Belle and Sebastian - Nobody's Empire: Guitar Chords

Learn to play "Nobody's Empire" 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.

F                      A#       F
Lying on my bed I was reading french
          Dm         C            A# F
With the light too bright for my senses
F                                A#      F
From this hiding place, life was way too much
        Dm      C              A#  F
It was loud and rough round the edges
      C                     A#
So I faced the wall when an old man called
         C                 A#    F
Out of dreams that I would die there
       C                      A#
But a sight unseen, you were pulling strings
         C              A# F
And you had a different idea

I was like a child, I was light as straw
When my father lifted me up there
Took me to a place where they checked my body
My soul was floating in thin air
I clung to the bed, and I clung to the past
And I clung to the welcome darkness
But at the end of the night there’s
a green green light
It’s the quiet before the madness

Chorus:
             Gm
There was a girl that sang like the chime of a bell
     A#
She put out her arm and she touched me when
          F                  C
I was in hell when I was in hell

Someone sang a song and I sang along
Cause I knew the words from my childhood
Intellect, ambition they fell away
And they locked me up for my own good
But I didn’t mind cause the silence was kind
And you spoke to me in whispers
There was the sound of the wind in the cold,
cold dawn
And the quiet hum of business

Chorus:
Let me dangle a while in this waiting room
I don’t need to go, I don’t need to know
what you're doing
Know what you're doing

Lying on my side you were half awake
And your face was tired and crumpled
If I had a camera I’d snap you now
Cause there’s beauty in every stumble
We are out of practice we're out of sight
On the edge of nobody’s empire
And if we live by books and we live by hope
Does that make us targets for gunfire?

Now I look at you you’re a mother of two
You’re a quiet revolution
Marching with the crowd singing dirty and loud
For the people’s emancipation
Did I do OK, did I pave the way?
Was I strong when you were wanting?
I was tied to the yoke with a decent bloke
Who was stern but never daunting

Chorus:
And he told me to push and he made me feel well
He told me to leave that vision of hell
to the dying
Hell to the dying


You can simplify chords by removing barre

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Simplify chords by removing barre

Guitar Chord Diagrams

A#

Guitar chord A#

C

Guitar chord C

Dm

Guitar chord Dm

F

Guitar chord F

Gm

Guitar chord Gm

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 "Nobody's Empire" on the ukulele, check out the chords on our sister site: Ukulele Chords for "Nobody's Empire" by Belle and Sebastian.

Belle and Sebastian Song List