I Shall Be Released chords

by Maroon 5

I Shall Be Released was written by Bob Dylan in 1968.
Maroon 5 recorded the song which was released in 2012 on the album Chimes OF Freedom... 4 disc compilation album of Bob Dylan Songs honoring 50 years of Amnesty International.
Music: Key of A Major in 4/4 time at ~ 120 bpm
Chords: Bm, A, C#m, E7, E9sus4

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

ASCII Chord Charts: number = fret, x = don't play, 0 = play open string, (B) Barre Chord

Chord	Guitar	Piano	Chord	Guitar	Piano
A	002220	A-C#-E	E7	020100	E-G#-B-D
Bm	xx4432	B-D-F#	E9sus4	022232 (B)	E-A-B-D-F#
Bm	x24432 (B)	B-D-F#	C#m	x46654	C#-E-G#

I Shall Be Released

Song Key is highlighted - Transpose to any other key

  
Intro:4/4 | 𝄽 (piano) |

A                                  Bm        Bm 
1. They say ev'-ry-thing can be re-placed |      |
C#m           E7               A       A 
   That ev'ry dis-tance is not near |     |
 A                       Bm      Bm 
   So I re-mem-ber ev'ry face |      |
C#m       E7             A      A    
   Ev'-ry man who put me here  |  Oh...  |

      A                     Bm          Bm 
Chorus: I see my light come shi-ning |      | 
     C#m         E7            A       A     
        From the west unto the east  | Yeah yeah...  |
      A               Bm 
        A-ny day now    A-ny day now
     C#m  E7          A         A 
        I shall be re-leased |      |
  
 A                                   Bm          Bm 
2. They say ev'ry man needs some pro-tec-tion |      | 
C#m          E7       A       A 
   Say ev'ry man must fall |      |
 A                         Bm                   Bm 
   Yet I swear I see my re-flec-tion    Yeah |      | 
C#m         E7               A                 A 
   There so high a-bove this wall    Yeah    |    Oh...|

      A                     Bm          Bm    
Chorus: I see my light come shi-ning |      |
    C#m          E7             A               A    
        From the west un-to the east    Yeah |      |
      A               Bm 
        A-ny day now    A-ny day now  
    C#m         E7    A         A    
        I shall be re-leased |      |

          A     A     Bm     Bm     C#m     E7     A     A
Instr: |     |     |      |      |       |      |     |    |
          A     A     Bm     Bm     C#m     E7     A     A
       |     |     |      |      |       |      |     |    |
                                                 ...Oh Woah-oh

 A                                      Bm       Bm   
3. Stan-din' next to me in this lone-ly crowd |      |
C#m                   E7                 A        A   
   There's a man that swears he's not to blame |     |
 A                                  Bm              Bm   
   All day long I hear him shout so loud    Yeah |      | 
C#m       E7                      A        A                
   Crying out that he was framed    Oh...|   Yeah yeah yeah |

      A                     Bm          Bm    
Chorus: I see my light come shi-ning |      | 
     C#m         E7                   A             A    
        From the west unto the east | Yeah yeah |      | 
      A               Bm
        A-ny day now    A-ny day now
     C#m        E7    A                     A    
        I shall be re-leased    Yeah yeah| Oh...|
      A               Bm 
        A-ny day now    A-ny day now
     C#m        E7          A
        I shall be... re-le-eased...

Notes:

Easy to play - suitable for beginners
You can replace E7 with E9sus4 if you like. They share similar notes and both chords sound fine. Beginners can start with E7 but persevere with the E9sus4 as it does sit a little better in the mix.
Formula for a 7th chord: 1 - 3 - 5-♭7 ... E7 = E - G# - B - D
Formula for a 9sus4 chord: 1 - 4 - 5 - ♭7 - 9 ... E9sus4 = E - A - B - D - F#
E9sus4 - on the chart above, I have used the 1st finger for each note on the 2nd fret. This would be played as a barre similar to the Bm and C#m chords above, without fingers 3 & 4. This is perhaps the easiest way to play it, but you can use alternate finger positions if you like.
You can also play a Bm instead of the E7 - that also sounds fine.