Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - People Ain't No Good: Guitar Chords

Learn to play "People Ain't No Good" on your guitar with our detailed chord guide and lyrics. 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.

Learn People Ain't No Good Guitar Chords and Lyrics by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

This section will guide you through each part of the song, providing the guitar chords placed directly above the lyrics for easy playing. Whether you are a beginner or an experienced player, these elements will help you perform "People Ain't No Good" smoothly on your guitar.

For easier playing, use our Simplify Chords feature to remove difficult chords like barre.

             C           G F
People just ain't no good
                    C        G F
A thing that's well understood
                               C  G F
You can see it everywhere you look
                      G  G7
People just ain't no good

We were married under cherry trees
Under blossom we made our vows
All the blossoms come sailing down
Through the streets and through the playgrounds

The sun would stream on the sheets
Awoken by the morning bird
We’d buy the Sunday newspapers
Never read a single word

Chorus:
             C      G  F
People, they ain't no good
             C      G  F
People, they ain't no good
             C      G  F   G
People, they ain't no good at all

Seasons came, seasons went
The winter stripped the blossoms bare
A different tree now lines the streets
Shaking its fists in the air

The winter slammed us like a fist
The windows rattling in the gales
To which she drew the curtains
Made out of her wedding veils

Chorus

        C                        F
To our love, send a dozen white lilies
        C                      F
To our love, send a coffin of wood
        C                           F
To our love, let all the pink-eyed pigeons coo
      Dm                         G
That people, they just ain't no good

To our love, send back all the letters
To our love, a valentine of blood
To our love, let all the jilted lovers cry
That people, they just ain’t no good

It ain’t that in their hearts they’re bad
They can comfort you, some even try
They nurse you when you’re ill of health
They bury you when you go and die

It ain’t that in their hearts they’re bad
They’d stick by you if they could
But that’s just bullshit baby
People just ain’t no good

Chorus


You can simplify chords by removing barre

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Simplify chords by removing barre

Guitar Chord Diagrams

C

Guitar chord C

Dm

Guitar chord Dm

F

Guitar chord F

G

Guitar chord G

G7

Guitar chord G7

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 "People Ain't No Good" on the ukulele, check out the chords on our sister site: Ukulele Chords for "People Ain't No Good" by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds.

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds Song List