Take It Back chords by Ed Sheeran

Chords with lyrics

As played at Royal Albert Hall (24/3/2014)


Basically you can repeat the following nearly through the whole song:
DmDm // DmDm // Bb majorBb // C majorC A7/C#

   DmDm   Bb majorBb   C majorC     A7/C#     A augmentedA  A augmentedA *
E----(5)----(1)----(3)------0--------0--------x---5----------------|
B-----6------3------5------(5)------(5)-------x---5----------------|
G-----7------3------5-------5---or---6--------2---6----------------|
D-----7------3------5-------5--------5--------2---7----------------|
A-----5------1------3-------4--------4--------0---7----------------|
E-----x------x------x-------x--------x--------0---5----------------|

I think when Ed Sheeran strums he mostly uses the A,D,G strings only and when he picks the A,G,B strings.

[Verse 1]

DmDm
I'm not a rapper, I'm a singer with a flow
I've got a habit of spitting
quicker lyrics you know
       Bb majorBb
You found me ripping the writtens
out of the pages they sit in
     C majorC
And never once I get bitten,
      A7/C#
cause plagiarism is hidden
       DmDm
Which I would sit on the rhythm,
prisoner with a vision
Signs of a label, but didn't listen to any criticism
      Bb majorBb
Thought you knew but you didn't
Perk your ears up and listen
C majorC
Studio with a system
             A7/C#
And you could say that I'm driven
       DmDm
And now it's on to the next saga,
we drink the best lager
I never tried to win you over
like your stepfather
Bb majorBb
I do my own thing now, and get respect after
C majorC           A7/C#
And I'm avoiding cocaine like it was Get Carter
DmDm
For four years I never had a place to stay
but it's safe to say that it kept me grounded like a paperweight
  Bb majorBb
At 16 years old yeah I moved out of my home
   C majorC             A7/C#
I was Macy Gray I tried to say goodbye and
I choked
      DmDm
And we've been sleeping at the subway station, sleeping with a movie star and adding to the population
       Bb majorBb
Not my imagination, I don't want to relax
              A augmentedA
But would it hurt your reputation,
        A augmentedA *
if I put it on wax?
I take it back now

[Chorus]

DmDm
Mmh Mmh Mmh Mmh
              Bb majorBb
Come on and take it back now
   C majorC       A7/C#     DmDm
Come on and take it back for us
DmDm               Bb majorBb
Don't you fade into the back love,
 C majorC  A7/C#
nooooohh


[Verse 2]
            DmDm
Take it back with the rhythm and blues
and my rap pack I'll be singing the news,
trying to act like Jack Black when I repeat the school
Bb majorBb
I'll make a beat with my feet by just singing a loop,
C majorC            A7/C#
bringing the lyrics to prove that I can fit in these shoes
DmDm
And keeping the truth through the vocal booth,
stars burst out on the scene like an opal fruit,
      Bb majorBb
they try to take aim like beckham when he goes to shoot,
     C majorC
but then again that's what they're supposed to do,
A7/C#
and I'm supposed to be calm,
   DmDm
I tattooed the lyrics onto my arm, whispering everything that happens is from now on,
    Bb majorBb
I'll be willing to start again by the end of the song,
       C majorC              A7/C#
still they're claiming that I handled it wrong,
             DmDm
but then I never had an enemy, except the NME,
but I'll be selling twice as many copies as the magazines will ever be,
Bb majorBb
with only spectacles ahead of me on festival fees,
C majorC          A7/C#
healthier than a Dalmatian, no pedigree,
DmDm
singing for the masses,
rubber dinghy rapids,
I keep this rapping a habit
and keep on passioning magic,
Bb majorBb
I'm battling with respect,
            C majorC
I don't know if I'll have it,
           A augmentedA
this songs from the heart,
cover the plaque
I'll take it back now


[Chorus]

DmDm
Mmh Mmh
              Bb majorBb
Come on and take it back now
   C majorC       A7/C#     DmDm
Come on and take it back for us
DmDm                Bb majorBb
Don't you fade into the back love,
 C majorC  A7/C#
nooooohh


[Verse 3]      (Pick here! Use A,G,B strings and second version of A/C#A/C#)

Take it back now
DmDm
I don't ever wanna be perfect,
Cause I'm a singer that you
never wanna see shirtless
  Bb majorBb
I accept the fact that someone's got to win worst-dressed,
      C majorC           A7/C#
Taking my first steps into the scene,
giving me focus
DmDm
Putting on a brave face, like Timothy Dalton
Considering a name change,
thinking it was hopeless
 Bb majorBb
Rhyming over recordings,
avoiding tradition
      C majorC
Cause everyday some lyrics
     A7/C#
and a melody can be written
  DmDm
Now absence can make your heart break
But drinking absinthe can change your mind-state, vividly,
I need to let my liver be
Bb majorBb
And I say it again,
           C majorC
Living life on the edge,
         A7/C#
with a closed hand full of friends
 Is good advice from a man
DmDm
who took his life on the road with me
and I hope to see him blowing up globally
             Bb majorBb
Cause that's how it's supposed to be
screaming out vocally
       C majorC
It might seem totally impossible
  A7/C#
achieving life's dreams
  DmDm
But, but I just write schemes
I'm never having a stylist, giving me tight jeans
          Bb majorBb
Madison Square Garden is where I might be
But more likely,
      C majorC
You'll find me in the back
     A7/C#
room of a dive bar with my mates
     DmDm
Having a pint with McDaid
Discussing records we made
And every single second knowing
that we'll never betray
         Bb majorBb
The way we were raised
Remembering our background
Sat down
C majorC
That's how we put it out
   A7/C#
It's time to take it back now


[Chorus]

DmDm
Mmh Mmh Mmh Mmh
               Bb majorBb
Come on and take it back now
   C majorC       A7/C#     DmDm
Come on and take it back for us
DmDm               Bb majorBb
Don't you fade into the back love,
   C majorC     A7/C#
nooooohh    uuuuuuuhh

DmDm
Mmh Mmh Mmh Mmh
               Bb majorBb
Come on and take it back now
   C majorC        A7/C#     DmDm
Come on and take it back for us
DmDm                Bb majorBb
Don't you fade into the back love,
  C majorC  A7/C#
nooooohh


[Verse 4]      (Strum every chord only once here!)

     DmDm
My dreams keep me awake at night
            DmDm
written in rhymes, and I, deliver the hype am I
just living the lie
    Bb majorBb
with this you must know that the number's just sold woah
C majorC                A7/C#
Will keep me going through the tough times, dream with me
DmDm
We forget 90 percent of it when we wake
     DmDm
But the other 10 per cent it never fades
         Bb majorBb
Dreaming dreams, day to day goals,
                  C majorC
Stay awake loads, try to make the cut like the
         A7/C#
paper or razor blade, oh, never give up
DmDm
And just remember just to hold out more
DmDm
Couple years ago
I couldn't just control that thought
        Bb majorBb
You'd find me buskin' on the street
When it was cold outdoors
       C majorC
And now I'm sweating on the stage
   A7/C#
of a sold out tour
    DmDm
Writing love songs for the sake of it,
never to make a hit
   DmDm
You can't fake talent and work ethic just to make it quick
Bb majorBb
I'm not a rapper I'm a singer, I just take the piss and
C majorC                 A7/C#
Most the other guys are kids that pose his little sister
     DmDm
has to babysit, that's just a way it is
      DmDm
Dreams you own, just set your goals
and have the utmost faith in it
Bb majorBb
Tread your own path, you'll never make it as a follower,
C majorC                    A7/C#
you'll never know where you will go or where you'll be tomorrow

Other versions of Take It Back

Alternative guitar chords and tabs for Take It Back by Ed Sheeran