Bruce Springsteen - Badlands: Guitar Chords

Learn to play "Badlands" 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.

 E                B
Lights out tonight
  A             E    B
Trouble in the heartland
 E                      B
Got a head-on collision
  A             E     B
Smashin' in my guts, man
     E
I'm caught in a cross fire
A            B      E
That I don't understand
                  A               B
But there's one thing I know for sure girl
E
I don't give a damn
         A                    B
For the same old played out scenes
E
I don't give a damn
     A              B
For just the in betweens
 E                                   A
Honey, I want the heart, I want the soul
            B         E
I want control right now
            A            B
You better listen to me baby

A
Talk about a dream
Try to make it real
  B
You wake up in the night
With a fear so real
  A
Spend your life waiting
                                B
For a moment that- just- don't come
                             A  B
Well, don't waste your time waiting

Chorus:
E                    A            B
Badlands, you gotta live it everyday
          E
Let the broken hearts stand
         A                 B
As the price you've gotta pay
            E
We'll keep pushin' till it's understood
           A               B          E  A B
And these badlands start treating us good

Workin' in the fields till
you get your back burned
Workin' 'neath the wheel till
you get your facts learned
Baby, I got my facts learned real good right now
You better get it straight, darling
Poor man wanna be rich, rich man wanna be king
And a king ain't satisfied till he rules everything
I wanna go out tonight, I wanna find out what I got

Well I believe in the love that you gave me
I believe in the faith that could save me
I believe in the hope and I pray that some day
It may raise me above these

Chorus

For the ones who had a notion,
a notion deep inside
That it ain't no sin to be
glad you're alive
I wanna find one face that
ain't looking through me
I wanna find one place,
I wanna spit in the face of these

Chorus:
Badlands, you gotta live it everyday
Let the broken hearts stand as
the price you've gotta pay
Keep movin' till it's understood
And these badlands start treating us good

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa
Badlands, whoa whoa whoa whoa
Badlands, whoa whoa whoa whoa
Badlands, whoa whoa whoa whoa
Badlands, whoa whoa whoa whoa
Badlands, whoa whoa whoa whoa


You can simplify chords by removing barre

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Simplify chords by removing barre

Guitar Chord Diagrams

A

Guitar chord A

B

Guitar chord B

E

Guitar chord E

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 "Badlands" on the ukulele, check out the chords on our sister site: Ukulele Chords for "Badlands" by Bruce Springsteen.

Bruce Springsteen Song List