Why Don’t You Do Right | Chords + Lyrics
Intro (0:00)
||: Cm Bb | Ab7 G7 :|| x4
Verse 1 (0:22)
| Cm7 N.C | Ab7 G7 | Cm7 N.C | Ab7 G7 |
You had plenty money, 1922, you let other women make a fool of you.
| Fm Bb | Ab7 G7 | Cm7 | Ab G |
Why don’t you do right, like some other men do?
| Fm N.C G7 | Fm N.C G7 | Cm7 | Ab G |
Get out of here and get me some money too.
Verse 2 (0:49)
| Cm7 Bb Abmaj7 Fm | Abmaj7 G7 |
You’re sittin’ there and wonderin’ what it’s all about,
| Cm7 Bb Abmaj7 Fm | Abmaj7 G7 |
you ain’t got no money, they will put you out.
| Fm Bb | Abmaj7 G7 | Cm7 | Ab G |
Why don’t you do right, like some other men do?
| Fm N.C G7 | Fm N.C G7 | Cm7 | (Eb D Eb E) |
Get out of here and get me some money too.
Solo (1:17)
| Fm7 | Db7 C7 | Fm7 | Db7 C7 |
| Bbm | Db7 C7 | Fm7 | Db7 C7 |
| Bbm N.C C7 | Bbm N.C C7 | Fm7 | (G Ab A Bb B) |
Verse 3 (1:44)
| Cm7 | Ab G | Cm7 | Abmaj7 G7 |
If you had prepared twenty years ago, you wouldn’t be a-wanderin’ from door to door.
| Fm | Abmaj7 G7 | Cm7 | Ab G |
Why don’t you do right, like some other men do?
| Fm N.C G7 | Fm N.C G7 | Cm7 | Ab G |
Get out of here and get me some money too.
Outro (2:10)
| Cm7 | Ab7 G7 | Cm7 | Ab6 G |
Why don’t you do right, like some other men do?
| Cm7 | Ab7 G7 | Cm7 | Ab7 G7 |
Like some other men do? Yeah, mm-hm.
| (C G Eb C) | (G A B C) Cmmaj7 | Cmmaj7 |
Why Don’t You Do Right’s chords and progressions
The intro sets up the general idea, a descending jazz blues progression. Both the IV and III chords are dom7.
||: Cm Bb | Ab7 G7 :||
The verse progression uses the same descending pattern of VI – V – IV – IIIx, although now we start with some stops instead of Bb and later on, play an Abmaj7, not dom7.
| Cm7 N.C | Ab7 G7 | Cm7 N.C | Ab7 G7 |
| Fm Bb | Ab7 G7 | Cm7 | Ab G |
| Fm N.C G7 | Fm N.C G7 | Cm7 | Ab G |
Verse 2 has new chords and no stops.
| Cm7 Bb Abmaj7 Fm | Abmaj7 G7 |
| Cm7 Bb Abmaj7 Fm | Abmaj7 G7 |
| Fm Bb | Abmaj7 G7 | Cm7 | Ab G |
| Fm N.C G7 | Fm N.C G7 | Cm7 | (Eb D Eb E) |
The solo modulates up a 4th, to Fm.
| Fm7 | Db7 C7 | Fm7 | Db7 C7 |
| Bbm | Db7 C7 | Fm7 | Db7 C7 |
| Bbm N.C C7 | Bbm N.C C7 | Fm7 | (G Ab A Bb B) |
Verse 3 has yet more variation to the chords.
| Cm7 | Ab G | Cm7 | Abmaj7 G7 |
| Fm | Abmaj7 G7 | Cm7 | Ab G |
| Fm N.C G7 | Fm N.C G7 | Cm7 | Ab G |
Finally, the outro is the “best of” combination.
| Cm7 | Ab7 G7 | Cm7 | Ab6 G |
| Cm7 | Ab7 G7 | Cm7 | Ab7 G7 | (C G Eb C) | (G A B C) Cmmaj7 | Cmmaj7 |
Take the course to get the full story on the chord progression. The lessons include complete TAB of how to play Why Don’t You Do Right, just like in the video lesson above.
Why Don’t You Do Right solo
When playing Jazz standards, it’s important to listen to versions, in this case by Julie London and Peggy Lee, but really, what we want to do is learn how to play solos.
The solo I recorded for Why Don’t You Do Right is simply the melody, although modulated to Fm (that’s a 4th up from Cm).
When you play any jazz standard, you simply must learn the melody and all the chords in order to play around with it. This is the very foundation of jazz.
By seeing what notes the melody uses over the chords, you automatically find which are the most important intervals and therefore when and which modes will work.
If you do this to every song you learn, you will understand the music you play and how it applies to the guitar.
It really is that simple, the hard part is to actually do it.
Background and reemergence
Why Don’t You Do Right is a minor jazz/blues standard that was first released under the name Weed Smokers Dream, in 1936.
In 1942, Peggy Lee sang it under its new name and made Why Don’t You Do Right a worldwide hit. Since then, many other famous singers have performed the song regularly, making it a jazz standard.
In 1988, it again became one of the biggest songs around when Jessica Rabbit sang it in the animated blockbuster Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
My version is an acoustic guitar arrangement based on the “original” Peggy Lee version.
Why Don’t You Do Right chords | Related pages
Why Don’t You Do Right – 8 guitar lessons
Why Don’t You Do Right by Peggy Lee will soon be available as eight step-by-step guitar lessons.
Until then, TAB for what I play in the video is available.
Why Don’t You Do Right – 8 guitar lessons.
Advanced Acoustic Songs
These songs use big chord extensions and sometimes, unique and complex chords that incorporate open strings.
Study these in-depth and you will gain a complete understanding of the guitar fretboard, including how to build any scale, arpeggio, or chord.
Why Don’t You Do Right | 5 similar tunes
Peggy Lee
Peggy Lee was a very successful American jazz and traditional pop singer, songwriter, and actress.
Her most famous performances include Black Coffee, Big Spender, Fever, and Why Don’t You Do Right?
Peggy Lee on the web
