Texas Flood | Chords + Lyrics (tune down 1/2 step)
Intro
| G7 (C7) | C7 (C9) | G7 | G7 (C C#) D7 |
| G7 | C7 | G7 | G7 |
| C7 | C7 | G7 | G7 |
| D7 | C7 | G7 C7 | G7 (C C#) D7 |
Verse 1
| G7 | C7 | G7 | G7 |
Well, it’s floodin’ down in Texas, all of the telephone lines are down.
| C7 | C7 | G7 | G7 |
Well, it’s floodin’ down in Texas, all of the telephone lines are down.
| D7 | C7 | G7 C7 | G7 (C C#) D7 |
And I’ve been tryin’ to call my baby, Lord and I can’t get a single sound.
Verse 2
| G7 | C7 | G7 | G7 |
Well, dark clouds are rollin’ in, man I’m standin’ out in the rain.
| C7 | C7 | G7 | G7 |
Well, dark clouds are rollin’ in, man I’m standin’ out in the rain.
| D7 | C7 | G7 C7 | G7 (C C#) D7 |
Yeah, flood water keep a rollin’, man it’s about to drive poor me insane.
Solo
||: G7 | C7 | G7 | G7 |
| C7 | C7 | G7 | G7 |
| D7 | C7 | G7 C7 | G7 (C C#) D7 :||
Verse 3
| G7 | C7 | G7 | G7 |
Well, I’m leavin’ you baby, Lord and I’m goin’ back home to stay.
| C7 | C7 | G7 | G7 |
Well, I’m leavin’ you baby, Lord and I’m goin’ back home to stay.
| D7 | C7 N.C | (G A# G A# C, C A# C#) | D5 G#7 G7 |
Well back home I know floods and tornadoes, baby the sun shines on me every day.
Texas Flood’s chords and progressions
Apart from the first four bars of the intro, Texas Flood is basically a slow 12-bar in G. Like this:
||: G7 | C7 | G7 | G7 |
| C7 | C7 | G7 | G7 |
| D7 | C7 | G7 C7 | G7 (C C#) D7 :||
When you listen to the original recording, you’ll discover SRV has tuned down a semitone so what you hear is Gb but looking at the guitar, it’s in G.
Tuning down is not a bad idea actually, you can fit thicker strings that way and still bend. There is also something that happens to the sound of the guitar when you tune down, it seems to resonate better.
In an ideal world, I’d have one guitar always tuned to Eb, or even better, somewhere in between Eb and E to really hit that magic frequency of the universe.
To tune your guitar and find out more about that magic frequency, check out my free online guitar tuner.
SRV influences and legacy
John Mayer consistently mentions Stevie Ray Vaughan as an influence (Check out the solo of Belief to hear the SRV influence).
Other guitar greats to name SRV as an influence include Eric Johnson and even Eric Clapton who said:
“The first time I heard Stevie Ray, I thought: Whoever this is, he is going to shake the world. I was in my car and I remember thinking, I have to find out, before the day is over, who that guitar player is.”
Later on, Clapton and SRV became close friends and even did Stevie Ray’s last ever gig together. As they flew out in separate helicopters, SRV’s crashed.
Behind him, SRV left an endless amount of guitar players wanting to sound like him and no one else.
A great introduction to playing like SRV is to learn how to play Texas Flood, the video guitar lesson above demonstrates the most important licks, Sandy plays in standard tuning, and SRV is tuned down a half step.
Texas Flood chords | Related pages
Five similar tunes
- Ain’t No Sunshine chords
- Born Under A Bad Sign chords
- Call It Stormy Monday chords
- Still Got The Blues chords
- The Thrill Is Gone chords
Stevie Ray Vaughan
Launching himself in 1983 to the world with his debut album Texas Flood and simultaneously appearing on David Bowie’s Let’s Dance, SRV was an instant hit.
Following this up with Couldn’t Stand The Weather, Pride & Joy, and Mary Had A Little Lamb, he firmly established himself as one of the greats.
Stevie Ray Vaughan 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.
