Johnny Cash - Bad News: Guitar Chords

Learn to play "Bad News" 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#
Well, bad news travels like wildfire,
good news travels slow.
They call me "Wildfire",
'cause ev'rybody knows
    D#7                   A#
I'm bad news ev'rywhere I go.
F7
Always gettin' into trouble
                                             A#
And leavin' little girls that hate to see me go.

They tried to hang me in Oakland
and they did in Fransisco.
But I wouldn't choke,
I broke their rope and they had to let me go,
'cause I'm bad news ev'rywhere I go.
Always gettin' into trouble
And leavin' little girls that hate to see me go.

Now, from north to south to east to west,
the story is the same.
From one state to another
I have to change my name,
'cause I'm bad news ev'rywhere I go.
Always gettin' into trouble
And leavin' little girls that hate to see me go.

Well, now I picked peaches in Georgia,
I lumberjacked in Maine.
I've been hired, fired and jailed;
any town you can name,
'cause I'm bad news ev'rywhere I go.
Always gettin' into trouble
And leavin' little girls that hate to see me go.


You can simplify chords by removing barre

Transpose

Reset

Font Size

Reset

Simplify chords by removing barre

Guitar Chord Diagrams

A#

Guitar chord A#

D#7

Guitar chord D#7

F7

Guitar chord F7

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 "Bad News" on the ukulele, check out the chords on our sister site: Ukulele Chords for "Bad News" by Johnny Cash.

Johnny Cash Song List