Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Darker with the Day: Guitar Chords

Learn to play "Darker with the Day" 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
So without a thought I thought I'd take a final walk
A7
The tide of public opinion had started to abate
D
The neighbors (bless 'em) had turned out to be all talk
Dm
I could see their frightened faces peering at me through the gate
A
Was looking for an end to this for some kind of closure
A7                                               D
Time moved so rapidly I had no hope of keeping track of it
And I thought of my friends who had died of exposure
         Dm
And I remembered all the ones who had died from the lack of it

And in my best shoes, I started falling forward down the street
Stopped at a church and jostled through the crowd
Love followed just behind me, panting at my feet
As the steeple tore the stomach from a lonely little cloud
Inside I sat, seeking the presence of a God
Searched through the pictures in a leather-bound book
And I found a woolly lamb dozing in an issue of blood
And a gilled Jesus shivering on a fisherman's hook

Chorus:
A
Babe
            A7
It seems so long
              D         Dm
Since you've been gone away
    C             G
And I just gotta say
            Am        G        F E
That it grows darker with the day

Back on the street I saw a great big smiling sun
It was a good day and an evil day and all was bright and new
Seemed to me that most destruction was being done
By those who could not choose between the two
Amateurs, dilettantes, hacks, cowboys, clones
The streets groan with the little Caesars, Napoleons, and cunts
With their building blocks and their tiny plastic phones
Counting on their fingers, with their crumbs down their fronts

I passed by your garden, saw you with your flowers
The Camellias, Magnolias, and Azaleas so sweet
You stood there invisible in the panicking crowds
You looked so beautiful in the rising heat
I smell smoke, see little fires bursting on the lawns
People carry on regardless, listening to their hands
Great cracks appear in the pavement, the earth yawns
Bored and disgusted, to do us down

Chorus:
And babe, it seems so long
Since you've been gone
You went away
And I just got to say
That it grows darker with the day

All these streets are frozen now. I come and go
Full of a longing for something I do not know
My father sits slumped in the deepening snow
As I search, in and out, above, about, and below

Chorus:
Babe, it seems so long
Since you've been gone
And you went away
And I hope and I pray
That it grows darker with the day


You can simplify chords by removing barre

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Simplify chords by removing barre

Guitar Chord Diagrams

A

Guitar chord A

Am

Guitar chord Am

A7

Guitar chord A7

C

Guitar chord C

D

Guitar chord D

Dm

Guitar chord Dm

E

Guitar chord E

F

Guitar chord F

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 "Darker with the Day" on the ukulele, check out the chords on our sister site: Ukulele Chords for "Darker with the Day" by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds.

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds Song List