Benson Boone - What Was: Guitar Chords

Learn to play "What Was" 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.

Emaj7   E6             E        Amaj7
Young, standing on the edge of 21
A6                             Emaj7
Staring at the man that I've become sometimes
F#m              Amaj7 A6
When I lose my control
     Emaj7 E6                   E            Amaj7
He's dumb, if you blink he'll blow up like a gun
A6                               E
Jumping to conclusions just for fun
           F#m               Amaj7
That guy, needs somebody to hold
    A6                E  F#m7 A
He needs somebody he knows

                        E F#m7 A
Where the hell did she go?
A
It kinda makes me feel like

Chorus:
E
I wish I could change my name
A                        C#m7
I wish I could start again
             B
Fly me to a lonely place
              A
Where you'll never see my face
        Am
So you never feel the pain of
  E   A
What was
             C#m
When you're standing in the rain
 B
Calling out my name
 A
Nothing's gonna change
  Am  Emaj7 E6 E Amaj7 A6
What was

Cold, driving through my neighborhood alone
Going past the house, but I'm not home this time
I haven't been in a while
I haven't been

'Cause I'm far away
In another state miles away from us
As you try to fan a dying flame
While ashes turn to dust

Chorus:
I wish I could change my name
I wish I could start again
Fly me to a lonely place
Where you'll never see my face,
so you'll never feel the pain of
What was
When you're standing in the rain,
calling out my name
Nothing's gonna change
What was

Let me, start over
The moment that I left you in tears
Is a memory that will haunt me for years,
and years, and years, and years, and years
(Oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh, oh, oh, oh)
(Oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh, oh, oh, oh, oh)
Oh, it still does
(Oh, oh, oh, oh) Oh, it still does
What was

You need somebody to hold
Where the hell did I go?


You can simplify chords by removing barre

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Simplify chords by removing barre

Guitar Chord Diagrams

A

Guitar chord A

Am

Guitar chord Am

Amaj7

Guitar chord Amaj7

A6

Guitar chord A6

C#m

Guitar chord C#m

C#m7

Guitar chord C#m7

E

Guitar chord E

Emaj

Guitar chord Emaj

Emaj7

Guitar chord Emaj7

E6

Guitar chord E6

F#m

Guitar chord F#m

F#m7

Guitar chord F#m7

B

Guitar chord B

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 "What Was" on the ukulele, check out the chords on our sister site: Ukulele Chords for "What Was" by Benson Boone.