Downeaster Alexa Chords

KeyC CapoNone TuningStandard Difficulty Plays550

Downeaster Alexa by Billy Joel is a more advanced guitar song played in the key of C. It uses the chords Am, G, C, F, Dm, C/E, G/B and Em. Use the transpose and diagram tools on this page to change the key, see each shape, or simplify the chords.

Transpose
C
Text
16
Speed
  			Intro: |Am   G|Am   |Am   G|Am   |

         C          G         Am
Well I'm on the Downeaster Alexa
        C                G              F
And I'm cruising through Block Island Sound.
       F           C                Dm
I have chartered a course to the Vineyard.
         C       G              F C F    
But tonight I am Nantucket bound.

           G              C/E                F
We took on diesel back in Montauk yesterday,
              G                  Am                  G/B   F
And left this morning from the bell in Gardiner's Bay.
              G               C/E             F
Like all the locals here I've had to sell my home,
             G                  Am                G/B
Too proud to leave, I worked my fingers to the bone

So I could own my Downeaster Alexa,
And I go where the ocean is deep.
There are giants out there in the canyons.
And a good captain can't fall asleep.

I got bills to pay and children who need clothes.
I know there's fish out there but where, God only knows.
They say these waters aren't what they used to be.
But I've got people back on land who count on me.

So when you see my Downeaster Alexa,
And if you work with the rod and the reel,
Tell my wife I am trolling Atlantis,
And I still have my hands on the wheel.

Instrumental Bridge: |Am   G|Am   |Am   G|Am   |
                     |Em    |     |      |     |
                     |Am    |     |      |     |
            
Now I drive my Downeaster Alexa
More and more miles from shore ev'ry year,
Since they told me I can't sell no stripers.
And there's no luck in sword fishing here.

I was a bayman like my father was before.
Can't make a living as a bayman anymore.
There ain't much future for a man who works the sea.
But there ain't no island left for islanders like me.

          C G   Am
Ya, ya, ya   yo     
          C G   Am
Ya, ya, ya   yo     
          C G   Am
Ya, ya, ya   yo     
          C G   Am
Ya, ya, ya   yo
    	

Chord diagrams

Guitar tuner

--
Start the tuner and play a string

Reference tones

Standard tuning, lowest to highest. Click a string to play it; the string the mic hears is highlighted.

Click Start tuner and allow microphone access. The needle centers and turns green when a string is in tune (within 5 cents).
No microphone? You can still tap any string above to hear its exact reference pitch.

Metronome

100 BPM Andante