Bruce Springsteen - Born to Run: Guitar Chords

Learn to play "Born to Run" 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
In the day we sweat it out on the streets of
   A                 B
a runaway American dream
    E
At night we ride through mansions of glory
    A          B
in suicide machines
    A                E/G#
Sprung from cages on highway 9,
        F#m
chrome-wheeled, fuel-injected
     E/G#                  E     D/E
and steppin' out over the line, whoah!
 A                       E/G#
Baby this town rips the bones from your back
        F#m                E/G#
It's a death trap, it's a suicide rap,
          E                   C#m
we gotta get out while we're young
         A              B                    E
'Cause tramps like us, baby we were born to run
Yes, girl, we were

Wendy let me in, I wanna be your friend
I want to guard your dreams and visions
Just wrap your legs 'round these velvet rims
And strap your hands across my engines
Together we could break this trap
We'll run till we drop, baby we'll never go back
Oh, will you walk with me out on the wire?
`Cause baby I'm just a scared and lonely rider
But I gotta know how it feels
I want to know if love is wild, babe
I want to know if love is real
Oh, can you show me?

  Dsus4     D      Dsus4         D      Gsus4
Beyond the Palace hemi-powered drones scream
          G   Gsus4 G
down the boulevard
      Asus4       A       Asus4    A
Girls comb their hair in rearview mirrors,
        Csus4        C       Csus4 C
and the boys try to look so hard
    Dsus4      D         Dsus4      D
The amusement park rises bold and stark,
          Gsus4          G          Gsus4 G
kids are huddled on the beach in a mist
        Asus4         A            Asus4
I wanna die with you Wendy on the streets
   A          Csus4 C     Csus4 C
tonight in an everlasting kiss

The highways jammed with broken heroes
On a last chance power drive
Everybody's out on the run tonight
But there's no place left to hide
Together, Wendy, we can live with the sadness
I'll love you with all the madness in my soul
Oh, someday girl, I don't know when
We're gonna get to that place
Where we really want to go,
and we'll walk in the sun
But till then, tramps like us
Baby, we were born to run

Oh honey, tramps like us
Baby, we were born to run
Come on Wendy, tramps like us
Baby, we were born to run
Whoa-oh-whoa
Hm-hm-hm
Oh-oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh
Whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
Hm-hm-hm
Whoa-oh-whoa
Oh-oh-oh
Whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh


You can simplify chords by removing barre

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Simplify chords by removing barre

Guitar Chord Diagrams

A

Guitar chord A

Asus4

Guitar chord Asus4

B

Guitar chord B

C

Guitar chord C

C#m

Guitar chord C#m

Csus4

Guitar chord Csus4

D

Guitar chord D

Dsus4

Guitar chord Dsus4

E

Guitar chord E

F#m

Guitar chord F#m

G

Guitar chord G

G#

Guitar chord G#

Gsus4

Guitar chord Gsus4

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

Bruce Springsteen Song List