Billy Joel - Angry Young Man: Guitar Chords

Learn to play "Angry Young Man" 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.

            G                        D
There's a place in the world for the angry young man
         Am7                         D
With his working class ties and his radical plans
      G                   D
He refuses to bend, he refuses to crawl
         Am7                     G/D          D
And he's always at home with his back to the wall
          F/A          G7/B          C
And he's proud of his scars and the battles he's
lost
          G/B          A/C#        D
And he struggles and bleeds as he hangs on his cross
        G                       D           Cmaj7
And he likes to be known as the angry young man

Give a moment or two to the angry young man
With his foot in his mouth and his heart in his hand
He's been stabbed in the back,
he's been misunderstood
It's a comfort to know his intentions are good
And he sits in a room with a lock on the door
With his maps and his medals laid out on the floor
And he likes to be known as the angry young man

F              Gm7
I believe I've passed the age
    A#       A#/D     C        C/A#
Of consciousness and righteous rage
   F/A                  A#         C        D
I found that just surviving was a noble fight
G                   Am7
I once believed in causes too
   C      C/E       D        D/C
I had my pointless point of view
     G/B             C               A
And life went on no matter who was wrong or
 A9sus4 A A7 D D9sus4 D D7
right

And there's always a place for the angry young man
With his fist in the air and his head in the sand
And he's never been able to learn from mistakes
So he can't understand why his heart always breaks
And his honor is pure, and his courage as well
And he's fair, and he's true, and he's boring as
hell
And he'll go to the grave as an angry old man

Yes, there's always a place for the angry young man
With his working class ties and his radical plans
He refuses to bend, he refuses to crawl
And he's always at home with his back to the wall
And he's proud of his scars and the battles he's
lost
And he struggles and bleeds as he hangs on his
cross
And he likes to be known as the angry young man


You can simplify chords by removing barre

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Simplify chords by removing barre

Guitar Chord Diagrams

A

Guitar chord A

A7

Guitar chord A7

A#

Guitar chord A#

Am7

Guitar chord Am7

B

Guitar chord B

C

Guitar chord C

C#

Guitar chord C#

Cmaj7

Guitar chord Cmaj7

D

Guitar chord D

D7

Guitar chord D7

E

Guitar chord E

F

Guitar chord F

G

Guitar chord G

G7

Guitar chord G7

Gm7

Guitar chord Gm7

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 "Angry Young Man" on the ukulele, check out the chords on our sister site: Ukulele Chords for "Angry Young Man" by Billy Joel.

Billy Joel Song List