Chords for This has to be the BEST POP SONG ever

[Am] Here we go!
_ [D] _ _ [G] _ _
_ [C] _ _ _ [F] _ Okay, [Dm] _
_ _ [G] _ _ _ _ _
we need to work on that, right?
Ah, hey guys!
I'm right in the [F] middle of giving my daughter's first piano lesson.
Can you imagine that?
[Eb] Two weeks old, so it's been long [F]
overdue.
Now, go grab your guitar, because in [Eb] this video we're gonna do [G] one of the best pop songs ever recorded.
_ [Am] Okay, let's try that again.
This time, focus!
_ _ _ [D] _ _
_ [G] _ _ _ [C] _ _ _ [F] _
_ _ [Dm] _ _ [E] _ _ _ _
_ _ [Am] _ _ _ [D] _ _ _
[G] _ _ [C] _ _ _ [F] _ _ _
[Dm] _ _ _ [E] _ _ [G] _ _ _
[Em] _ [G] _ _ [C] _ [N] _ _ _
What a beautiful song, right?
Wild World by Cat Stevens.
I think it was in 1971, this live version.
And to me personally, this is a prime example of the absolute perfect pop song.
I mean, it's simple, it's brilliant, anyone can play it.
I mean, when you just take the chords, and even if you only play the rhythm [A] guitar_ _ _
[D] _ _ [G] _ _ _ [C] _ _ [F] _
_ _ [Dm] _ _ _ [E] _ _ _
_ _ [N] I mean, that's just a fantastic chord progression, right?
And [Am] when you look at the _ melody_ _ _
_ [D] _ _ _ [G] _ _ [C] _ _
_ [F] _ _ Well, that's pretty obvious, right?
That makes sense.
But that's a rather peculiar melody, because if you're a songwriter_
and you're gonna write a melody on this A [Am] minor, and you've got your first note_
What would be the next note?
You can't just stay there, you need to move, right?
What would most people do?
Probably something like this.
_ _ [D] _ _ [A] _ [F] _
_ [E] Or _ [Am] perhaps_ _ _
_ _ [F] _ [Am] _ _ [E] But what does Cat Stevens do?
[Am] _ _ First note, second, third, fourth_
I mean, the first seven notes are_
That's how he starts his melody!
And just to show you how awkward that is_
Suppose I would write a song, and I would say to you_
Listen, you wanna hear my song?
Here it goes. _ _
You would be like, what the hell?
That's the worst melody ever, right?
But somehow, Cat Stevens pulls it off.
_ _ [D] _ _
[G] _ _ _ [C] _ Or listen to this one.
Oh, that's a dissonant note!
[F] _ So, beautiful chords, brilliant melody_
What's not to like?
But how do you play this song on the guitar, you might wonder, right?
Well, let's first have a listen at how Cat Stevens himself plays it.
[E] _ [Am] _ _ _ [D] _ _ _ [G] _
_ _ _ _ [F] _ _ _ [D] _
_ _ [E] _ _ Don't be a bad [Am]
girl, if you [D] wanna leave, [G] take good care
Hope you make a lot of nice friends [F] out there
[Dm] But just remember there's a [E] lot of bad and [G] beware
So to start with, I would suggest a strumming pattern that's simple, not too difficult.
Something like this.
[Am] _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ That should work fine to play the basics of the song.
But be sure to do the first two strums on the bottom strings,
_ and the other strums on the top strings. _
_ _ _ _ And [G] that [A]
creates_
[Am] _ [D] _ _ _ [G] _ _ _
[C] _ _ _ Well, works fine.
But Cat Stevens himself is doing something a little bit different.
He has the intro, and in the intro he sings his well-known melody, right?
_ [Eb] _
_ And he uses that rhythm as the basis for his strumming.
So [C] _ _ it's_
[B] _ _ _ _ [G] _ _ [A] Which _ _ _ [Am] _ _ _ [D] _ _
_ [G] _ _ [C] _ _ _ [F] _ _
_ [Dm] _ _ [E] _ _ is a [Gbm] little bit different.
And here, of course, we have a [G] beautiful lick.
[E] _ _ _ _
_ [B] And all it is, is just a hammer-on on the G string with a [Ab] little finger.
_ [Am] _ [B] _ Very simple.
Now, there are two ways you can play it.
When he plays it live, he just does a bit of strumming,
and [F] it's buried in there somewhat.
_ _ _ [E] _ _
You can hear it somewhere in between the other strings.
Or on the record, you can put a little bit more effort into it,
and try to see if you can pick those strings separately, like this. _ _ _
_ _ _ _ [A] Which is a bit more [Gm] articulate.
_ _ _ _ [Eb] And what's also incredibly good about this song,
which we haven't even mentioned [F] yet, are the lyrics.
The lyrics are [Gm] fantastic.
You know, [F] lyrics are kind of like reading a book or a novel.
The first line is especially important.
You can tell the quality of a novel by [Gm] just reading the first line only, right?
If it starts off like_
It was a cold winter night.
Are you gonna read that novel?
I definitely ain't.
So how does Cat Stevens [F] start his song?
Well, he starts off [Am] _ with_
Now that I have lost [D] everything to [G] you, _ _
[Bm] you say you want to start something [C] new.
_ [F] And _ it's breaking [Dm] my heart.
_ _ You're [E] leaving.
[Gbm] Of _ [Ab] _ [Bb] _ _ [Gb] _
_ _ [Gm] all [Abm] the gin joints in all [Db] the towns in all the [Gb] world,
_ [C] she walks [Eb] into mine.
[F] _ _
_ [Bb] _ _ _ [C] I mean, three little lines, and already we've got a ton of emotion,
and the whole world opens up, right?
That's how you do it.
[G] Oh, baby, [F] baby, it's a wild world.
_ [G] _ _ [F] Starts to get dark just [C] upon the smile. _ _ _ _
_ [G] Oh, baby, [F] baby, it's a wild world.
_ _ [G] And [F] I'll always remember you [C] like a child, [D] girl.
[E] Now, when you listen closely, there's something_
There's something missing.
He plays it rather [C] simple.
Oh, [G] baby, baby, [F] it's a wild world. _
[G] _ Which [N] is perfectly fine if you just want to play the song
and don't want to deal with all the little difficult details.
But on the record, there is this extra riff, remember?
_ [C] _ Oh, [G]
baby, [F] baby, it's a wild world.
_ [G] _ _
_ _ Now, you don't have to do that, but it's rather nice, isn't it?
Let's play it very [C] slowly first.
[B] _ [A] _ [G] _
_ [Em] _ [C] _ Nice little descending major scale.
And then, of course, you need to play it along with the chords, right?
See if you can fit it in.
_ _ _ [G] _ _ [F] _ _ _
_ [Am] _ [G] _ _ _ [F] _ _ [C] _
_ _ _ _ _ _ That's another one, by the way.
And that one, he does play live very slowly.
[G] _ [Am] _
_ _ _ _ [C] _ [G] Sounds very simple, right?
_ [Am] _ _ _ But it's actually quite hard to do, because you have to play it that fast.
And he does all these downstrokes as well.
_ _ [C] So you need to be very careful to play it very soft.
Otherwise, you're not going to be able to keep up the tempo.
Okay, [Gb] let's see if you can play the verse and the chorus together.
Grab your [Am] guitar.
Chords and taps, as always, are available on my Patreon site.
Here we go. _ _
_ [D] _ _ _ [G] _ _ _ [C] _
_ _ [F] _ _ [Dm] _ _ _ [E] _
_ _ _ _ [Am] _ _ _ [D] _
_ [G] _ _ _ [C] _ _ _ [F] _
_ [Dm] _ _ _ [E] _ _ [G] _ _
_ _ _ _ [C] _ _ _ [G] _
_ [F] _ _ _ [G] _ _ _ _
_ _ [F] _ _ [C] _ _ _ _
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_ _ [G] _ _ _ _ _ [F] _
_ [C] _ _ _ [Dm] _ _ [E] _ [Am] _