Billy Joel - Keeping the Faith: Guitar Chords

Learn to play "Keeping the Faith" 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.

      D
If it seems like I've been lost in let's remember
If you think I'm feeling older
and missing my younger days
                G
Oh, then you should have known me much better
Cause my past is something that never
           D
Got in my way  oh no

         D
Still I would not be here now
if I never had the hunger
And I'm not ashamed to say the
wild boys were my friends, oh
         G
Cause I never felt the desire
till their music set me on fire

Chorus:
           A6     G
Then I was saved, yeah
                           A6
That's why I'm keeping the faith
G
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
             D
Keeping the faith

We wore matador boots, only
Flagg Brothers had 'em with a Cuban heel
Iridescent socks with the same color
shirt and a tight pair of chinos
Oh, I put on my shark skin jacket,
you know the kind with the velvet collar
And ditty-bop shades, oh yeah

I took a fresh pack of Luckies and a
mint called Sen-Sen
My old man's Trojans and his Old Spice
aftershave, oh
Combed my hair in a pompadour like
the rest of the Romeos wore
A permanent wave, yeah

Chorus:
We were keepin' the faith
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Keepin' the faith

         A           G           D
You can get just so much from a good thing
         A          G             D
You can linger too long in your dreams
         A         G           D
Say goodbye to the oldies but goodies
           Em7
Cause the good old days weren't always good
       A7
And tomorrow ain't as bad as it seems

Learned stickball as a formal education
Lost a lot of fights but it taught me how
to lose okay, oh
I heard about sex but not enough
I found you could dance and still look tough anyway
Oh yes I did

I found out a man ain't just bein' macho
Ate an awful lot of late night drive-in food,
drank a lot of take home pay
I thought I was the Duke of Earl
When I made it with a red-haired girl in
a Chevrolet
Oh, yeah

Chorus:
We were keepin' the faith
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Keepin' the faith

Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh
You know the good ol' days weren't always good
And tomorrow ain't as bad as it seems

I told you my reasons for the whole revival
Now I'm goin' outside to have an ice cold
beer in the shade, oh
I'm going to listen to my 45's
Ain't it wonderful to be alive when
the rock 'n' roll plays, yeah
When the memory stays, yeah

Chorus:
I'm keepin' the faith
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Keepin' the faith

I'm keepin' the faith, yes I am
You know I'm keepin' the faith, oh yes I am
You know I'm keepin' the faith, oh you know I will
I'm keepin' the faith, oh yeah!
Ooh I'm keepin' the faith, oh yeah

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Guitar Chord Diagrams

A

Guitar chord A

A6

Guitar chord A6

A7

Guitar chord A7

D

Guitar chord D

Em7

Guitar chord Em7

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 "Keeping the Faith" on the ukulele, check out the chords on our sister site: Ukulele Chords for "Keeping the Faith" by Billy Joel.

Billy Joel Song List