Wandering Ways Chords

KeyD CapoNone TuningStandard Difficulty Plays554

Wandering Ways by Great Big Sea is a beginner-friendly guitar song played in the key of D. It uses the chords D, G, A and Em. 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
  			

    D           G          A          D 
Farewell to the whiskey, tobacco and smoke, 
    D           G          Em      A 
Farewell to the rum and occasional coke, 
    D           G              Em       A   
Farewell to the girls who came ready to play, 
    D           G         A         D 
For this is the end of my wandering ways. 

D, G, A, D 

verse 1 
D           G              A         D 
Woke up one morning to the slam of a door, 
   D        G                  Em         A 
My lady had left me, she could take it no more, 
    D           G        Em              A 
The note on the table in black and white told, 
   D          G       A              D 
My wandering ways had left her heart cold. 

verse 2 
We met last December while out on the tear, 
The laughter it flowed with the wine and the beer, 
I promised her riches, I said I'd be true, 
She gave me a baby and the party was through. 

Chorus 
Farewell to the whiskey, tobacco and smoke, 
Farewell to the rum and occasional coke, 
Farewell to the girls who came ready to play, 
For this is the end of my wandering ways. 

verse 3 
Now I miss my lady, I miss her so much, 
The smell of her hair and her comforting touch, 
And I miss my boy and his ready smile, 
They needed a man but I was a child. 

verse 4 
I hope this song finds her wherever she is, 
And if you see her, would you tell her this, 
For ramblin' and rovin' I don't give a damn, 
The boy that she left has grown into a man. 

Chorus 
Farewell to the whiskey, tobacco and smoke, 
Farewell to the rum and occasional coke, 
Farewell to the girls who came ready to play, 
For this is the end of my wandering ways. 

Instrumental (x6) 
D, G, A, D 
G, D, A, D 

Verse 5 
There's lots to be said for being out on the tear, 
As luck would have it the very next year, 
I met her again and she'd seen how I'd grown, 
Now we still go a ramblin, but we do it at home. 

Verse 6 
Come all you young ramblers wherever you are, 
Beware of the ladies you meet at the bar, 
The promise of pleasure can change your whole life, 
You walk in with a wallet and walk out with a wife. 

Chorus (x2) 
For this is the end of my wandering ways. 
    	

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