Songnotes

the hand-crafted music library of @davidpots

  

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Free Fallin'

Tom Petty

from the album Full Moon Fever released in 1989

jump to: lyrics / notes & tabs / chord progressions / song info

Lyrics

(Capo 3rd fret)


Intro

    D → G ... G → D → A ...   (x2)


Verse

            D    G     G  D      A
    She's a good girl, loves her mama
    Loves Jesus, and America too
    She's a good girl, crazy about Elvis
    Loves horses, and her boyfriend too

    (intro chords x1)
    
    It's a long day, living in Reseda
    There's a freeway, running through the yard
    I'm a bad boy, 'cause I don't even miss her
    I'm a bad boy, for breaking her heart


Chorus

        And I'm free... free fallin'
        And I'm free... free fallin'

    All the vampires, walking through the valley
    Move west down Ventura Boulevard
    All the bad boys, standing in the shadows
    And the good girls, are home with broken hearts

        And I'm free... free fallin'
        And I'm free... free fallin'

    (intro chords, with "free fallin" background vocal)
    
    I wanna glide down, over Mulholland
    I wanna ride through, naming the sky
    Gonna free fall, out into nothing
    Gonna leave this, world for a while

        And I'm free... free fallin'
        And I'm free... free fallin'
        
    (intro chords, breakdown)

        And I'm free... free fallin'
        And I'm free... free fallin'

Notes & Tabs

Capo on 3rd Fret

If you want to play this song along with the recorded version, you need to add a capo to the 3rd fret. Otherwise, this is absolutely not required.

Main Chord Progression

This song uses the same progression the entire time. At its simplest, you can get away playing only D, G, and A as shown below. You can substitute a Dsus4 (xx0233) in for the G if you like, and similarly mess with the A voicing (playing Asus4, etc)... but keeping it simple as shown here works just fine.

e-|----------2----3-----3---2-----0-----
B-|----------3----3-----3---3-----2-----
G-|----------2----0-----0---2-----2-----
D-|----------0----0-----0---0-----2-----   (repeat)
A-|---------------2-----2---------0-----
E-|---------------3-----3---------------
             D    G     G   D     A 
    "She's a good girl, loves her mama..."

Optional Breakdown Progression/Riff

During the breakdown, I like play the main chord progression using these patterns. You keep your left hands in the same shape the entire time, and simply move them up/down the fretboard.

e-|----------2---/7-----7---\2----/9----
B-|----------3---/8-----8---\3----/10---
G-|----------2---/7-----7---\2----/9----
D-|----------0---------------0----------   (repeat)
A-|-------------------------------------
E-|-------------------------------------
             D    G     G    D     A

Chord Progressions

Intro, Verse, and Chorus

Listen along for strumming pattern.
D → G ... G → D → A ... (repeat)

Song Info

Song: Free Fallin'
Artist: Tom Petty
Album: Full Moon Fever
Year: 1989
Label: MCA Records

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About

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.