Town Called Malice | Chords + Lyrics
Intro
||: (D B A) :|| x4 bass intro
||: D5 | D5 (D6) | D | D (D6) :|| keys intro
Verse 1
| F#m7 | F#m7 | Em | Em |
You better stop dreaming of the quiet life, ’cause it’s the one we’ll never know.
| F#m7 | F#m7 | Em | Em |
And quit running for that runaway bus, ’cause those rosy days are few.
| G | G | F#m7 | F#m7 |
And stop apologizing for the things you’ve never done.
| A | A | A7 | A7 |
‘Cause time is short and life is cruel, but it’s up to us to change.
Chorus 1
| D5 | D5 (D6) | D5 | D5 (D6) | D | D (D6) | D5 | D5 (D6) |
This town called Malice.
Verse 2
Rows and rows of disused milk floats, stand dying in the dairy yard.
And a hundred lonely housewives clutch empty milk bottles to their hearts.
Hanging out their old love letters on the line to dry.
It’s enough to make you stop believing, when tears come fast and furious.
Chorus 2
In a town called Malice, yeah.
Verse 3
Ba ba ba ba, ba da ba. Ba ba ba da ba.
Ba ba ba ba, ba da ba. Ba ba ba da ba.
Struggle after struggle, year after year.
The atmosphere’s a fine blend of ice I’m almost stone-cold dead.
Chorus 3
In a town called Malice, ooh yeah.
Middle 8
| C#m | C#m | Bm | Bm |
A whole street’s belief in Sunday’s roast beef.
| C#m | C#m | Bm | Bm |
Gets dashed against the Co-op.
| A | A | A7 | A7 |
To either cut down on beer or the kids new gear, it’s a big decision
Chorus 4 (half)
| D5 | D5 (D6) | D5 | D5 (D6) |
In a town called Malice, ooh yeah.
Breakdown
||: (D B A) :|| x4 (as bass intro)
| D5 | D5 (D6) | D | D (D6) | D5 | D5 (D6) |
Oooh.
Verse 4
The ghost of a steam train, echoes down my track.
It’s at the moment bound for nowhere, just going round and round, oh.
Playground kids and creaking swings, lost laughter in the breeze.
I could go on for hours and I probably will but I’d sooner put some joy back in.
Chorus 5
||: D5 | D5 (D6) | D5 | D5 (D6) :|| to fade
This town called Malice, yeah.
Oooh. In this town called Malice, yeah.
In this town called Malice, ooh yeah.
Town Called Malice Chords: Learn the progressions
The chords from Town Called Malice are clever, there’s a key change/modal interchange in there, and most interesting to me, when Paul Weller plays an acoustic version, he’s changed the chord riff.
Let’s take a look at all the chords in Town Called Malice using Roman Numerals.
The verse is in the key of D, we move III – II on repeat, then IV – III – V, like this:
||: F#m7 (III) | F#m7 | Em (II) | Em :||
| G (IV) | G | F#m7 (III) | F#m7 |
| A (V) | A | A7 | A7 |
It’s a bit funny to say we’re in D as there is no D chord! However, all other chords point to it so when the chorus arrives and only has a D, this is a massive release! Exactly how to play it requires the TAB.
Here’s a link to the TAB lesson: Town Called Malice – Guitar Lesson with TAB.
Using only chords, I’ve put a 6 chord in brackets, indicating that this is something to add and then take away, like this:
||: D5 | D5 (D6) :||
The chorus is also the section Paul changes when he plays acoustically (there’s TAB available for this as well).
The aforementioned modal interchange or key change happens in the middle 8 as we go to the key of A to first pivot between III and II (just like the verse but in a new key), then go to A, turn that into A7 and we aim for the original key of D again, like this:
||: C#m (III) | C#m | Bm (II) | Bm :||
| A (I) | A | A7 (I becomes V) | A7 |
The A chord is chord I, then changes to chord V (modal interchange) as we go back to the key of D again for a shorter chorus and a breakdown section.
During the breakdown, we play two bars less than expected, this is very clever, as it makes the final verse feel fresh.
Finally, the outro puts the 3rd of the riff first, again, a small but very important arrangement detail that keeps the listener engaged.
In my experience, musicians who care about these tiny details eventually emigrate out of the wedding band scene and start recording albums and touring with artists. They are also the ones who successfully write their own tunes.
Perhaps most importantly, musicians who skip this step of studying and playing other people’s tunes and go straight to writing their own stuff tend to lack substance.
In a nutshell, you have to dig deep to get far.
Here’s a chord chart for Town Called Malice, I find it easier to read this than the chords and lyrics above.
Town Called Malice Chord Chart | PDF + iReal Pro
Should you want to download this chart, here’s a PDF: Town Called Malice Chord Chart PDF.
This chord chart was created using iReal Pro, here’s a link to that file: Town Called Malice iReal Pro. Using this and the iRealPro app, you can change the key.
Town Called Malice was written by an English national treasure!
The Jam‘s Town Called Malice is a proper classic in England. Four decades after its release, this is still a great secret weapon for the working band or DJ.
Originally, the tune was a play on the words of the novel A Town Called Alice and inspired by Paul’s hometown Woking This is great proof that songwriters don’t sit around and wait for inspiration, they seek it out!
Released in 1982, this would become The Jam and Paul Weller’s biggest hit. The critics loved it, seeing this as an English version of Motown, The Guardian said it was a “stomping, Motown-inspired beat” conveying a “sense of pent-up rage and frustrated ambition”, which to me sounds like every frustrated middle-class man in the world… but if The Guardian wants to believe this is a particularly English thing, then be my guest.
Personally, I believe it’s the universal appeal that makes Town Called Malice so special, it conveys what everyone is feeling, everywhere.
Paul Weller’s signature song went to #1 in the U.K. and sold 1.2 million copies. Surprisingly it also did reasonably well in New Zealand, Australia, Holland, and even Belgium of all places. Perhaps the Belgians have a sense of pent-up rage and frustrated ambition too.
In 2023, a new TV series was launched on Sky named after the song, just adding the letter A to it; A Town Called Malice.
Town Called Malice Chords | Related Pages
Town Called Malice | Guitar Lesson + TAB
With this guitar lesson, you can learn to play Town Called Malice by The Jam using TAB and chord analysis.
| F#m7 | F#m7 | Em | Em |
You better stop dreaming of the quiet life, ’cause it’s the one we’ll never know…
Five similar tunes | Chords + Lyrics
- Are You Gonna Be My Girl
- Don’t Look Back Into The Sun
- Sunny Afternoon
- That’s Entertainment
- Wonderwall
The Jam tunes
Formed by Paul Weller and his classmates in 1972, The Jam was a Mod/punk/rock band that released albums between 1975 and 1982.
Their best tunes include Town Called Malice, Down in the Tube Station at Midnight, Going Underground, and That’s Entertainment.
The Jam on the web
About me | Dan Lundholm
This was a guitar lesson about Town Called Malice 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.
