Sierra Leone Chords

KeyC CapoNone TuningStandard Difficulty Plays500

Sierra Leone by Mean Mary is a moderately challenging guitar song played in the key of C. It uses the chords C, G, F, Am, Em and Dm. 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
  			
verse 1 
  C            G             C       G 
I found an old letter caught under a stone 
       C          G          F            G 
By the sea in the lee of the cliffs, all alone 
    C          Am            Em           F 
Its pages were tattered from where it had blown 
   Dm            C         G         C 
To land from the hand of a sailor, unknown 
F            C          G      C 
There by the coast of Sierra Leone 


verse 2 
                  G             C               G 
"Dear Friend", it read, "I have missed you, you know 
         C              G              F        G 
When you walked and you talked with me so long ago 
  C           Am        Em            F 
I shoved you aside as I rushed to and fro 
Dm             C           G         C   F  C  G  C  Am 
Friend, my old friend, who never let go" 

 
Em             F                          C 
Friend, my old friend, who looked out for me 
                         F                         G 
Through squalls and long hauls, while I sailed the sea 
  Am        G        C          F 
I need your watchful eye at the prow 
            C             Am            C 
I know that you know, I’m kneeling here now 


Interlude: C 


verse 3 
   C             G              C              G 
My ship hugs the rocks, and the gale’s my back door 
C           G            F          G 
Lashing and smashing and waging its war 
   C            Am               Em        F 
My crew man the lifeboat, please see them ashore 
    Dm             C         G          C 
All told, it won’t hold even one person more 
F         C      G           C 
Here by Sierra Leone’s rocky floor 


verse 4 
              G         C                 G 
Forgive my neglect, old friend, it was my loss  
  C           G           F              G 
I wait for my fate as the ship starts to toss 
  C             Am        Em           F 
I feel the cold waters, I see the dark moss 
       Dm                C          G           C      F  C  G  C  Am 
Will I sail through this gale or to heaven on a cross? 


Chorus 
Em             F                          C 
Friend, my old friend, who looked out for me 
                         F                         G 
Through squalls and long hauls, while I sailed the sea 
Am            G        C               F 
I’ll take the wheel if you’ll ride the bow 
              C              Am            C 
You know that I know, you’re standing here now 


Interlude 
C 


Verse 5 
     C            G          C      G 
As I stood on the rocks of Sierra Leone 
       C             G        F      G 
By the sea, the blue sea of Sierra Leone 
C            Am             Em         F 
Close by the spot where the letter had blown 
    Dm          C             G         C 
And thought for naught of the sailor, unknown 
F            C          G      C 
There by the coast of Sierra Leone 


Verse 6 
               G              C        G 
Then I saw old letters carved into the stone  
       C             G        F      G 
By the sea, the blue sea of Sierra Leone 
 C              Am            Em            F 
'Thank you, old Friend', just those words, alone  
       Dm           C           G         C 
Carved there like a prayer by a sailor, unknown 
F           C          G      C 
Here on the coast of Sierra Leone 
F           C         G         C 
Here by the hand of a sailor, unknown 
    	

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