Close To You chords

by The Carpenters

Close To You was written by Burt Bacharach & Hal David. The song was a huge hit for The Carpenters, a brother-sister Duo - Karen and Richard Carpenter. They recorded the song in 1970 and released the single on May 15, 1970 from the album of the same name.
Music: Key of G Major with a key change to A♭ Major in 4/4 time at approx. 88 - 90 bpm
Chords in G Major: C, C6, Cmaj7, C/9, D, B, B7sus4, Bm7, Bm7/E, Em, Em7, E7, G7, Gmaj7
Chords in A♭ Major: D♭, D♭6, D♭maj7, D♭/9, D♭maj9, C7sus4, Cm7, B♭m7/E♭, E♭7, F7, Fm7, A♭, A♭maj7, A♭maj9... all charts below.

Chart Legend

Numbered Circles: Fingers used to play chords O: Optional Note
Barre Line: One finger holds down multiple strings R: Root Note
Unmarked strings: Play open X: Don't play string B: Bass Note

Chords in G Major:

Chords in Ab Major:

Chords in G Major:

Chords in Ab Major:

Close To You

Song Key is highlighted - Transpose to any other key

            Cadd9     C    Cadd9     C    Cadd9     C     Cadd9
Intro: 4/4 |        -     |        -     |         -     |        |

          Cadd9                 B7sus4   B
1. Why do birds sud-den-ly ap-|-pear  -    | 
          Bm7           Em7     Em
   Ev-‘ry time you are |near       |
    C        Cadd9    C            Cadd9
   Just like me       They long to be
   Gmaj7           Gmaj7      
   Close to you  |       (Why do)|
   

          Cadd9                    B7sus4   B
2. Why do stars fall down from the |sky        |
          Bm7            Em7    Em
   Ev-‘ry time you walk |by  -     |
   C         Cadd9    C            Cadd9
   Just like me       They long to be
   Gmaj7            G7
   Close to you |        |
  
        C      C6       Cmaj7                C       C6     Cmaj7  C6  
Chorus: On the day that you were born___ The an-gels got to-geth-er
               Bm7                             Bm7/E     E7
        And de-ci-ded to cre-ate a dream come |true   -     |
                Cadd9                C
        So they sprin-kled moon dust in your hair
           Cmaj7               C6               D   
        Of gold and star-light in your eyes of blue...|      |
        
           
           Cadd9                    B7sus4    B
3. That is why    All the girls in |town   -    |
           Bm7           Em7      Em
   Fol-low you    All a-|round -     |
   C         Cadd9    C          Cadd9
   Just like me       They long to be
   Gmaj7           Gmaj7         
   Close to you |           |  ...key change
   
           Dbadd9        C7sus4      C       Cm7       Fm7
Instr: |              |          -      |          |           | 
 
         Db    Dbadd9     Db     Dbadd9     Dbmaj7     Dbmaj7
       |     -         |      -          |          |          |
      

        Db     Db6       Dbmaj7                Db      Db6    Dbmaj7  Db6  
Chorus: On the day that  you  were born___ The ang-els got to-ge-ther
               Cm7                           F7
        And de-ci-ded to cre-ate a dream com true
                Dbadd9               Db
        So they sprin-kled moon dust in your hair
           Dbmaj7              Db6             Bbm7/Eb     Eb7
        Of gold and star-light in your eyes of blue...   |     (That is)|
        
   
           Dbadd9                    C7sus4     C
4. That is why    All the girls in | town    -    |
           Cm7          Fm7
   Fol-low you    All a-round
   Db        Dbadd9   Db           Dbadd9    Abmaj7         Abmaj7
   Just like me       They long to be      | Close to you |         |
   Db        Dbadd9   Db           Dbadd9
   Just like me       They long to be...
   Dbadd9     Db    Dbadd9     Db     Dbadd9     Db      Dbadd9
 | Close  to  you |         -       |         -      |             |

   Dbmaj9            Dbmaj9         Abmaj9          Abmaj9     Ab
‖: Why – y – y – y |-y            | Close to you  |         -        :‖               
                                                               ...repeat and fade

Please Note: When playing C7sus4, it may be easier for some of you to barre the first 5 strings with the first finger as it can be a bit of a stretch. It won't have any effect on the sound of the chord as the extra strings are covered by fingers 2, 3 and 4 which some of you may want to play as a mini-barre using your 3rd finger.

Notes:

Level Of Ease: Fairly Hard unless you are a competent player. Beginners may find this a little testing, but you will get there with time and practice... you may want to download the version without a key change (much easier).
This version of the song is in the key of G Major with a key change to A♭Major... 4/4 time.
Cadd9 is a C chord with an added 9th which in this case is an added D note... can also be written as C/9. The chord formula for an added 9 is 1 - 3 - 5 - 9 = C - E - G - D. This is not to be confused with C9 where the chord formula is 1 - 3 - 5 - ♭7 - 9 = C - E - G - B♭ - D... can also be written as C7add9.
The D♭/9 is a fairly hard chord with quite a stretch. It can be played several different ways. Because you have to play the D♭/9 and D♭ in quick succession, I have chosen the voicing above. Other voicings include x43141, x4314x, x4364x, 9-8-11-8-9-x, x-x-11-10-9-11 (this works well if you use the 'E'-shape barre chord starting on the 9th fret when you play D♭ - very easy transition from D♭ to D♭/9 - sounds a little high in pitch though, compared to the rest of the song.
Gmaj7 can also be played like the A♭maj7, except that you play it one fret lower with the barre on the 3rd fret instead of the 4th fret... 354433 or you can play the classic 'let's do some stretching' xx5432.
This song is well suited to piano players due to the rapid rate of chord changes in certain parts of the song.
You don't have to play all the different G , A♭, and D♭ chord extensions. You can just play a straight G chord over the Gmaj7, and an A♭ chord over the A♭maj7 and A♭maj9 chords - same for D♭. However, if you can play all the chords, it does sound better.
This song is not recommended for beginners as you will need to use several barre chords. Once you learn some barre chords, make sure you come back and give this song a go... once you master it, you'll be glad you did.
If you are not sure of all the chords, make sure you spend time practicing them before you play the song. Listen to the song a few times and get a good 'feel' for it. When you are familiar with the tune and can play the chords smoothly with the minimum of fuss, you are good to go.
If you use the Transposer and try some different keys, you may find that if you come back to G Major, all the Db chords are now C# chords. They are simply enharmonic equivalents - they are still the same chord. If you prefer to view the Db chords which are relevant to the chord charts, simply refresh the page.
This is the type of song that requires effort, and once you have mastered it, you will start to play more and more challenging tunes which will take your playing to another level... then try the following:
What A Wonderful World - Louis Armstrong
Copacabana - Barry Manilow
Songbird - Eva Cassidy
The Way We Were - Barbra Streisand

The Carpenters

Origin: Los Angeles, California, United States
Line-up: Karen & Richard Carpenter (sister/brother duo)
Active Years: 1969 – 83
Music Styles: Pop, soft rock, adult contemporary
Karen Carpenter: Born Karen Anne Carpenter on March 2nd, 1950 in New Haven, Connecticut, USA
Died: February 4, 1983 (aged 32) in Downey, California, USA
Cause of Death: Anorexia Nervosa (complications)
Instruments: Drums, Percussion, Vocals
Active Years: 1965 to 1983
Music Genres: Soft Rock, Pop