Billy Joel - Only a Man: Guitar Chords

Learn to play "Only a 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.

Cm7                           F9
Only a man who's broken can appreciate
                 A#
the awful pain I feel
F/A              Gm              G7            Cm7
Only a man who's world is always real can ever know
Cm7           F9                            A#
And who could understand the all consuming pain
F/A               Gm             G7
Only a man who's weeping in the rain
               C6
knows where to go

Chorus:
              F9
And it's not easy
          A#          F/A             Gm
When you realize that you are on your own
G7   C6
Ah, ah
                F9
No, no it's not easy
          A#                  F/A         Gm G7 Cm7
When you face the thought of living all alone

Only a man who wanders through the emptiness
of every passing day
This is the man whose eyes know what to see
and what to say
And who could ever know the feeling in my heart
Only a man whose hopes and dreams are broken
all apart

Chorus:
And it's not easy
When you reach out in the dark to touch her face
No, no, it's not easy
When instead you touch a pillow in her place

And it's not easy
When you think about the way she combs her hair
No, no, it's not easy
When the memory of her is everywhere

Only a man who lies awake and wonders will
he never smile again
And this is the only man whose lonely nights
can never end
And if you want to know what kind of man he'll be
Oh, listen my friend, I'll tell you all
you'll have to know is me

And it's not easy, no, no
It's not easy
Oh, it's not easy
Why, no, why
Well, it's not easy
No, tell me, no, no, no


You can simplify chords by removing barre

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Simplify chords by removing barre

Guitar Chord Diagrams

A

Guitar chord A

A#

Guitar chord A#

C6

Guitar chord C6

Cm7

Guitar chord Cm7

F

Guitar chord F

F9

Guitar chord F9

G7

Guitar chord G7

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

Billy Joel Song List