We Don’t Need Another Hero | Chords + Lyrics
Intro
| B | F# (F#sus2) | B | F# (F#sus2) |
| B/E | F# (F#sus2) | C#5 (riff) | C#5 (riff) |
Verse 1
| B | F# (F#sus2) | B | F# (F#sus2) |
Out of the ruins, out from the wreckage.
| B/E | F# (F#sus2) | C#5 | C#5 |
Can’t make the same mistake this time.
| B/G# | F# (F#sus2) | B/G# | F# (F#sus2) |
We are the children, the last generation (the last generation, generation).
| B/E | F# (F#sus2) | C#5 (riff) | C#5 (riff) |
We are the ones they left behind.
Bridge 1
| E | F# C#madd9 | C#madd9 |
And I wonder when we are ever gonna change, change.
| C#madd9 E | E F# | C#madd9 |
Living under the fear, ’til nothing else remains.
Chorus 1
| F# E/G# F# | E F# |
We don’t need another hero.
| F# E/G# F# | E F# |
We don’t need to know the way home.
| F# E/G# F# | E F# | C#m | C#m |
All we want is life beyond, the Thunderdome.
Verse 2
Looking for something, we can rely on.
There’s gotta be something better out there.
Oh, love and compassion. Their day is coming (coming).
All else are castles built in the air.
Bridge 2
| E | F# C#madd9 | C#madd9 |
And I wonder when we, are ever gonna change, change.
| C#madd9 E | E F# | C#madd9 | C#madd9 |
Living under the fear, ’til nothing else remains. All the children say:
Chorus 2
We don’t need another hero.
We don’t need to know the way home.
| F# E/G# F# | E F# | C#m B |
All we want is life beyond, the Thunderdome.
Middle 8
| A | F# |
So, what do we do with our lives?
| A | C#m |
We leave only a mark.
| D | E | D | E N.C |
Will our story shine like a light, or end in the dark? Give it all or nothing!
Solo
||: F# E/G# F# | E F# :|| x4
Chorus 3 (as chorus 1)
We don’t need another hero (hero, hero).
We don’t need to know the way home.
All we want is life beyond, the Thunderdome. All the children say:
Chorus 4
(We don’t need another hero). We don’t need another hero.
(We don’t need to know the way home) Ooh.
All we want is life beyond, the Thunderdome.
End
||: C#m :|| (hold)
We Don’t Need Another Hero Chords: Learn the progressions
Full of slash chords, We Don’t Need Another Hero reveals its main trick already during the intro as it goes between chords I and V, but changes the bass note the third time, like this:
||: B (I) | F# (V) :||
| B/E | F# | C#5 (II) | C#5 |
The B/E is often described as an Emaj7 but that’s not 100% correct. Try it and you’ll see. The C#5 is chord II, and where we get the signature bass line riff.
When the verse starts, we get this exact same progression again only for it to repeat with another bass note twist; a B/G#.
This could be described as a G#m7 which (contrary to Emaj7) would be correct, although writing it as B/G# highlights that we are playing the same chord, just changing the bass note.
The F# has a little motif which I like to describe as an F#sus2. I’ve put it in brackets with chords and lyrics as it appears and then goes away. For the chord chart below I wrote it as a smaller chord.
You’ll find TAB for how to play this keyboard line on the guitar in the other lesson, here’s a link: We Don’t Need Another Hero – Guitar Lesson with TAB.
The bridge is very strange in terms of how the chords are positioned. Over six bars, the C#m chord takes up 8 beats but starts halfway through bar 2, very odd.
I almost put in two 2/4 bars before I came to my senses and wrote it like this:
| E | F# C#madd9 | C#madd9 |
| C#madd9 E | E F# | C#madd9 |
When we play the bridge again, there’s another bar of C#m at the end.
Speaking of odd placements, the chorus starts on beat 2. Just like Miley Cyrus Flowers did almost 40 years later.
We go from V – I/3 – V – IV – V, which is very unusual. Looks like this:
| F# E/G# F# | E F# |
Lastly, the middle 8 changes the key to A (a tone down) as it goes:
| A (I) | F# (VIx) | A (I) | C#m (VI) |
| D (IV) | E (V) | D | E N.C |
Here’s a chord chart I made for you.
We Don’t Need Another Hero Chord Chart | PDF + iReal Pro
It took me all day to work out all these chords and create a chart where We Don’t Need Another Hero’s chords would fit on one page.
Should you want to download my chord chart, here’s a PDF: We Don’t Need Another Hero Chord Chart PDF.
This chart was created using iRealPro, here’s a link to that file: We Don’t Need Another Hero iReal Pro. Using this and the iRealPro app, you can change the key.
Did Tina Turner’s songwriters copy themselves?
There’s a striking similarity between We Don’t Need Another Hero (Thunderdome) and What’s Love Got To Do With It.
It’s almost like they are two versions of the same song or at least they seem to have come from the same writing session.
They were released a year apart and written by the same songwriting team, Graham Lyle and Terry Britten. Incidentally, these two tunes are the biggest hits they had together, and individually.
We Don’t Need Another Hero wasn’t part of an album but instead featured on the soundtrack for Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (Mel Gibson, 1985).
I guess if you find a winning concept, stick with it!
We Don’t Need Another Hero Chords | Relate Pages
We Don’t Need Another Hero | Guitar Lesson + TAB
With this guitar lesson, you can learn to play We Don’t Need Another Hero by Tina Turner using TAB and chord analysis.
| B | F# (F#sus2) | B | F# (F#sus2) |
Out of the ruins, out from the wreckage…
Five similar tunes | Chords + Lyrics
Tina Turner tunes
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
About me | Dan Lundholm
This was a guitar lesson about We Don’t Need Another Hero 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.
