it’s such a waste of energy.
| G/D | D D11 | G E |
I know you see through me, but there’s no tenderness, beneath your honesty. No, you don’t have to
| A7 D7 | D7 |
lie to me, just give me some tenderness.
Outro
| G Em | Eb9 D9 | G |
Mm, hm.
| C C#dim7 | G | D | G Bb/F F | G |
Oh-oh. mm-hm. Tenderness.
Tenderness | Chords + Lyrics (original key)
Intro
| C9b5 |
Verse 1
| F | E7 | Am C | F F#dim7 |
What can I do, what can I do? Much of what you say is true,
| C/G | G G11 | C Eb/Bb Bb | Am C7 |
I know you see through me, but there’s no tenderness, beneath your honesty.
Verse 2
| F | E7 | Am C | F F#dim7 |
Right and wrong, right and wrong, never helped us get along.
| C/G | G G11 | C Eb/Bb Bb | Am E7 |
You say you care for me, but there’s no tenderness, beneath your honesty.
Bridge
|15/4 F#m C#7 D7 C#7 |4/4 A G#m11 E/B | A G#7 C#7 |
You and me, were such good friends, what’s your hurry?
|15/4 F#m C#7 D7 C#7 |4/4 A E/G# | Bm7 G7 | C C7 |
You and me, could make amends, I’m not worried, I’m not worried.
Verse 3
| F | E7 | Am C | F F#dim7 |
Honesty, honesty, it’s such a waste of energy.
| C/G | G G11 | C A7 |
I know you see through me, but there’s no tenderness, beneath your honesty. No, you don’t have to
| D7 G7 | G7 |
lie to me, just give me some tenderness.
Outro
| C Am | Ab9 G9 | C C7 |
| F F#dim7 | C | G | C Eb/Bb Bb | C |
Tenderness.
Tenderness Chords: Learn the progressions
When I recorded Tenderness with a female singer I changed the key from G to C, I also put it in 12/8 instead of 4/4.
This was a tune that was a part of our repertoire as a duo, it had developed over several gigs and I didn’t pay much attention to the original Paul Simon recording before I recorded it for Spytunes in 2008.
As I’m going over it now, almost 15 years later, I still like it and feel there is value here for you as a guitar student to learn it as I played with her.
Once you’ve gone through the TAB I made for you, you can easily straighten it up and put it back in C, should you want to play it along with Paul/with a male singer.
Anyway, let’s get to the chords as they are so great! I’m going to stick with the key of G during this overview.
The first chord, a G9b5 is a trick! It sounds like it’s the V chord going to chord I but it’s not, this is chord I, leading to chord IV – genius! Looks like Paul Simon picked up a thing or two since his days in Simon & Garfunkel.
The first verses are pretty much identical, only the last bar differs, Em – G, or Em – B7. Here’s verse 1 with Roman Numerals.
|12/8 C (IV) | B7 (IIIx) | Em (VI) G (I) | C (IV) C#dim7 (#IVdim7) |
| G/D (I/5)| D (V) D11 | G (I) Bb/F (bIIIx) F (bVIIx) | Em (VI) G (I) |
You could say that the Tenderness verse is balancing between the keys of G and C, making F the IV chord.
You get two ideas for how to play this using TAB in this lesson: Tenderness – Guitar Lesson with TAB.
It’s not identical to how I played it, rather it is two concepts, which if blended becomes as I played it.
I feel this has more value as it should be played in an improvised way, not note-for-note. The goal is to dynamically and emotionally follow and support the singer.
There’s also another, more complicated idea for how to play the verse. Once practised individually, these two can be blended in an improvised way.
The bridge starts with an odd time signature in 15/8. We have also changed the key using a modal interchange, going from G/Em to E/C#m.
|15/8 C#m (VI) G#7 (IIIx) A7 (IV) G#7 (III) |12/8 E (I) A (IV) B (V) | E (I) D#9 (VIIx) G#7 (IIIx) |
|15/8 C#m G#7 A7 G#7 | 12/8 E B/D# | F#m D7 | G |
The final verse includes more modifications as we after D11 move like this:
| G (I) E (VIx) | A7 (IIx) D7 (V) | D7 |
The outro dwells on the theme and finds even more chords! That Eb9 is a tritone substitution of the II chord.
| G (I) Em (VI) | Eb9 (bVIx) D9 (V) | G (I) |
| C (IV) C#dim7 (#IVdim7) | G (I) | D (V) | G (I) Bb/F (bIIIx) F (bVIIx) | G (I) |
Here’s a chord chart.
Tenderness Chord Chart | PDF + iReal Pro
Should you want to download this chart, here’s a PDF: Tenderness Chord Chart PDF.
This chord chart was created using iReal Pro, here’s a link to that file: Tenderness iReal Pro. Using this and the iRealPro app, you can change the key, perhaps back to the original!
Paul Simon’s solo career in the ’70s was incredible!
I’ve mentioned this before but it bears repeating, what Paul Simon released in the ’70s is some of the best music the world has ever been gifted.
Starting out with the self-titled debut in 1970 we had Mother and Child Reunion as well as Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard, two world-class tunes proving he could do this without Art’s harmonies.
The follow-up, There Goes Rhymin’ Simon (1973) had Kodachrome, what we look at here (Tenderness), and Take Me to the Mardi Grass as the three opening tunes! Flip it over and you’ll find American Tune which is the only song considered for replacing the American National Anthem and then Love Me Like A Rock.
His last ’70s album, Still Crazy After All These Years (1975) had the title track as well as every drummer’s favourite, 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover.
Could you imagine his headache when trying to put together a set list for a gig after all that as well as trying to include his Simon & Garfunkel highlights?
I don’t know about you but I can’t think of a better 1st world problem to have!
Tenderness Chords | Related Pages
Tenderness | Guitar Lesson + TAB
Tenderness will soon be available as eight step-by-step guitar lessons. Until then, there’s the complete TAB for what I play in the video available.
| C | B7 | Em G | C C#dim7 |
What can I do, what can I do? Much of what you say is true…
Five similar tunes | Chords + Lyrics
- At Last chords by Etta James
- Can’t Take My Eyes Off You chords by Franki Valli
- Georgia On My Mind chords by Ray Charles
- If I Ain’t Got You chords by Alicia Keys
- Just The Two Of Us chords by Grover Washington/Bill Withers
Paul Simon tunes
Paul Simon is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, both as half of the folk-singing duo Simon and Garfunkel and also as a solo artist.
His many hits include Homeward Bound, Scarborough Fair, You Can Call Me Al, The Boxer, Cecilia, Mrs. Robinson, and Graceland.
Paul Simon on the web
About me | Dan Lundholm
This was a guitar lesson about Tenderness 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.
