No Frontiers chords

The Corrs

Song Key: C Major

Time Signature: 4/4

Tempo: 116 bpm


Guitar Tuning: E A D G B e

Skill Level: Intermediate

Chords: C, C/E, Cmaj7/E, F, Fadd9, F/G, F6, G, Gsus4, G/B, D7sus4, Dm, Dm7, A, Am7, Em7b5/Bb, E7b9

Extras: Arrangement details & chord practice

Chord Chart Legend
C Major C/E Cmaj7/E Fadd9 F/G F Major barre chord G Major Gsus4 G/B Am7 A Major F6 D7sus4 Dm Dm7 Em7b5/Bb E7b9
Lefties Chord Chart Legend
C Major-LH C/E-LH Cmaj7/E-LH Fadd9-LH F/G-LH F Major barre chord-LH G Major-LH Gsus4-LH G/B-LH Am7-LH A Major-LH F6-LH D7sus4-LH Dm-LH Dm7-LH Em7b5/Bb-LH E7b9-LH

No Frontiers

Intro: 4/4 
 ‖  Fadd9  | Fadd9  - Gsus4  |  Fadd9  | Fadd9  -  C/E  ‖  

D7sus4          Cmaj7/E   Fadd9                    F
1. If life is a ri-ver         And your heart is a boat
  C    G/B         Am7                    D7sus4        G
   And just like a wa-ter, ba-by, ba-by         Born to float
D7sus4              Cmaj7/E        Fadd9        F/G
   And if life is a wild wind that blows way on high
 C          G/B        Am7         F6        G
   And your heart is A-me-li-a     Dy-ing to fly


       F        G     Em7b5/Bb        A
Chorus: Hea-ven knows         No fron-tiers
      Dm              G               Fadd9  | Fadd9  - C/E  |
        And I've seen hea-ven in your eyes


D7sus4               Cmaj7/E      Fadd9         F/G
 2. And if life is a bar- room in which we must wait
   C           G/B          Am7             D7sus4  G
    'Round the man with his fin-gers on the i-vo-ry gates
D7sus4                   Cmaj7/E     Fadd9         F/G
    Where we sing un-til dawn of our fears and our fates
   C       G/B           Am7         F6              G
    And we stack all the dead men in self ad-dressed crates

                C                          F    G
Bridge: In your eyes faint as the sing-ing of a lark
             E7b9                Am
        That some-how this black night
              Am      G       F
        Feels war-mer for the spark
        F       G       C
        War-mer for the spark
           C/E      F       G        E7b9               Am
        To warm us 'til the day when fear will lose its grip
            Am      G       F
        And hea-ven has its ways   
      

                G        Em7b5/Bb        A
Chorus: Hea-ven knows            No fron-tiers
      Dm              G               Fadd9  | Fadd9  - C/E  |
        And I've seen hea-ven in your eyes


D7sus4           Cmaj7/E      Fadd9         F/G
 3. If life is a rough bed of bram-bles and nails
   C         G/B         Am7            D7sus4          G
    And your spi-rit's a slave to man's whips and man's jails
D7sus4                       Cmaj7/E     Fadd9        F/G
    Where you thirst and you hun-ger for jus-tice and right
   C         G/B        Am7           F6              G
    And your heart is a pure flame of man's con-stant night

                C                          F    G
Bridge: In your eyes faint as the sing-ing of a lark
             E7b9                Am
        That some-how this black night
              Am      G       F
        Feels war-mer for the spark
        F       G       C
        War-mer for the spark
           C/E      F       G        E7b9               Am
        To warm us 'til the day when fear will lose its grip
            Am      G       F                  G       C
        And hea-ven has its ways    And heaven has its ways
     Dm7     C/E      F      G
        When all will har-mo-nize
                E7b9               Am                     G    F
        And you know what's in our hearts, the dream will re-a-lize


                G     Em7b5/Bb        A
Chorus: Hea-ven knows         No fron-tiers
      Dm              F       C/E     F
        And I've seen hea-ven in your eyes
                G     Em7b5/Bb         A
        Hea-ven knows          No fron-tiers
      Dm              G                  Fadd9 | C/E  -  Gsus4  |  C  |
        And I've seen hea-ven in your... eyes...

Arrangement Details:

  • Key Signature: C Major - no sharps or flats
  • Time Signature: 4/4 - Four quarter-note beats per measure
  • Tempo: Moderately
  • Metronome: q = 116
  • Voice Range: G3 - A4

Chord Practice – Intermediate Level

Chord Set: C, C/E, Cmaj7/E, F, Fadd9, F/G, F6, G, Gsus4, G/B, D7sus4, Dm, Dm7, A, Am7, Em7♭5/B♭, E7♭9

These chords — including shapes like Fadd9, F/G, Cmaj7/E, and Em7♭5/B♭ — make this progression fairly challenging, making it ideal for guitarists at an intermediate level who are comfortable with barre chords, slash chords, and chord extensions.

Take time to practice any unfamiliar chords until you can play them fluently and confidently.

If you're playing along with the video, note that the chord changes happen quickly, so it’s much easier to keep up when the chord shapes are second nature.

As always, start slow, then build up to full speed as your comfort and accuracy improve.

If you find some of the chords too difficult, simply replace all the harder chords with their simpler relations as follows:
  • Fmaj9, F/G → F
  • C, C/E, Cmaj7/E → C
  • Gsus4, G/B → G
  • Em7b5/Bb → Em7
  • E7b9 → E7

The 'harder chords' are not that hard once you get used to them. Here is a look at the chord theory for the more difficult ones:

Chord: Em7b5/Bb - Em7b5 leading with a Bb bass note
E Major Scale: E-F#-G#-A-B-C#-D#-E
Formula for m7b5: 1, b3, b5, b7
Em7b5/Bb : E - G - Bb - D leading with Bb bass note

Em7b5/Bb Em7b5/Bb

Right and left handed charts:

Please note: The 3rd finger can be played by the 4th, or if you have a wider hand span, you can play all notes on the 3rd fret with the 3rd finger... comfort is the key.

Chord: E7b9
E Major Scale with extras: E-F#-G#-A-B-C#-D#-E-F#
Formula for 7b9: 1, 3, 5, b7, b9
E7b9: E - G# - B - D - F

E7b9 E7b9

Right and left handed charts:

Tip: Pretend you are playing an open E7 chord with fingers 2 and 3, then add your first finger to string-1, fret-1... very easy 😊

Song Details:

Album Cover
Album Cover
  • Songwriter: Jimmy McCarthy
  • Date: 1989
  • Lyrics Begin: If life is a river and your heart is a boat and just like a water baby, baby born to float.
  • Genre: Contemporary folk
  • Featured Artists: The Corrs
  • Album: The Corrs Unplugged
    Recorded: October 5, 1999
    Released:
    November 12, 1999 (CD)
    February 28, 2000 (VHS, DVD)
Songs by Jimmy MacCarthy on this site:
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