Dire Straits - Telegraph Road: Guitar Chords

Learn to play "Telegraph Road" 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                    Dm
A long time ago came a man on a track
 C                           A#
walking thirty miles with a sack on his back
       A#                  C        F                 C
and he put down his load where he thought it was the best
A#                        Gm7   A#
He made a home in the wilderness

He built a cabin and a winter store
And he plowed up the ground by the cold lake shore
And the other travelers came walking down the track
And they never went further, no they never went back

Chorus:
  F                      Dm
Then came the churches then came the schools
  C                     A#
then came the lawyers then came the rules
 A#             C              F                C
Then came the trains and the trucks with their loads
         A#                                Dm
and the dirty old track was the telegraph road

Then came the mines, then came the ore
Then there was the hard times, then there was a war
Telegraph sang a song about the world outside
Telegraph road got so deep and so wide
Like a rolling river

D       Gm
And my radio says tonight it's gonna freeze
Dm
People driving home from the factories
         C
There's six lanes of traffic
Am                   Dm C
Three lanes moving slow

I used to like to go to work, but they shut it down
I've got a right to go to work
But there's no work here to be found
Yes, and they say we're gonna have to pay what's owed
We're gonna have to reap
From some seed that's been sowed

Chorus:
And the birds up on the wires and the telegraph poles
They can always fly away from this rain and this cold
You can hear them singing out their telegraph code
All the way down the telegraph road

You know, I'd sooner forget
But I remember those nights
When life was just a bet on a race
Between the lights
You had your head on my shoulder
You had your hand in my hair
Now you act a little colder
Like you don't seem to care

Chorus:
But believe in me, baby, and I'll take you away
From out of this darkness and into the day
From these rivers of headlights, these rivers of rain
From the anger that lives on the streets with these names
Cause I've run every red light on memory lane
I've seen desperation explode into flames
And I don't want to see it again
From all of these signs saying, "sorry, but we're closed"
All the way
Down the telegraph road


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

Gm

Guitar chord Gm

Gm7

Guitar chord Gm7

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 "Telegraph Road" on the ukulele, check out the chords on our sister site: Ukulele Chords for "Telegraph Road" by Dire Straits.