15 Cuban Minutes chords by Jimmy Buffett

Chords with lyrics

Tuning: Standard (E MajorE A augmentedA D MajorD G+G BB E MajorE)


Chorus:
C majorC       G+G    G+G       C majorC
Fifteen Cuban minutes, fairly safe to say,
  C majorC       G+G    G+G        C majorC
can feel more like an hour  or the entire day.

Bridge:
    E7E7                 A minorAm
In the land where time means nothing, not hard to slip away,
   D7D7             G+G
El Diablo baila sábado, y los curas on Sunday.

Chorus:
C majorC       G+G      G+G       C majorC
Fifteen Cuban minutes, the end is out of sight;
    C majorC        G+G         G+G      C majorC
so I'll meet you by the cannon on the the  Malecón tonight.

Verse 1:
  G+G      C majorC    G+G        C majorC
It started in Havana in nineteen-twenty-one,
    G+G       C majorC      G+G      C majorC
on the schooner Chiquimula where a party had begun.
G+G      C majorC      G+G      C majorC
Primer cumpleaños, for a tiny lad at sea,
  G+G       C majorC        G+G     C majorC
and in my heart is still that faded photo of JD.

Verse 2:
G+G         C majorC    G+G       C majorC
Signal flags were flying atop the entire fleet,
         G+G       C majorC       G+G        C majorC
while the rhumba band from Santiago played the birthday boy to sleep.
G+G          C majorC       G+G       C majorC
That's the tale was told to me, a seadog nursery rhyme,
    G+G       C majorC         G+G       C majorC
and the music that was handed down from a long forgotten time.

Chorus:
C majorC       G+G    G+G        C majorC
Fifteen Cuban minutes get lost in the fog,
C majorC          G+G          G+G       C majorC
life's a test, just do your best, like a  three-legged dog.

Bridge:
    E7E7                   A minorAm
In the land where time means nothing, you can often lose your mind;
  D7D7                  G+G
now place your bets, or better yet, just join a conga line.

Chorus:
C majorC       G+G      G+G        C majorC
Fifteen Cuban minutes can turn night into day;
    C majorC       G+G   G+G        C majorC
they're dancing on the tables  down at El Frente.

Verse 3:
 G+G      C majorC       G+G       C majorC
Another entry in the log, my mind put to a test,
   G+G         C majorC        G+G         C majorC
when we sailed with the Hemmingways on a schooner from Key West.
    G+G       C majorC      G+G       C majorC
They'd come to make a movie about long forgotten times;
G+G        C majorC         G+G      C majorC
see old friends, drink some rum and visit family shrines.

Verse 4:
  G+G        C majorC        G+G       C majorC
So, how the hell did we wind up, just tagging right along?
     G+G       C majorC       G+G        C majorC
They were looking for a soundtrack and heard one of my songs.
   G+G      C majorC         G+G      C majorC
So, I sang Havana Daydreamin', just me and my guitar,
    G+G      C majorC         G+G        C majorC
to some very stern KGB-guys, trying to blend in at the bar.

Chorus:
    C majorC       G+G       G+G     C majorC
So for fifteen Cuban minutes, la bodega did ignite;
  C majorC     G+G   G+G        C majorC
bongos y tumbadoras  kept us up all night.

Bridge:
 E7E7            A minorAm
Mojitos by the minute, the crowd stacked at the door;
D7D7            G+G
niños, dogs, and roosters frolicked on the floor.

Chorus:
C majorC       G+G    G+G         C majorC
Fifteen Cuban minutes,  lots of give and take;
C majorC        G+G        G+G        C majorC
birthdays always come and go but  not a birthday cake.

Interlude 1:
A minorAm   E MajorE    A minorAm   E MajorE
A minorAm   E MajorE    A minorAm   E MajorE
A minorAm   E MajorE    A minorAm   E MajorE
A minorAm   E MajorE    Dm7/9  G+G

Interlude 2: (Steel Drums)
A minorAm   E MajorE    A minorAm   E MajorE
A minorAm   E MajorE    A minorAm   E MajorE
A minorAm   E MajorE    A minorAm   E MajorE
A minorAm   E MajorE    Dm7/9  G+G

Chorus:
C majorC       G+G      G+G     C majorC
Fifteen Cuban minutes are easy to embrace,
  C majorC      G+G         G+G      C majorC
no calendars or watch to wind, no schedules to chase.

Bridge:
    E7E7                 A minorAm
In the land where time means nothing this phrase it cries, "Delay!"
D7D7            G+G
Put it on a tee shirt and everyone will pay.

Chorus:
    C majorC     G+G   G+G     C majorC
You say minutos Cubanos, dejace la drama;
 C majorC      G+G G MajorG     C majorC
aqui no hay AC solo la ventana.

Verse 5:
N.C.
Music makes use happy, it's in our chromosomes;
  N.C.
no matter where we wander, music takes us home.
  N.C.
It started on the island, disbursed by sweet songbirds
  N.C.
who flew north 'cross the Gulf Stream and everybody heard.

Verse 6:
    N.C.
Now the clock just keeps on ticking, I hear it everywhere I go,
   N.C.
and I sing along in cars and bars along Calle Ocho.
  N.C.
God bless Ricky Ricardo and Little Ricky, too,
   N.C.
they set my mind on island time. How about you?

Verse 7:
  G+G      C majorC      G+G        C majorC
The Greeks and Egyptians had sundials in the sand,
G+G      C majorC         G+G        C majorC
now we have atomic clocks that measure the Big Bang.
   G+G      C majorC         G+G       C majorC
Still I prefer the simple way, let's take it to the street;
   G+G        C majorC    G+G         C majorC
more walking and less talking, tap time with your feet.

Chorus:
C majorC       G+G       G+G         C majorC
Fifteen Cuban minutes still stands the test of time,
C majorC      G+G       G+G         C majorC
like a Salas photograph or  Kenneth Patchen rhyme.

Bridge:
     E7E7            A minorAm
If you're looking for a launchpad, no news, just hearsay,
   D7D7             G+G
don't bother with the WiFi, fuck Siri, ask Jose!

End-Chorus:
C majorC       G+G    G+G         C majorC
Fifteen Cuban minutes, there's no end in sight;
   C majorC        G+G         G+G      C majorC
I'll meet you by the cannon on the the  Malecón tonight.