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The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonight by R.E.M.

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I saw a request awhile back for this, and haven't seen a response.  Here's
my try, constructive criticisms are appreciated.

REM

The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonight
-----------------------------

Intro, same as chorus:
      
D////G//C//Am/
D////G//C//Am/
D////G//C//Am/

The transition to the verses:
  C               Em
e---------0-----|---------0---------
B-------------1-|-------------0-----
G---------------|-------------------
D-----2---------|-------------------
A-3-------------|-----2-------------
E---------------|-0-----------------

Verse 1:
(* For all the verses, the F's, C's,  and Am's are played as barre
chords, the F's in A formation, the C's and Am's in E form.  He 
upstrokes them in pairs, on what sounds like a big hollowbody electric.
The placement of the chords over the words here is inteneded only to 
to denote their *approximate* temporal location.  Listen to the song
and you'll be able to hear and feel where they actually go.*)  

      F  F           F  F               C   C       C   C
This ..
F  F                           F  F                     C  C           C  C
There ...
                   
long, ..
F  F         F  F            Am  Am            C  C
If I ..
F  F        F  F            C   C              C  C 
[Untranscribable Stipe yodel]
     F  F            F  F                    Am  Am                       C C
If I ..

Chorus 1 (*I won't even try to pretend that I know what he's 

D////G//C//Am/
D////G//C//Am/
D////G//C//Am/

C  Em     (*play as noted above for transition*)

Verse 2:
          F  F                 F  F                       C  C        C   C
There's ..

wake up
F  F           F  F        C  C           C  C
But ...

design
F  F        F  F      Am  Am        C  C
With ..
F  F        F  F      C  C          C  C
["Tell her" yodeled]
F  F          F  F        C  C         C  C    
Tell ..
F  F                           F  F             Am  Am    
Only ..
          C C
really ..

Chorus 2:  (*Same as chorus one, including transition*)

D////G//C//Am/
D////G//C//Am/
D////G//C//Am/

C  Em     

Verse 3:  (*Short verse*)
       F  F                         F  F            C  C                      
Baby ..
C  C
sub-..
F  F               F  F                         C  C         C  C            
A can ..
     F  F                 F  F                 Am  Am            C C
A ..

Chorus 3: 

D////G//C//Am/
D////G//C//Am/
D////G//C//Am/

C Em   (*Same as above*)

Bridge:

(*During the bridge, Am and Bm are played as A barres, and the picking 
pattern is like this:

  Bm              Bm               Am               Am 
e---------2------|---------2------|---------0------|---------0------|
B-------------3--|-------------3--|-------------1--|-------------1--|
G----------------|----------------|----------------|----------------|
D-----4----------|-----4----------|-----2----------|-----2----------|
A-2--------------|-2--------------|-0--------------|-0--------------|
E----------------|----------------|----------------|----------------|

The C below is picked in the same pattern, i.e. A str, D str, e str, B str*)

Bm               Bm                   Am             Am
The cat ..
Bm                                     Bm      Am       Am
On ..
Bm                                     Bm           Am                    C
That ..
                Em            Em
The ..


Chorus 3 and outro:

(*The chorus is the same*)

D////G//C//Am/
D////G//C//Am/
D////G//C//Am/

(*But now this transition thing changes to what we'll call the New Transition*)
 C                Em
e---------0-----|-0-------0-----|
B-------------1-|-0-------0-----|
G---------------|-0-------0-----|
D-----2---------|-2-------2-----|
A-3-------------|-2-------2-----|
E---------------|-0-------2-----|

D////G//C//Am/
D////G//C//Am/
D////G//C//Am/

C Em (*New transition*)

D////G//C//Am/
D////G//C//Am/
D////G//C//Am/

C Em (*New transition*)

D////G//C//Am/
D////G//C//Am/
D////G//C//Am/

C         Em                D       D
We got a boogy-woogy groove on this one


Chorus:
D  D/F# D           D/F#        G5      C9   G5                 Am
   Call me ..
D  D/F# D           D/F#        G5      C9   G5                 Am
   Call me ..
D  D/F# D           D/F#        G5      C9   G5                 Am
   Call me ..

The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonight Chords Info

Last Updated: February 17, 2026

Chords: D, G, C, Am, Em, B, A, E, F, Bm, D/F#, G5, C9