Billy Joel - The Great Wall of China: Guitar Chords
Learn to play "The Great Wall of China" 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.
F D# G# A# Advice is cheap you can take it from me F D# G# A# It's yours to keep 'cause opinions are free F D# G# A# Nobody knows 'bout the trouble I've seen F D# G# F Nobody's perfect, mister, nobody's clean G F A# C It costs too much and takes too long to find out too late G F A# C Some words are not heard 'til after they're spoken G F A# C Your role was protective, your soul was too defective G F A# G Some people just don't have a heart to be broken Chorus: C C/A# C/A We could have gone all the way to the Great C/G Wall of China F C/E If you'd only had a little more faith in G#/D# C#maj7 C#6 me C C/A# C/A C/G In lieu of diamonds, gold and platinum reminders F C/E D will still shine bright C C/A# C/A C/G All the king's men, and all the king's horses F C/E Can't put you together the way you used to G#/D# C#maj7 C#maj6 be C C/A# C/A We could have been standing on the Great C/G Wall of China You take a piece of whatever you touch Too many pieces means you're touching too much You never win if you can't play it straight You only beat me if you get me to hate It must be so lonely to think that you have only Somebody else's life to live if they let you I ain't too selective, but it don't take no detective To find out how fast your friends will forget you Chorus: We could have gone all the way to the Great Wall of China Now all you're going to be is history Help yourself, it's all you can eat at the Empire Diner tonight You coulda had class, you coulda been a contender Charlie, you shoulda looked out for me You could have been standing, standing on the Great Wall of China This was not your calling, just look how far you've fallen I heard your story, man, you've got to be joking Keep things in perspective, this is my true objective Why tear this heart out if it's only been broken? Chorus: We could have gone all the way to the Great Wall of China If you'd only had a little more faith in me In lieu of diamonds, gold and platinum reminders will still shine bright All the king's men and all the king's horses Can't put you together the way you used to be We could have been standing on the Great Wall of China You can simplify chords by removing barre | TransposeReset Font SizeReset Guitar Chord DiagramsA  A#  C  C#6  C#maj7  D  D#  E  F  G  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 "The Great Wall of China" on the ukulele, check out the chords on our sister site: Ukulele Chords for "The Great Wall of China" by Billy Joel.