Chords for Soul Asylum - Runaway Train Guitar lesson

[C] _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
[G] _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
[F] _ _ _ _ [G] _ _ _ _
[C] _ _ _ _ _ [Am] _ _ _
[Em] _ [F] _ _ _ [Em] _ _ _ _
[G] _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ [C] _ _ _ _ _ _ _
[Em] _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ [Am] _ _ _ _ _ _ _
[G] _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ [Em] _ _ [N] _ Great strumming tune, Soul Asylum, Runaway Train.
This is a song that a lot of people play _ wrong.
There are a couple of really subtle things that happen in the verse that are different
than in the chorus.
And one of them is certain notes hang on over every chord.
So the way I played it there is a little bit more accurate than most of what you see out there.
Now it really is some simple chords.
[C] It's a C chord, and the first thing you hear is bass notes descending.
_ [G] You hear the bass, the fifth string [C] hit at the bass note, and then you strum for the
rest of the measure.
_ Two measures.
_ _ _ _ [N] Of course in the intro there's a whole bunch of measures of C with a nice little lead,
a soft lead [G] played kind of in the background.
[C] As the bass descends [B] though, [C] _ the chords don't always go to where you [Gm] expect.
When the bass note drops to B, [Ab] and this does happen [Em] later in the song, where you hear a
whole E minor chord there.
But this first time around, it's not really E minor.
[A] And then it's not [Am] exactly A minor, [G] and it's not exactly G.
There are these chords, the chords that they [Bb] all have a C hanging in there, making it a
little bit of a [G] suspension at one point, and a really dissonant C with B in the bass, and
a C at nine, or C major seven [N] with B in the bass at one point.
So the [Db] names are really scary.
The chords are really easy to [F] play.
The rest of the song is very easy.
You do [G] just run through normal chords in the key of C.
[C] F to G, to C to [Am] A minor, _ and then
it [F] happens again.
F to [Em] E minor this time, and then [G] G.
_ And when you get into the chorus, it does kind of a
typical thing, meaning that now the chords you think you [C] hear are right.
C to E minor coming up. _
[Em] _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ Anyway, _ [N] just a quick note on Runaway Train.
Very catchy tune.
_ _ Again, very kind of tough on the emotions at times.
But I would like to put a lesson together on this for this at [Ab] totallyguitars.com, and
the way we decide on what songs we're going to do [N] there is people vote on them.
So come on over, check us out, hit the Request a Lesson button, and let us know that you'd
like to see this Soul Asylum song, if you would.
And that [Db] will help me decide that, OK, you know what?
Enough people want to see this lesson.
We're going to put it up.
We [N] are just mostly going to talk about strumming and playing chords in [C] the key of C, but working
on hitting individual bass [Eb] notes and really bringing those out, which is not always [N] an
easy thing to do.
So, if you want to see this lesson or any of the other hundreds that we [G] have up there,
come visit us at [Fm] totallyguitars.com.