Sting - This War: Guitar Chords

Learn to play "This War" 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.

               C
You've got the mouth of a she wolf
            Am
Inside the mask of an innocent lamb
              Em
You say your heart is all compassion
                   D/F#              G
But there's just a flat line on your cardiogram

        Am                       C
Yet you always made a profit baby
                             Em
If it was a famine or a feast

              C
Yes, I'm the soul of indiscretion,
      Am
I was cursed with x-ray vision,
        Em
I could see right through all the lies you told,
          D/F#               G
When you smiled for the television

             Am                  C
And you can see the coming battle
                                   Em
You pray the drums will never cease
             Am                      C
And you may win this war that's coming
                                 Em
But would you tolerate the peace?

Chorus:
   Em
Investing in munitions
           C
And those little cotton flags
           Am
Invest in wooden caskets
                                      G Em
In guns and body bags, guns and body bags

Your daddy was a businessman
And it always made good sense
You know the war can make you rich my friend
In dollars, pounds and cents
In the temple that was Mammon's
You were ordained the parish priest
Yes you may win this coming battle
But could you tolerate the peace?

Chorus:
Invest in deadly weapons
And those little cotton flags
Invest in wooden caskets
In guns and body bags
You're invested in oppression
Investing in corruption
Invest in every tyranny
And the whole world's destruction

I imagine there's a future
When all the earthly wars are over
You may find yourself just standing there
On the white cliffs of Dover
You may ask, what does it profit a man
To gain the whole world and suffer the loss of his soul?
Is that your body you see on the rocks below
As the tide begins to roll?

Chorus:
And you invested in this prison
From which you never got released
You may have won this war we're fighting
But would you tolerate the peace?

There's a war on our democracy
A war on our dissent
There's a war inside religion
And what Jesus might have meant
There's a war on mother nature
A war upon the seas
There's a war upon the forests
On the birds and the bees
There's a war on education
A war on information
A war between the sexes
And every nation
A war on our compassion
A war on understanding
A war on love and life itself
It's war that they're demanding

Make it easy on yourself
And don't do nothing


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

C

Guitar chord C

D

Guitar chord D

Em

Guitar chord Em

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 "This War" on the ukulele, check out the chords on our sister site: Ukulele Chords for "This War" by Sting.