Eric Clapton - Motherless Children: Guitar Chords

Learn to play "Motherless Children" 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.

A
Motherless children have
   D              A                 D
a hard time when mother is dead, lord
A
Motherless children have
   D              A                 D
a hard time when mother is dead, lord
A                    E
They don't have anywhere to go
D                  F
Wandering around from door to door

Chorus:
A                         D
Nobody treats you like a mother
                A                  D
will when your mother is dead, lord

Father will do the best he
can when your mother is dead, lord
Father will do the best he
can when your mother is dead, lord
Father will do the best he can
So many things a father can't understand

Chorus

Sister will do the best she can
when your mother is dead, lord
Sister will do the best she can
when your mother is dead, lord
Sister will do the best she can
So many things a sister can't understand

Chorus

When your mother is dead,
when your mother is dead
When your mother is dead, Lord,
when your mother is dead


You can simplify chords by removing barre

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Simplify chords by removing barre

Guitar Chord Diagrams

A

Guitar chord A

D

Guitar chord D

E

Guitar chord E

F

Guitar chord F

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 "Motherless Children" on the ukulele, check out the chords on our sister site: Ukulele Chords for "Motherless Children" by Eric Clapton.

Eric Clapton Song List