We Are Family | Chords + Lyrics
Intro
||: A (A6) | G (G6) | D (Dadd9) | F/G (Fadd9/G) :|| x4
Chorus 1
||: A (A6) | G (G6) | D (Dadd9) | F/G (Fadd9/G) :||
We are family, I got all my sisters with me.
We are family, get up everybody, and sing
We are family, I got all my sisters with me.
We are family, get up everybody and sing.
Verse 1
||: A | Em7 D | A | Em7 D :||
Everyone can see we’re together, as we walk on by.
(And) and we fly just like birds of a feather, I won’t tell no lie.
(All) all of the people around us they say, can they be that close.
Just let me state for the record, we’re giving love in a family dose.
Chorus 2
||: A (A6) | G (G6) | D (Dadd9) | F/G (Fadd9/G) :||
We are family (hey, y’all), I got all my sisters with me. a-ha, a-ha.
We are family, get up everybody and sing (sing it to me).
We are family, I got all my sisters with me.
We are family, get up everybody, and sing.
Verse 2
||: A | Em7 D | A | Em7 D :||
Living life is fun and we’ve just begun to get our share, of this world’s delights.
(High) high hopes we have for the future and our goal’s in sight.
(We) no, we don’t get depressed here’s what we call our golden rule.
Have faith in you and the things you do, you won’t go wrong, oh no, this is our family jewel.
Chorus 3
||: A (A6) | G (G6) | D (Dadd9) | F/G (Fadd9/G) :||
We are family (hey, hey, sing it to me), I got all my sisters with me (yeah, ‘cause I do, sing it to me).
We are family (oh, I can hear you now), get up everybody and sing (oh).
We are family (have faith in you and the things you do, hey, hey), I got all my sisters with me (oh, aw, hey, hey, hey, hey).
| A (A6) | G | D | D D# Em7 G G# A |
We are family (get up, get up y’all), get up everybody, and sing.
Chorus 4
||: A (A6) | G (G6) | D (Dadd9) | F/G (Fadd9/G) :||
We are family (I got my sisters with me), I got all my sisters with me. Everybody, hey, hey, hey.
We are family, (hey now, hey, hey, hey now, hey, hey, hey, now) get up everybody and sing (get up and sing it to me).
We are family.
We Are Family Chords: Learn the progressions
To define exactly what Nile Rodgers plays using just chords is almost impossible, he adds a note here and there and then quickly takes it away. For the chorus, I’ve indicated this with chords in brackets.
||: A (A6) | G (G6) | D (Dadd9) | F/G (Fadd9/G) :||
The 6 extensions on the A and G, and add9 for the D are subtle, remember to add, then take them away quickly. One 16th note is enough!
The Fadd9/G is a funny one, I used to play this as a straight G after the G11, but just changing the note F to a G sounds closer to what Nile plays.
Overall, the idea of the chorus is a balancing act of a modal interchange. It’s like we are in the key of A and D at the same time.
In the key of A, the chorus is, kind of, I – bVIIx – IV – IVm. The F/G feels like a Dm, which is chord IVm.
The main reason I say this is in the key of A is when I play the melody it’s clear it’s an A Minor Pentatonic. Using this scale over a major chord progression is extremely common and originates from blues language.
What’s so clever though is that we could also make the argument that this is in the key of D, comparing it to I Heard It Through The Grapevine, where chord I is minor. In the key of D, the chorus is V – IV – I – Im.
The verse is in the key of D: V – II – I, which makes complete sense. In the key of A, it’s I – Vm – IV. Which somehow feels right too!
||: A | Em7 D | A | Em7 D :||
The verse melody is an A Minor Pentatonic with an added 9th, this is why we can’t define the key.
Talking about music or even worse, reading about it, is like dancing about architecture so using what you’ve just seen here, play along with the video above, try all chords and even play the melody and it will start to make sense.
Speaking of playing along, the original recording is slightly sharp so tune your guitar up a few cents, to 448hz. Using my free guitar tuner, you can change the Hz.
We Are Family is Sister Sledge’s signature song!
Sister Sledge‘s signature song, the title of their most successful album and one of Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards’s most recognizable songs we found in We Are Family.
Initially refused by record company Atlantic, We Are Family went on to become one of the world’s best-known songs.
In 2017, it was recognized as “a culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant, and/or inform or reflect life in the United States” by the National Recording Registry. Pretty high praise indeed!
For the working guitarist, all this means is that you must learn how to play the chords to We Are Family with a rhythm at least similar to how Nile Rodgers did it!
Using chords and lyrics, we can start to map out how this masterpiece was put together, you find this and then also a chord progression analysis that ponders if We Are Family is in the key of A or D, or maybe both!
We Are Family Chords | Related Pages
Five similar tunes | Chords + Lyrics
Chic tunes
Nile Rodgers’ Chic has many well-known Disco hits, but it’s perhaps his work as a producer and writer that he is best known for.
Producing Madonna, Sister Sledge, David Bowie, Diana Ross, Daft Punk, Duran Duran, and Stevie Ray Vaughan, Nile is a legend in the business.
Chic on the web
Sister Sledge tunes
Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards took some time off from their band Chic to create the best Disco album of all time for Sister Sledge in 1979.
This legendary album had classics such as We Are Family, He’s The Greatest Dancer, Lost In Music, and Thinking Of You on it.
Sister Sledge on the web
About me | Dan Lundholm
This was a guitar lesson about We Are Family 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.
