I'm Gonna Try To Be That Way Chords

KeyE CapoNone TuningStandard Difficulty Plays425

I'm Gonna Try To Be That Way by Johnny Cash is a moderately challenging guitar song played in the key of E. It uses the chords E, B7 and A. Use the transpose and diagram tools on this page to change the key, see each shape, or simplify the chords.

Transpose
E
Text
16
Speed
  			
Verse 

E                B7            E     
Once upon a time there lived a man  Hmm Hmm 
A                           E 
Many years ago in a foreign land 
   A                       E 
He knew how to live right, tried to be a light 
                 B7      E 
Gave everybody a helping hand 


  E              B7      E 
I'm gonna try to be that way Hmm Hmm 
 E               B7      E 
I'm gonna try to be that way 
   A                         E 
Do the kind of things Lord a man oughta do 
A                        E 
Say the kind of things a man oughta say 
E                B7      E 
I'm gonna try to be that way 


Verse 

   E             B7    E 
He never done anybody wrong 
   A                        E 
He tried to help everybody 'long 
   A                        E 
He brought a better land to make a better man 

Out of the rich or the poor 
                   E 
Or the weak or the strong 

E                        B7        E 
And he preached love and brotherhood 
   A                             E 
He went around doin' good, doin' good 
A                  E 
Everywhere he went they knew that he was sent 
                              B7          E 
And the people started actin' like they should 


  E              B7      E 
I'm gonna try to be that way Hmm Hmm 
 E               B7      E 
I'm gonna try to be that way 
   A                         E 
Do the kind of things Lord a man oughta do 
A                        E 
Say the kind of things a man oughta say 
E                B7      E 
I'm gonna try to be that way 
    	

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