Fire and Rain chords

by James Taylor

Song Key: C Major

Key Signature: No sharps or flats

Piano Chords: C, G, Gm7, Gm/C, F, F/E, F/A, Bb, Bbmaj7, Dm7, Dm7/G

Time Signature: 4/4 (♩)

Tempo: 75 bpm (Moderately)

Vocal Range: G3 - D5


Guitar Tuning: E A D G B e

Skill Level: Beginner

Guitar Chords in A Major: A, E, Em7, Em/A, D, D/C#, D/F#, G, Gmaj7, Bm7, Bm7/E

Capo: 3rd fret (to play along with the video in C Major)

Chord Chart Legend
A Major E Major Em7 Em/A D Major D/F# D/C# G Major Gmaj7 Bm7 Bm7 Bm7/E
Lefties Chord Chart Legend
A Major-LH E Major-LH Em7-LH Em/A-LH D Major-LH D/F#-LH D/C#-LH G Major-LH Gmaj7-LH Bm7-LH Bm7/E-LH

Fire and Rain

Song Key is highlighted - Transpose to any other key
  
             A     Em7    D    A       A     E      Gmaj7
Intro: 4/4 | 1&2&  3&4& | 1&2  &3&4& | 1&2&  3&4& | 1&2&3&4& |
Timing Count

 A                  Em7                  D             A
1. Just yes-ter-day morn-in' they let me know you were gone,
               E                      Gmaj7
   Su-san, the plans they made put an end to you.
 A                   Em7            D               A
   I walked out this morn-in' and I wrote down this song,
                   E              Gmaj7
   I just can't re-mem-ber who to send it to.

      D           Bm7      Bm7/E     A
Chorus: I've seen fire and I've seen rain.
               D      D/C#        Bm7           Bm7/E  A
        I seen sun-ny days that I thought would nev-er end,
               D       D/C#         Bm7       Bm7/E  A
        I seen lone-ly times when I could not find a friend,
              G       D/F#             Em7               Em/A    
        But I al-ways thought that I'd see you  a-gain.|      |  %   |

             A                   Em7                D              A
2. Won't you look down u-pon me, Je-sus, you got to help me make a stand,
                   E                Gmaj7
   You just got to see me through a-no-ther day.
 A            Em7            D          A
   My bo-dy's ach-in' and my time is at hand
               E             Gmaj7
   An' I won't make it a-ny  o - ther way.

        D             Bm7      Bm7/E     A
Chorus: Oh, I've seen fire and I've seen rain.
               D      D/C#        Bm7           Bm7/E  A
        I seen sun-ny days that I thought would nev-er end,
               D       D/C#         Bm7       Bm7/E  A
        I seen lone-ly times when I could not find a friend,
              G       D/F#             Em7               Em/A
        But I al-ways thought that I'd see you  a-gain.|      |   %  |

        A                      Em7            D                        A
3. Been walk-in' my mind to an ea-sy time, my back turned to-wards the sun.
                       E                     Gmaj7
   Lord knows when the cold wind blows it'll turn your head a-round.
                 A                    Em7                  D                     A
   Well, there's hours of time on the te-le-phone line, to talk a-bout things to come.
                    E                   Gmaj7
   Sweet dreams and fly-ing machines in pie-ces on the ground.

        D             Bm7      Bm7/E     A
Chorus: Oh, I've seen fire and I've seen rain.
               D      D/C#        Bm7           Bm7/E  A
        I seen sun-ny days that I thought would nev-er end,
               D       D/C#         Bm7       Bm7/E  A
        I seen lone-ly times when I could not find a friend,
              G       D/F#             Em7
        But I al-ways thought that I'd see you ba-by,
    Em/A                             Em/A
        One more time a-gain, now.|        |...


Outro: Thought I'd see you one more time a-gain.

       There's just a few things coming my way this time around, now.

       Thought I'd see you, thought I'd see you, fire and rain, now...

Notes:

All chords written with a forward slash, such as Em/A, D/C#, D/F#, and Bm7/E, indicate that you should play the chord before the slash while using the note after the slash as the bass note.

  • Em/A indicates an E chord leading with an 'A' bass note.
  • D/C# indicates a D chord leading with a 'C#' bass note etc.

Please note that the Bm7 and Bm7/E look identical. The difference is that Bm7 doesn't include the E bass note, whereas Bm7/E does include the E bass note.

If you can't play D/F# using your thumb (T) for the bass note, simply alter finger positions by playing the D chord with fingers 2,3, and 4 and use the first finger to play the F# bass note.

Beginners may look at these chords and think '😕', but if you study the chord charts, you will find they are all very easy to play.

James Taylor

James Taylor
James Taylor

Born: James Vernon Taylor on March 12, 1948 in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.

Other Names: JT, Stringbean, Jams V. Taylor

Occupations: Singer-songwriter, musician

Instruments: Vocals, guitar, keyboards, harmonica

Active Years: 1966 – present

Music Styles: Folk rock, soft rock, rock, blues, country, pop

Associations: Carly Simon (his wife from 1972-1983), Peter Asher, Joni Mitchell, and Paul McCartney.

Song Details:
  • Songwriter: James Taylor
  • Date: 1969
  • Lyrics Begin: Just yesterday morning, they let me know you were gone.
  • Performing Artist: James Taylor
  • Album: Sweet Baby James
  • Recorded: December 1969
  • Released: February 1, 1970
  • Single Release: August 30, 1970
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