Stairway To Heaven Chords by Mary J. Blige

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The first time I [Bb] heard this song, I was a kid, and it made me feel really [Dm] euphoric,
like, wow, this is just too peaceful.
I guess because I don't come from a peaceful environment.
I was [G] in love with Led Zeppelin [Bb] as a kid.
It's my vintage.
Those [Dm] moments of, you know, [F] just pure inspiration.
[G] It was the epitome [Bb] of all of our dreams [Dm] and desires,
and Jimmy [F] Page, for me, was the reason I play guitar.
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[G] _ _ _ _ [F] They were always doing something [G] different than all [Bb] the other bands that were around at that time,
and [Dm] John Bonham was amazing.
[F] He was one of my favorite drummers.
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The music is just so cool and just sort of spacey.
This song has so much tension [G] and release, and it's Stairway to Heaven.
It's just an unbelievable song, and no one would have ever thought [Dm] that Mary J.
Blige would be doing this kind of record,
but Mary is [F] just universal.
She's worldwide.
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[G] _ _ _ [F] We're at Capitol Studios today, [G] storied Capitol [Bb] Recording Tower.
[Dm] _ Ron [F] Fair and myself [Gm] and our label are [Dm] brainstorming about,
what is the next big rock and roll record that Mary can take on for the UK?
And I remember doing [C] one for the [G] Breakthrough album, and everybody really receiving it and loving [Bb] it.
_ Mary J.
[Dm] Blige has a lot of great friendships with other musicians around the world, one of which is Bono.
[Db] _
[C] They were all hanging out, and [G] the subject of Led Zeppelin came [Bb] up,
and I think Bono's the one who threw the gauntlet down and [Dm] said,
you've got to do Stairway to Heaven.
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The [Dm] song came on that made me just turn into liquid, [G] and it was all of these flutes, and I was like, this [Dm] is it! _ _ _
[G] _ _ I just love [Dm] a feeling like when you're living, but you have a [G] moment of life, just straight across peace.
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_ [C] It just came through [D] different approvals and people saying, yes, Mary, you should do that,
[C] and then me knowing, like, wow, I [Gm] can really relate to this record.
[Dm] And of course, Robert Plant's voice in [F] its pitch [C] and in its timbre [Dm] and in the fact that he was a blues singer
is very much [F] in the wheelhouse [C] of Mary J.
Blige.
_ [Dm] Ron Fair went and got everyone [F] that he felt was the best, which I believe [C] is the best.
[Dm] He's a doer.
He has the power of visualization.
[G] So when he sees something, he sees the whole picture, [Dm] and there's virtually [G] no stopping him.
It's brilliant.
It's a great arrangement, [Dm] very smart arrangement.
Good work, Ron.
We have to [G] now reinterpret the song and arrange it in a way that [Dm] Mary J.
Blige can make it her own
and continue to do [G] the song live.
The whole first part of the [F] song is modulated to fit Mary's voice better.
[Dm] He picked the key of D minor, which is like a major [F] fourth higher,
so all the [C] beautiful guitar part in the [Dm] melody, it just comes out real sparkly.
I'll spend time [F] recording Mary doing [C] her own style on the vocals, different background vocals, layered [Bb] vocals.
Sometimes it could be 20 or 30 tracks of her singing.
[E] And then I'm going to add [Dm] a Renaissance-type orchestra [F] and bring in strings [C] along with the electric guitar
[Dm] and the guitar solo throughout so that it grows and grows and becomes [G] this beautiful mixture of music
between [Dm] brass instruments and string instruments and the rock band.
_ [C] I like being around [F] people that know [G] what they want, they know how to get [Dm] it,
and they hire the people that are part of that vision to create the [G] chemistry that's the big picture.
So he's getting the right people together for this, and to be [G] a part of it is a real thrill. _
[F] So many amazing [G] musicians, just like, [Dm] you've got to be kidding me.
So thank you, Ron Fair, for that big surprise.
It's just a [Bb] spring clean for the May [Dm] Queen.
_ When we first [C] got here, we listened to the new [Dm] interpretation that we're playing.
Ron had suggested that I make it sound kind [Em] of like 70s [Dm] fusion, but still be me, so I'm kind of just doing that.
[F] Travis [C] Barker is one of the great [Dm] rock drummers of all time.
He's a great interpreter of music, he's [G] extremely versatile, [Em] and has a [Dm] flair and a showmanship.
_ And Randy, [G] although America knows him as [Dm] a television personality, he's just [F] a sensational bass player.
You know, [Dm] listen, these are my peeps, so I love this.
I'm having a really good time.
It's [D] taking me back.
I'm like, yo, man, we should go on a road.
[F] _ Wow, [C] today was a [Dm] pleasant surprise.
It was one of the most amazing things that ever happened in [F] my career.
I mean, [C] there was a young lady that was [Dm] in the This Is It movie with Michael Jackson that I was just screaming over,
[F] and I walk into the session and [Em] she's here playing the guitar.
[Dm] I'm like, wow, this is crazy.
Steve Vai [F] and Ori Anthe come together a [C] little bit as a package because Steve [Dm] is Ori's mentor.
I walked into my gig in [F] Adelaide, Australia, and I heard [C] this guitar playing.
I'm like, what?
[G] OK, what's going on?
They're not supposed to have an opening act that plays better [D] than me.
You know, and that was it.
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_ [F] For me, the [D] song took on [A] the meaning of a woman [Gb] who who's trying to buy [E] her way to peacefulness.
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Sometimes I [C] feel like if I want a pair of [E] shoes, you [A] know, I want them for a reason.
I want them to [F] feel confident.
OK, [C] those shoes are going to make me feel great [Am] today or a shopping spree will make me [G] feel great today.
It's like buying [Am] your way to peace, which is heaven.
[G] And that's what I got out of the song.
[Am] The song to me is like, OK, buying [G] their way to heaven is like the majority of women.
_ _ [D] _ [Am] When all the world [C] _ _ _ _ _ [Am] will [G] be around and [F] not to run.
Her vocals [G] just sound [Am] incredible, so heartfelt, and it's just been [F] amazing to listen to it.
He started singing.
I mean, her [E] voice fits this track like a [G] glove.
I mean, she's [C] really gets inside the DNA of the poetry of the song.
[Am] _ It's not about [F] imitating the original or covering it.
We have [G] to do our own version of the song.
And so we're reinterpreting it.
[C] _ It's very live.
This is the way [Am] the records were made.
You know, people would come into the studio.
There's those moments [Dm] of just pure [C] inspiration that really makes something great.
And that's why we have to make sure [Am] the mics are rolling so we can capture every one of those.
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[Dm] And she's _ [Am] buying a [Em] _ _
stairway to [F] heaven.
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_ Yo, that was crazy, man. _ _ _
Well, we got that.
We recorded that, right, Tom? _ _ _ _
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