The Best chords by Tina Turner


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The Best | Chords + Lyrics


Intro

||: F5 | F5 :||

Verse 1

| F5 | F5 | F F6 | Fmaj7 F |
I call you when I need you, my heart’s on fire.
| F5 | F5 | F F6 | Fmaj7 F |
You come to me, come to me wild and wild.
| Dm | Dm | Bb | Bb |
When you come to me. Give me everything I need.

Verse 2

| F5 | F5 | F F6 | Fmaj7 F |
Give me a lifetime of promises and a world of dreams.
| F5 | F5 | F F6 | Fmaj7 F |
Speak a language of love like you know what it means.
| Dm | Dm | Bb | C |
Mm, and it can’t be wrong. Take my heart and make it strong, baby.

Chorus 1

| F Fsus2 | Fsus4  F | F Fsus2 | Fsus4  F |
You’re simply the best. Better than all the rest.
| Dm Dsus4 | Dmb6 Dm | C | C |
Better than anyone, anyone I’ve ever met.
| F Fsus2 | Fsus4  F | F Fsus2 | Fsus4  F |
I’m stuck on your heart, I hang on every word you say.
| Dm Dsus4 | Dmb6 Dm | C | C |
Tear us apart, Baby, I would rather be dead.

Verse 3

| F5 | F5 | F F6 | Fmaj7 F |
In your heart, I see the star of every night and every day.
| F5 | F5 | F F6 | Fmaj7 F |
In your eyes, I get lost, I get washed away.
| Dm | Dm | Bb | C |
Just as long as I’m here in your arms I could be in no better place.

Chorus 2

| F Fsus2 | Fsus4  F | F Fsus2 | Fsus4  F |
You’re simply the best. Better than all the rest.
| Dm Dsus4 | Dmb6 Dm | C5 | C5 |
Better than anyone, anyone I’ve ever met.
| F Fsus2 | Fsus4  F | F Fsus2 | Fsus4  F |
Ooh, I’m stuck on your heart, I hang on every word you say.
| Dm Dsus4 | Dmb6 Dm | C5 | C5 |
Don’t tear us apart, no, no, no. Baby, I would rather be dead.

Middle 8

| Bb5 | Bb5 |
Each time you leave me, I start losing control.
| Dm | Dm |
You’re walking away with my heart and my soul.
| Bb5 | Bb5 |
I can feel you even when I’m alone. 
| C5 | C5  D5 |
Oh baby, don’t let go.

Solo (key change)

| G Gadd9 | Gsus4 G | G Gadd9 | Gsus4 G |
| Em Esus4 | Emb6 Em | D5 | D5 |

Chorus 3

| G Gadd9 | Gsus4 G | G Gadd9 | Gsus4 G |
Ooh, you’re the best, ooh, better than all the rest.
| Em Esus4 | Emb6 Em | D5 | D5 |
Better than anyone, anyone I’ve ever met.
| G Gadd9 | Gsus4 G | G Gadd9 | Gsus4 G |
Ooh, I’m stuck on your heart, I hang on every word you say.
| Em Esus4 | Emb6 Em | D5 | D5 |
Don’t tear us apart, no, no. Baby, I would rather be dead.
| G |
Ooh, you’re the best!



The Best Chords: Learn the progressions


The Best chords make use of extensions in a very clever way. Usually when the same chord changes in extensions, it does so by descending. Kiss Me and Can’t Take My Eyes Off You are good examples.

In The Best, we ascend instead as the F chord goes from F5F6Fmaj7F.

This progression is what appears during the verse, the movement gives us an uplifting feel. This is finished off by going to chord VI (sad) – IV (a feeling of moving on, anticipating). DmBb.

Before the chorus, a C chord (V) is added at the end to take us to the chorus.

We still play an F chord with extensions in the chorus but they’re not the same ascending chords. Instead, we manipulate the 3rd by moving FFsus2Fsus4F.

This is followed by a Dm chord which has its 5th manipulated by moving DmDsus4Dmb6Dm. For the F chord, the actual notes that changed were A, G, Bb, and A. These are the exact same notes for Dm – clever stuff!

The bridge Tina requested to be written when she first heard the song (which I personally would call a middle 8), starts on chord IV, giving us a feeling of moving on to new pastures. BbDmBbCD.

The D chord at the end serves as a new V chord as we now change the key from F to G for the final chorus.

The Best chords are all about the extensions, in terms of actual Roman Numerals, it is all super simple stuff, mainly making use of the minor fall (I – VI).



The Best was released a year earlier by Bonnie Tyler!

Initially released by Bonnie Tyler in 1988, The Best, or (Simply) The Best as it’s also known, was written by Holly Knight and Mike Chapman.

Tina Turner liked the song so much that she contacted the writers and requested a new bridge, she also added a Sax solo and changed the key at the end. This cover version was released just a year after Bonnie’s in 1989.

Tina’s version became a top 10 hit worldwide. It may only have reached the #1 spot in Scotland, but its legacy worldwide has been immense.

Used in numerous ads and on every Tina Turner gig since, The Best has in many ways become Tina Turner’s signature song, possibly down to it describing how her fans feel about her.

Learn from this masterpiece of songwriting in more detail by studying The Best’s chords and lyrics above.



The Best Chords | Related Pages


Five similar tunes with chords and lyrics

When you can play The Best chords, try these five tunes from the songbook.

Tina Turner tunes

Tina Turner recorded The Best.

Tina Turner was discovered by Ike, joined his band, and even married him. Together they achieved great success with many hits.

Off stage, Ike was an abusive husband, when they divorced Tina would embark on a remarkable solo career and Ike would end up the most hated man in America.


Tina Turner on the web

Listen to Tina Turner on Spotify.


About me | Dan Lundholm

Dan Lundholm wrote this guitar lesson about The Best chords.

This was a guitar lesson about The Best’s 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 by practising scales or studying theory in isolation.


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