Primer Coat Chords

KeyD CapoNone TuningStandard Difficulty Plays534

Primer Coat by Drive-By Truckers is a moderately challenging guitar song played in the key of D. It uses the chords D, G, Em, A, C and Bm. Use the transpose and diagram tools on this page to change the key, see each shape, or simplify the chords.

Transpose
D
Text
16
Speed
  			
Intro: D G Em G x2 

verse 1.   

  D                    G              Em               G 
The old man's out by the swimming pool, he goes there to think 
   D             G               Em                G 
He talks on the phone sometimes, hardly mentions a thing 
D                 G                 Em                   G 
Said he needed it for his knees, he used to swim back in school 
D             G    Em             G 
Graduated in 84, quit drinking in 92 

verse 2. 

D                     G           Em                      G 
He used to call her a basket case for hanging on like she did 
D                  G               Em                     G 
The only girl of a foreman's wife, she'd never let him forget 
D            G                     Em                         G 
It comes to women and they survive but when the same comes to men 
D                       G        Em                      G 
Someone comes for their babies, something dies there and then 

Bridge 

A                  G                D                    C 
Slinging gravel in parking lots and looking tough on the hood 
C                    Bm          A                       G 
A girl as plain as a primer coat leaves nothing misunderstood 
G                        D                  C                 Em 
Her mother and I through trembling lips, a steady hand on his own 
    D               G                          Em             G 
The future of every rebel cause, when all the fight in him's gone 

verse 3. 

D                           G          Em                 G 
My sister's marrying in the spring and everything will be fine 
D                    G       Em                  G 
Mama's planning the wedding, Daddy's planning on crying 
D                          G             Em                 G 
She's slipping out of her apron strings, you best leave him be 
D                            G           Em            G 
He's staring through his own taillights and gathering speed 
    	

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