Sting - Island Of Souls: Guitar Chords

Learn to play "Island Of Souls" 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.

Dm                     G
Billy was born within sight of the shipyard
First son of a riveter's son
And Billy was raised as the ship grew a shadow
Her great hull would blot out the light of the sun

And six days a week he would watch his poor father
A working man live like a slave
He'd drink every night and he'd dream of a future
Of money he never would save

     Cm7                      G#
And Billy would cry when he thought of the future.

Soon came a day when the bottle was broken
They launched the great ship out to sea
He felt he'd been left on a desolate shore
To a future he desperately wanted to flee

Cm7                        G#
What else was there for a shipbuilder's son
        A#
A new ship to be built, new work to be done

Chorus:
     F        A#                        Gm
One day, he dreamed of the ship in the world
          Dm                   F
it would carry his father and he
       A#                       Gm7
to a place they would never be found
F     A#        C7             Dm
to a place far away from this town.

Trapped in the cage of the skeleton ship
All the workmen suspended like flies
Caught in the flare of acetylene light
A working man works till the industry dies

And Billy would cry when he thought of the future

Then what they call an industrial accident
Crushed those it couldn't forgive
They brought Billy's father back home in an ambulance
A brass watch, a cheque, maybe three weeks to live

And what else was there for a riveter's son
A new ship to be built, new work to be done

Chorus:
That night, he dreamed of the ship in the world
It would carry his father and he
To a place they could never be found
To a place far away from this town
A Newcastle ship without coals
They would sail to the island of souls


You can simplify chords by removing barre

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Simplify chords by removing barre

Guitar Chord Diagrams

A#

Guitar chord A#

Cm

Guitar chord Cm

C7

Guitar chord C7

Cm7

Guitar chord Cm7

Dm

Guitar chord Dm

F

Guitar chord F

G

Guitar chord G

Gm

Guitar chord Gm

G#

Guitar chord G#

Gm7

Guitar chord Gm7

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 "Island Of Souls" on the ukulele, check out the chords on our sister site: Ukulele Chords for "Island Of Souls" by Sting.