Under The Boardwalk | Chords + Lyrics
Intro
||: G (G B D D) | G (G B) :||
Verse 1
| G | G | D | D |
Oh, when the sun beats down and burns the tar up on the roof.
| D | D | G | G |
And your shoes get so hot you wish your tired feet were fireproof.
Bridge 1
| C | C | G | G |
Under the boardwalk, down by the sea, yeah.
| G | D | G | G |
On a blanket with my baby is where I’ll be.
Chorus 1
| Em | Em |
(Under the boardwalk) Out of the sun.
| D | D |
(Under the boardwalk) We’ll be havin’ some fun.
| Em | Em |
(Under the boardwalk) People walking above.
| D | D |
(Under the boardwalk) We’ll be making love.
| Em N.C | Em N.C |
(Under the boardwalk) Boardwalk.
Verse 2
From the park, you hear the happy sound of the carousel.
Mm-hm, you can almost taste the hot dogs and french fries they sell.
Bridge 2
Under the boardwalk, down by the sea, yeah.
On a blanket with my baby is where I’ll be.
Chorus 2
(Under the boardwalk) Out of the sun.
(Under the boardwalk) We’ll be havin’ some fun.
(Under the boardwalk) People walking above.
(Under the boardwalk) We’ll be making love
(Under the boardwalk) Boardwalk.
Solo
| G | G | D | D |
| D | D | G | G |
Bridge 3
Oh, under the boardwalk, down by the sea, yeah.
On a blanket with my baby is where I’ll be.
Chorus 3
(Under the boardwalk) Out of the sun.
(Under the boardwalk) We’ll be havin’ some fun.
(Under the boardwalk) People walking above.
(Under the boardwalk) We’ll be fallin’ in love.
(Under the boardwalk) Boardwalk.
Under The Boardwalk Chords: Learn the progressions
The Drifters Under The Boardwalk is an excellent lesson in learning to recognize the I – V, IV – I, and VI – V movements. My top 10 chord progression list dives deeper into why this is important.
Let’s look at each section to ensure you can hear all of Under The Boardwalk’s chords, starting with the intro, which looks like this.
||: G (G B D D) | G (G B) :||
The notes in brackets are the signature bass line. You can translate this up the octave and incorporate it in an open position G chord.
I’ve made some TAB for this and all other sections, here’s a link to that part of the lesson: Under The Boardwalk – Guitar Lesson with TAB.
The verse (and solo) is just I – V – I. In the key of G, we get these chords:
| G (I) | G | D (V) | D |
| D | D | G | G |
The bridge has one more chord than the verse, it starts on a C (chord IV) and goes IV – I – V – I.
| C (IV) | C | G (I) | G |
| G | D (V) | G | G |
Finally, the chorus. Now we just go between Em – D. That’s chord VI and V. Here are Under The Boardwalk’s chorus chords:
||: Em (VI) | Em | D (V) | D :|| Em N.C | Em N.C |
The TAB lesson looks at how to turn Under The Boardwalk’s chords into one acoustic guitar part, rhythmically inspired by the percussion instrument the Güiro which can be heard on the original recording.
The picking pattern this produces turns out to be good practice, similar to how we play Time Of Your Life in the beginner course and later on, House Of The Rising Sun.
Once you have the TAB down, a simple chord chart will be enough to remind you how to play Under The Boardwalk’s chords. Here’s one I made for you.
Under The Boardwalk Chord Chart | PDF + iReal Pro
If you want to write the bass line for the intro in this chord chart, don’t do it in letters, do it in numbers (intervals). That way, if you change the key, you can keep the numbers as they are.
The structure of this tune couldn’t be simpler, you just repeat everything three times, with the third verse being a solo.
Should you want to download this chart, here’s a PDF: Under The Boardwalk Chord Chart PDF.
This chord chart was created using iReal Pro, here’s a link to that file: Under The Boardwalk iReal Pro.
Using this and the iRealPro app, you can change the key and add the intervals for the intro.
Under The Boardwalk was The Drifter’s last big hit!
Released in 1963, Under The Boardwalk was a huge hit for The Drifters, reaching #4 in the U.S. charts.
A few years earlier, Ben E. King had left the group but they’d soldiered on with lead singer Rudy Lewis instead. The night before the recording of Under The Boardwalk, Rudy died from a heroin overdose.
Most bands would probably have called it a day at this point, or at least cancelled the recording session, but not so The Drifters, who simply got someone else in the group to sing it!
Instead of Ben, or Rudy, vocal duties now fell to Johnny Moore who made Under The Boardwalk their last big hit.
Since the ’63 release, plenty of other bands have recorded it, including The Rolling Stones, Sam & Dave, and even Bruce Willis!
Not to mention all cover bands and solo performers who at least at some point have performed this early ’60s classic.
Under The Boardwalk Chords | Related Pages
Under The Boardwalk | Guitar Lesson + TAB
With this guitar lesson, you can learn to play Under The Boardwalk by The Drifters using TAB and chord analysis.
| G | G | D | D |
Oh, when the sun beats down and burns the tar up on the roof…
Five similar tunes | Chords + Lyrics
The Drifters tunes
With over 60 singers passing through the vocal group, they are amazingly still going, seven decades after the group was formed!
The Drifters‘ biggest tunes include Under The Boardwalk, Save The Last Dance For Me, Money Honey, Sweets For My Sweet, and On Broadway.
The Drifters on the web
About me | Dan Lundholm
This was a guitar lesson about Under The Boardwalk 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.
