Belle and Sebastian - It Could Have Been a Brilliant Career: Guitar Chords

Learn to play "It Could Have Been a Brilliant Career" on your guitar with our chord guide. This page provides everything you need to perform this song on the guitar, including lyrics integrated with chords, chord diagrams, and a key transposer to match your vocal range.

For easier playing, use our Simplify Chords feature to remove difficult chords like barre.

         E/B                  A
He had a stroke at the age of 24
               A                 E/B
It could have been a brilliant career
          C#m          B             A
Painting lines in a school that was too well known
          C#m            B/D#          E
Painting lines with a friend that had gone before
                         B
She challenged everyone to a fight
         A     E           B
But the people all backed down
          A       E      B
And they ran her out of town
              A         E        B
Because she drank and swore and spoke
        A         E       F#
Out of turn, she was the village joke

She had a stroke at the age of 24
It could have been a brilliant career
Getting clients to finance her strategies
She's filling time in the Safeway on Saturdays
She wears the clothes of an emperor
But her paintings are a sham
And they're going for a grand
When the dealers come to view
Do they ever see the real you?

He had a stroke at the age of 24
It could have been a brilliant career
Selling lies to the boys with the old dansettes
Pulling the wool, playing the fool,
it's no wonder that
He is dribbling spit tonight and
the one he sent away
Was the only one who stayed
With a spoon and a decent book
And you can tell by the way she looks
She is sorry and resigned
As he wets himself for the final time


You can simplify chords by removing barre

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Simplify chords by removing barre

Guitar Chord Diagrams

A

Guitar chord A

B

Guitar chord B

C#m

Guitar chord C#m

D#

Guitar chord D#

E

Guitar chord E

F#

Guitar chord F#

Here you can see detailed diagrams for each guitar chord used in the song. Utilize our key transposer to adjust the chords to a key that better fits your singing range. Simply select the desired key, and the chords throughout this page will update automatically, ensuring you can play and sing comfortably.

If you are also interested in learning how to play "It Could Have Been a Brilliant Career" on the ukulele, check out the chords on our sister site: Ukulele Chords for "It Could Have Been a Brilliant Career" by Belle and Sebastian.

Belle and Sebastian Song List