The Grand Optimist Chords

KeyC Capo3st fret TuningStandard Difficulty Plays508

The Grand Optimist by City And Colour is a beginner-friendly guitar song played in the key of C with a capo on the 3st fret. It uses the chords C, Em, Am and G. 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: C Em Am C Em Am 

Verse: 

C          Em             Am 
I fear I'm dying of complications 

      C              Em                    Am 
Complications due to things that I've left undone 

            C                  Em 
That all my debts will be left unpaid 

            Am 
Feel like a cripple without a cane 

           C               Em 
I'm like a jack of all trades 

                  Am 
Who's a master of none 


Verse 2: 

C               Em 
Then there's my father 

Am 
He's always looking on the bright side 

       C            Em                       Am 
Saying things like "son life just ain't that hard" 

          C            Em 
He is the grand optimist 

         Am          
I am the world's poor pessimist 

             C                Em 
You give him buttons sometimes 

                   Am 
And he will escape unscarred 


Pre-Chorus/Chorus:  

G                       Am 
I guess I take after my mother    (2x) 


I used to be quite resilient 
Gain no strength from counting the beads on a rosary  
Now the wound has begun to turn 
Another lesson that has gone unlearned 
But this is not a cry for pitty or for sympathy 

I guess I take after my mother    (2x) 
    	

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