London Chords
by The Smiths
London by The Smiths is a more advanced guitar song played in the key of F#. It uses the chords F#, B5, E5, F#m, D5 and C#m. Use the transpose and diagram tools on this page to change the key, see each shape, or simplify the chords.
Basically, this is a very simple Smiths song (off of -Louder Than Bombs-) but
highly effective. What I will mean by the F# riff is just:
F# riff
E ----------------------|
B ----------------------|
G ----------------------| (this is just the F# note being repeated over
D ----------------------| and over again, of course)
A ----------------------|
E -2-2-2--2-2--2-2--2-2-|
Intro: Feedback, F# riff
F# riff
Smoke lingers ~round your fingers
Train, heave on-to Euston
B5 E5 F# riff
Do you think you~ve made the right decision this time?
B5 E5 F# riff
Aaahhh, aaahh, aaahhh...
F# riff
Left your tired family grieving
And you think they~re said because you~re leaving
B5 E5 F# riff
But didn~t you see the Jealousy in the eyes of the ones you left behind
B5 E5 F# riff
And do you think you~ve made the right decision this time?
F# riff
You left your girlfriend on the platform
With this really ragged notion that you~ll return
B5 E5
But she knows that when he goes
F# riff
He really goes
B5 E5 F# riff
And do you think you~ve made the right decision this time?
The ending riff goes something like this (with minor variations):
F#m D5 E5 C#m D5 E5
E ---5---------------|---9---------------||
B ------7------------|------9------------||
G -6------6--7-7-9-9-|-9------9--7-7-9-9-||
D -----------7-7-9-9-|-----------7-7-9-9-||
A -------------------|-------------------||
E -------------------|-------------------||