Bob Dylan - Gates of Eden: Guitar Chords

Learn to play "Gates of Eden" 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                 Dm
Of war and peace the truth just twists
     F      C        G  C/G G
Its curfew gull it glides
  G               Dm
Upon four-legged forest clouds
     F     C      G    C/G G
The cowboy angel rides
          G      Bm   Am      G
With his candle lit into the sun
             G      Bm        C  D
Though its glow is waxed in black
G                 Bm        Am      G    C/G
All except when 'neath the trees of Eden

The lamppost stands with folded arms
Its iron claws attached
To curbs 'neath holes where babies wail
Though it shadows metal badge
All and all can only fall
        Bm          Am            C  D
With a crashing but meaningless blow
    G          A#             C       G
No sound ever comes from the Gates of Eden

The savage soldier sticks his head in sand
And then complains
Unto the shoeless hunter who's gone deaf
But still remains
Upon the beach where hound dogs bay
At ships with tattooed sails
 G               C       G
Heading for the Gates of Eden

With a time-rusted compass blade
Aladdin and his lamp
Sits with Utopian hermit monks
Side saddle on the Golden Calf
And on their promises of paradise
    Am               C   D
You will not hear a laugh
G             A#       C       G
All except inside the Gates of Eden

Relationships of ownership
They whisper in the wings
To those condemned to act accordingly
And wait for succeeding kings
And I try to harmonize with songs
The lonesome sparrow sings
There are no kings inside the Gates of Eden

The motorcycle black madonna
Two-wheeled gypsy queen
And her silver-studded phantom cause
The gray flannel dwarf to scream
As he weeps to wicked birds of prey
Who pick up on his bread crumb sins
And there are no sins inside the Gates of Eden

The kingdoms of Experience
In the precious wind they rot
While paupers change possessions
Each one wishing for what the other has got
And the princess and the prince
Discuss what's real and what is not
It doesn't matter inside the Gates of Eden

The foreign sun, it squints upon
A bed that is never mine
As friends and other strangers
From their fates try to resign
Leaving men wholly, totally free
To do anything they wish to do but die
And there are no trials inside the Gates of Eden

At dawn my lover comes to me
And tells me of her dreams
With no attempts to shovel the glimpse
Into the ditch of what each one means
At times I think there are no words
But these to tell what's true
And there are no truths outside the Gates of Eden


You can simplify chords by removing barre

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Simplify chords by removing barre

Guitar Chord Diagrams

Am

Guitar chord Am

A#

Guitar chord A#

C

Guitar chord C

D

Guitar chord D

Dm

Guitar chord Dm

F

Guitar chord F

G

Guitar chord G

Bm

Guitar chord Bm

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 "Gates of Eden" on the ukulele, check out the chords on our sister site: Ukulele Chords for "Gates of Eden" by Bob Dylan.

Bob Dylan Song List