Chords for "Johnny Thunder"

Date: 03 Jun 96 21:06:20 EDT
From: IAN GRANT


Johnny Thunder
Written by: Ray Davies
Published by: Noma Music, Inc./Hi-Count Music, Inc. BMI


Intro  D     A G    x2

G       D       F        C      A        D         A G  D  A G
Johnny Thunder lives on water, feeds on lightning.
G       D       F         C       A          D      A G  D  A G      
Johnny Thunder don't need no one, don't want money.

G            A             D
And all the people of the town,
G               A          D
They can't get through to Johnny, 
D                 A             Bm   D7
They will never, ever break him down.

 G      D       F         C       A        D       A G  D   A G
Johnny Thunder speaks for no one, goes on fighting.
 A7 (n.c)                   A7    G   (D      A  G    D   A  G) x2
And Sweet Helena De Mane(?) prays for Johnny.

G           D
Ba ba-ba ba ba-ba ba,
F           C
Ba ba-ba ba ba-ba ba,
A            D         ([D]       A G ) x2
Thunder and lightning. la la la la la


G           D
Ba ba-ba ba ba-ba ba,
F           C
Ba ba-ba ba ba-ba ba,
A            D         ([D]       A G ) x2
Thunder and lightning. la la la la la

G           A                 D
Though everybody tried their best,
G           A                   D           A               Bm       
Old Johnny vowed that he would never, ever end up like the rest.
G       D       F        C        A           D      A G  D  A G
Johnny Thunder rides the highway, moves like lightning.
A7 (n.c)                      A    G    D       A  G  D   A G
But sweet Helena just says, "God bless Johnny."

G           D
Ba ba-ba ba ba-ba ba,
F           C
Ba ba-ba ba ba-ba ba,
A            D         ([D]       A G ) x2
Thunder and lightning. la la la la la

Repeat Ba-ba's ending on-   Dsus4  D  Dsus2  D  'kind of thing'


From: D. Schulps Date: Sept. 6, 2003 I'm pretty sure the chords in this section of "Johnny Thunder" aren't D A Bm D7 They will never, ever break him down. as you have currently, but should be: D C F# They will never, ever break him down. give it a try, I think you'll see I'm right.
From: Aaron Scholz Date: Oct. 11, 2003 JOHNNY THUNDER Chords The intro is like this: -----2-2-5-3---- -----3-3-3-3---- -----2-2-2-2---- ---------------- x---------------- x---------------- Its a D chord with a sus2 and a sus4 for all you theory types and they go back to it over and over and over especially between stanzas of the verses The chords for this section: G A D A Bm Old Johnny vowed that he would never, ever end up like the rest Are actually like this: G A D A F# F#7 Old Johnny vowed that he would never, ever end up like the rest The chords for this section: A7 (n.c) A G D A G D A G But sweet Helena just says, "God bless Johnny." Are actually like this: E A A G to intro pattern But sweet Helena just says, "God bless Johnny."
From: Date: August 3, 2005 just discovered what i think is a more correct version of the intro sequence. try it and see what you think..... ---2-2-2-5-3---- ---3-3-3-2-0---- ---2-2-2-2-2---- ---0-0-0-0-0---- x---------------- x---------------- hard to accurately tab the rhythm here but you get the idea of the chord shapes.
From: Nathan Laney Date: August 6, 2007 The corrections from Aaron Scholz are absolutly correct. I'd like to add to them a hammer-on at the beginning as the D is being strummed, so that the D position stays the same on the second and third strings, just as he noted, and the first string becomes: open (E), hammered-on 2nd fret (Gb), 5th fret (A), 3rd fret (G), then repeat.
From: Don Faruolo Date: September 21, 2010 I know this segment has been the subject of much discussion on the site. As a 47 year veteran of playing guitar and a Kinks fan since day 1, here is the CORRECT way to play the introduction to Johnny Thunder from the Village Green LP: All played on a D chord, with the D note on the second string ringing out: D/F# D/G D/A The D/F# & D/G are played on the low E 6th string which resolves in the D/A, full D chord.


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