Songnotes
the hand-crafted music library of @davidpots
Intro
C ... D ... G ... Em ... (x2)Verse
C D I used to rule the world G Em Seas would rise when I gave the word Now in the morning I sleep alone Sweep the streets I used to own (intro chords x2) I used to roll the dice Feel the fear in my enemies eyes Listen as the crowd would sing "Now the old king is dead, long live the king!" One minute I held the key Next the walls were closed on me And I discovered that my castles stand Upon pillars of salt and pillars of sandChorus
C D I hear Jerusalem bells are ringing G Em Roman cavalry choirs are singing Be my mirror, my sword, and shield My missionaries in a foreign field For some reason I can't explain Once you go, it was never Never an honest work That was when I ruled the world (intro chords x2) It was the wicked and wild wind Blew down the doors to let me in Shattered windows and the sound of drums People couldn't believe what I'd become Revolutionaries wait For my head on a silver plate Just a puppet on a lonely string Oh, who would ever want to be king I hear Jerusalem bells are ringing Roman cavalry choirs are singing Be my mirror, my sword, and shield My missionaries in a foreign field For some reason I can't explain I know St. Peter won't call my name Never an honest work That was when I ruled the worldBreak
| C ... | Em ... | (x3) | D ... | D ... | (intro chords x2, with "ohhh....") I hear Jerusalem bells are ringing Roman cavalry choirs are singing Be my mirror, my sword, and shield My missionaries in a foreign field For some reason I can't explain I know St. Peter won't call my name Never an honest work But that was when I ruled the worldOutro
| C ... | D ... | Bm ... | Em ... | (x2, with "Ooooh..." and fade)
To play along with the album recording of this song, add a capo to the 1st fret (and play the chords above). You can play it without a capo and it will sound fine -- but will be one half step below the tuning of the album version.
Here are the chords used to play this song -- each chord is shown with a few variations. Since it is the same progression repeated over and over, you may want to find different ways to play these chords (open vs. bar chords) to spice things up -- especially during the intro, breaks, and heightened verses.
e-|----0----2----3----0-----2----- ----3----5----3----7-----7----- B-|----1----3----0----0-----3----- ----5----7----3----8-----7----- G-|----0----2----0----0-----4----- ----5----7----4----9-----7----- D-|----2----0----0----2-----4----- or ----5----7----5----9-----9----- A-|----3---------2----2-----2----- ----3----5----5----7-----9----- E-|--------------3----0----------- --------------3----------7----- C D G Em Bm C D G Em Bm
| C . . . | D . . . | G . . . | Em . . . | (x2)
| C . . . | D . . . | G . . . | Em . . . | (repeat)
| C . . . | D . . . | G . . . | Em . . . | (repeat)
| C ... | Em ... | (x3)
| D ... | D ... |
| C ... | D ... | Bm ... | Em ... | (x2)
Song: Viva La Vida
Artist: Coldplay
Album: Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends
Year: 2008
Label: Parlophone
Want to support Songnotes? If you would like to donate a dollar or few, that would make my day. I've spent over 1000+ hours building this site and transcribing these songs -- and happily make everything available freely. Visit my PayPal page if you'd like to toss something back my way.
Thanks so much!
Here are some of the video lessons I have made recently. I typically aim to create 3-4 lessons per month. Subscribe on YouTube to be sure you never miss a new lesson.
View my notes & tabs for Dead Flowers →
View my notes & tabs for Issues →
View my notes & tabs for 2U →
View my notes & tabs for Uh Huh →
View my notes & tabs for Meet Me in the Hallway →
View my notes & tabs for Stairway to Heaven →
View my notes & tabs for Wish You Were Here →
View my notes & tabs for Shape of You →
View my notes & tabs for Simple Man →
View my notes & tabs for Highwayman →
View my notes & tabs for Audition (The Fools Who Dream) →
View my notes & tabs for Strangers →
View my notes & tabs for A Lovely Night →
View my notes & tabs for this song →
Here's a list of the 173 songs I've added to the site since December 2012. Each song was added by me personally.
Songs are grouped by the year they were released.
My name is David Potsiadlo, and I created Songnotes to share my collection of guitar tabs, chords, and lyrics for my favorite songs.
Since I started playing guitar over 10 years ago, I've often been frustrated by the preponderance of mediocre and incomplete song tabs littered across the internet. To combat this, I started keeping my own collection of notes for each song I learn -- always taking the extra time to make sure accuracy and completeness are never compromised. Years later, my collection grew to the point where I knew I had to share it online with fellow aspiring musicians.
In December 2012, I began designing & developing a website that became Songnotes. Here, I share my personal collection of hand-crafted music notation with all those online. I hope you enjoy.
You can also view my personal website or follow me on Twitter / Dribbble / GitHub / LinkedIn.
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