Belle and Sebastian - Play For Today: Guitar Chords

Learn to play "Play For Today" 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.

           C                         Am
I'm in a play written today about a boy
                              F
Who hides in attics when the sun is up
                C
Everyone is at work
What will I do? Where will I go?
            Am
Show me the way
                               F
The truth, the anger, show me rules of thumb
                     C
Show the way to grow old

           G
Love is a guide
                          Am
The endless river of the soul
            F
But we are mean
                           C
The dried up riverbeds of rock and stone
            G
Lust is my friend
                           Am
She comes to me when I am tired

Chorus:
           C               C+
Life is a road, death is a myth
           C6                   C7
Love is a fraud, it's misunderstood
           F                    C
Work is a sentence, family's a drag
                 G
This house is a trap

I'm in a play written today about a girl
She gets on perfectly with young and old
Everybody loves her
What would she wear? The cut of her hair?
The way that she slides
Gracefully into the working week
She hides her baggage inside

She's got a friend
An ugly monster that will eat your face
She hides her crime
A hefty catalogue of wasted time
She's got a friend
A lonely monster that will prey on you

Chorus - x2

I'm in a play written today about a boy
Tired and melancholy, takes the weight
Takes the weight of the world
I walked alone, loving a song
Walking the earth
The worn-out sister who is twenty-three
Dried and wrinkled, alone

I'll give you a month
To see past shadows in your sacred mind
I'll give you a week
To look Medusa in the eye
I'll give you a month
To notice heaven in the sight of stage

F/C                      C
You're king inside your head
You're sitting on the throne of sand
You're pushing back the tide
So lift the mountain up
So tie the writer's ribbons down
Assemble all your troops
We go to war with metaphors
And suddenly see sense (And suddenly see sense)
And when you do, I'll have the higher ground
(I'll have the higher ground)
You're not the king of me
I'll take my chance and play for tyranny
I build the sets, I light the scene
We're prettier when we are on the screen
I build the sets, I light the scene
We're braver when we're on the sacred screen
The backstage of your life
Is filled with props and lines you should have sung
The backstage of your life
Is filled with echoes of the ones you love


You can simplify chords by removing barre

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Simplify chords by removing barre

Guitar Chord Diagrams

Am

Guitar chord Am

C+

Guitar chord C+

C

Guitar chord C

C6

Guitar chord C6

C7

Guitar chord C7

F

Guitar chord F

G

Guitar chord G

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 "Play For Today" on the ukulele, check out the chords on our sister site: Ukulele Chords for "Play For Today" by Belle and Sebastian.

Belle and Sebastian Song List