Hey, Jennifer, I've been playing this song for a good decade now, and I'll be
damned if what I play matches Johnny Marr note for
note. The chords, ostensibly, are F#, A, and B in the verse, and C#m, E, and
F# in the chorus (the "You shut your mouth" bit).
Played straight, it sounds horrendously wrong. But with the right rhythm, you
can approach Johnny-ness.
I read in a "Guitar" magazine profile of Johnny five or six years ago that he
actually played this song with his guitar tuned to an
open E (that is, strumming all the open strings would be an E chord; so the
strings were tuned, from lowest to highest,
E-B-E-G#-B-E). It's a tuning that Bo Diddley used in many of his songs, and
if you listen carefully, you'll notice the "Bo Diddley
beat" lurking behind this mope-rock anthem (try playing the song to the
rhythm of "Born to Hand Jive" from "Grease," and you'll get
the picture. Anyway, on to the song.
🎸
Accuracy Rating: - Votes: -
chords (in standard tuning, BTW):
verse chorus
F#ABDAC#mEE-2 - - - 5 4 0
B-2 2 4 7 5 5 0
G-3 2 4 7 6 6 1
D-4 2 4 7 7 6 2
A-4 0 2 5 7 4 2
E-2 - - - 5 - 0
The opening "riff" is just the F# chord (2nd fret position) with loads of
reverb, another way to get that "wavy" feeling from just
playing the one chord is to position your hand to play the F# as I've shown
you above, except hammer on the first-finger barre on
the 2nd fret to begin the riff (^ = downstroke. v = upstroke):
|F# ^ v ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ | do this twice; the second time the lead guitarist (on
tour, Johnny) plays:
E-----2-2-2-2-2-2-2 | (4/5\4) just before the rhythm guitarist (on tour,
Craig Gannon) plays the next chords
B-----2-2-2-2-2-2-2 |
G-3---3-3-3-3-3-4-3 |
D-4---4-4-4-4-2-2-2 |
A-4---4-4-4-4-4-4-4 |
E-0(h)2-2-2-2-2-2-2 |
so the chord sequence for the intro and verse is:
|F#|F#|F#|A/B/|
How Soon Is Now ?
F#
I ..
ABF#
Of ..
I ..
AB
Of ..
DA
You ..
C#mEF#
I ..?
DA
I am ..
C#mE |F#|F#|F#|A/B/|
Just ..
F#
I am ..
ABF#
Of ...
I am ..
AB
Oh, ..
DA
You ..
DA
You ..
C#mEF#
I go ..
DA
I am ...
C#mE |F#|F#|F#|A/B/|
Just ..
DA
There's ..
C#mEF#
You ..
D
So ..
A
And ..
C#mE
And ..
|F#|F#|F#|A/B/|
And ..
DA
When ..
C#mEF#
Well, ..
DA
See ..
C#mEF#
And ..
DA
You ..
C#mEF#
I go ..
DA
I am ..
C#mE |F#|F#|F#|A/B/|
Just ..
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