Foo Fighters - The Pretender: Guitar Chords

Learn to play "The Pretender" 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.

Am
Keep you in the dark
              F#m7-5  Fmaj
You know they all pretend
Am
Keep you in the dark
         F#m7-5  Fmaj
And so it all began
Am
Send in your skeletons
                                D/F# F
Sing as their bones go marching in again
Am
The need you buried deep
                              D/F#
The secrets that you keep are ever ready
F            G
Are you ready?
Am
I'm finished making sense
Done pleading ignorance
      D/F#     F   G
That whole, defense
Am
Spinning infinity, boy
The wheel is spinning me
      D/F#          F          G
It's never-ending, never-ending
 D
Same old story

Chorus:
Am
What if I say I'm not like the others?
                                   D/F#
What if I say I'm not just another one of your plays?
You're the pretender
F
What if I say that I'll never surrender?

Am
What if I say I'm not like the others?
                                   D/F#
What if I say I'm not just another one of your plays?
You're the pretender
F
What if I say that I'll never surrender?

In time or so i'm told
I'm just another soul for sale oh, well
The page is out of print
We are not permanent
We're temporary, temporary
Same old story

Chorus - x2

Am
I'm the voice inside your heat
You refuse to hear
I'm the face that you have to face
Mirrored in your stare
I'm what's left, I'm what's right
I'm the enemy
I'm the hand that will take you down
Bring you to your knees
So who are you?
Yeah, who are you?
Yeah, who are you?
Yeah, who are you?

Am
Keep you in the dark
             F#m7-5  Fmaj
You know they all pretend

Chorus - x4

Am
So who are you?
Yeah, who are you?
Yeah, who are you?


You can simplify chords by removing barre

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Simplify chords by removing barre

Guitar Chord Diagrams

Am

Guitar chord Am

D

Guitar chord D

F

Guitar chord F

Fm

Guitar chord Fm

F#

Guitar chord F#

F#m

Guitar chord F#m

Fmaj

Guitar chord Fmaj

F#m7

Guitar chord F#m7

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 "The Pretender" on the ukulele, check out the chords on our sister site: Ukulele Chords for "The Pretender" by Foo Fighters.

Foo Fighters Song List