Bruce Springsteen - Mary Queen of Arkansas: Guitar Chords

Learn to play "Mary Queen of Arkansas" 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.

D
Mary queen of Arkansas,
      G      Bm          D      Dsus4
it's not too early for dreamin'
      D      Dsus4      D         Dsus4
The sky is grown with cloud seed sown and
   G         Bm           F#m
a bastard's love can be redeeming
G                          A         D Dsus4 D Dsus4
Mary, my queen, your soft hulk is reviving
            G                     A7
No, you're not too late to desecrate,
                       Dsus4
 the servants are just rising

Well, I'm just a lonely acrobat, the live wire
is my trade
I've been a shine boy for your acid brat and
a wharf rat of your state
Mary, my queen, your blows for freedom are missing
You're not man enough for me to hate or woman
enough for kissing

    F#m                          G
The big top is for dreamers, we can
                Em7                 D    Dsus4 D
take the circus all the way to the border
        F#m
And the gallows wait for martyrs whose
 G     Em7    F#m
papers are in order
       G
But I was not born to live to die and
 A                    Dsus4  D Dsus4 D
you were not born for queenin'
      G                         A7
It's not too late to infiltrate,
                      Dsus4  D
the servants are just leavin'

The big top is for dreamers, we can take
the circus all the way to the border
And the gallows wait for martyrs whose papers
are in order
But I was not born to live to die, and you were
not born for queenin'
It's not too late to infiltrate,
the servants are just leavin'

Mary, Queen of Arkansas, your white skin
is deceivin'
You wake and wait to lie in bait and you
almost got me believin'
But on your bed, Mary, I can see the shadow
of a noose
I don't understand how you can hold me so
tight and love me so damn loose

But I know a place where we can go, Mary
Where I can get a good job and start out
all over again clean
I got contacts deep in Mexico where
 the servants have been seen


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Guitar Chord Diagrams

A

Guitar chord A

A7

Guitar chord A7

Bm

Guitar chord Bm

D

Guitar chord D

Dsus4

Guitar chord Dsus4

Em7

Guitar chord Em7

F#m

Guitar chord F#m

G

Guitar chord 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 "Mary Queen of Arkansas" on the ukulele, check out the chords on our sister site: Ukulele Chords for "Mary Queen of Arkansas" by Bruce Springsteen.

Bruce Springsteen Song List