Tuning: standard
'My Baby Left Me' comprises three chords: D, C & G. Conventional wisdom would dictate
that this is a V-IV-I progression in the key of G. However, the riffs & solos are in D
which instead indicates that this is the true key signature of the song. Thus we have
A I-bVII-IV progression in D, that is, D-C-G.
For the solos (not detailed here), Alvin eschews his usual rapid-fire approach and
instead adopts a less-is-more technique, substituting feel, repetition & vibrato for
his (10th fret) D minor pentatonic phrases.
Intro
| D | D |
verse 1
D
My baby left me
C
She wouldn't tell a lie
G
'Cause she said she would, she did
D
And she left me high and dry
D
My baby left me
C
Last night I heard her cry
G
She wouldn't tell me why
D
She just said bye-bye
riff 1
verse 2
D
I used to sing the blues
C
I thought I sang for real
G
Now I know the feel
D
And it hurts too much
riff 1
D
My baby left me
C
She left me all alone
G
She's never coming home
D
And I want to die
riff 1
verse 3 (double time over riff 2)
D
My baby left me
C
She wouldn't tell a lie
G
'Cause she said she would, she did
D
And she left me high and dry
D
My, my, my, my baby left me
C
Last night I heard her cry
G
She wouldn't tell me why
D
She just said bye-bye
Bye-bye-bye, everybody
Guitar solo
| D | C | G | D |
| D | C | G | D |
(end double time)
verse 4
D
My baby left me
C
She wouldn't tell a lie
G
'Cause she said she would, she did
D
And she left me high and dry
riff 1
D
My baby left me
C
Last night I heard her cry
G
She wouldn't tell me why
D
She just said bye-bye
riff 1
Verse 5 (double time over riff 2)
D
I used to sing the blues
C
I thought I sang for real
G
Now I know the feel
D
And it hurts too much
My my my my my my
D
My baby left me
C
She left me all alone
G
She's never coming home, baby
D
And I want to die
D
My baby left me
C
My baby left me
G
My baby left me
D
My my my my my my
Outro guitar solo
| D | C | G | D |
| D | C | G | D |
| D | C | G | D |
| D | C | G | D |
| D | C | G | D |
| D | C | G | D |
riff 1
D
e|------------------------------|----------------------------|
B|----3--3----------------------|----------------------------|
G|----------4b5r4--2--4---------|----------------------------|
D|-----------------------3b4r3--|--0-------------------------|
A|------------------------------|----------------------------|
E|------------------------------|----------------------------|
riff 1 riff 2
bss bss
D
e|-------------------------------|------------------------------------|
B|-------------------------------|------------------------------------|
G|----7--7-----------------------|----------------7--7----------------|
D|----------9b10r9--7--9---------|-----------7h9--------9b10r9--7--9--|
A|------------------------8b9r8--|--5----/9---------------------------|
E|-------------------------------|------------------------------------|
bss bss bss bss
C G
e|-------------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
B|-------------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
G|------------------5--5---------------|-----------------------------------|
D|-------------5h7--------7b8r7--5--7--|----------------5--5---------------|
A|----3----/7--------------------------|-----------5h7--------7b8r7--5--7--|
E|-------------------------------------|--3----/7--------------------------|
D
e|-------------------------------------|
B|-------------------------------------|
G|-------------------------------------|
D|-------------------------------------|
A|----5--------------------------------|
E|-------------------------------------|
/ slide up
\ slide down
H hammer-on
p pull-off
mu mute
pb pre-bend
co cut off
pr partial release
bss bend slightly sharp
~~ vibrato
========================================================================= 03 Jan 2014