The Band - When I Paint My Masterpiece: Guitar Chords

Learn to play "When I Paint My Masterpiece" 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.

D#                 A#         D#         A#
Oh, the streets of Rome are filled with rubble,
         F                    A#
Ancient foot prints are everywhere.
D#         A#                     D#      A#
You could almost think that your seein' double,
        F                               A#
On the cold, dark night on the Spanish Stairs.
F                         F7    A#
Gotta hurry on back to my hotel room,
         F                                            A#   D#
Where I got me a date with a pretty little girl from Greece.
      A#               D#    A#
She promised she'd be there with me,
        F              A#
When I paint my masterpiece..

Oh, the hours we'd spend inside the Colosseum
Dodging lions, and a-wasting time
Oh those mighty kings of the jungle,
I could hardly stand to see 'em
Yes it sure has been a long, hard climb
Train wheels a-running thru the back of my memory
When I ran on the hilltop following a pack of wild geese
Someday everything is gonna sound like a rhapsody
When I paint my masterpiece

D#m                                    A#
Sailing round the world in a dirty gondola,
Dm        D#                 F      D# A#/D C#dim7 F
Oh to be back in the land of, Coca cola.

Well, I left Rome and landed in Brussels
On a plane ride so bumpy that I almost cried
Clergy men in uniform, and young girls pulling muscles
Everyone was there to greet me when I stepped inside
Newspaper men eating candy
Had to be held down by big police
But someday everything's gonna be different
When I paint that masterpiece



You can simplify chords by removing barre

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Simplify chords by removing barre

Guitar Chord Diagrams

A#

Guitar chord A#

C#dim7

Guitar chord C#dim7

D

Guitar chord D

Dm

Guitar chord Dm

D#

Guitar chord D#

D#m

Guitar chord D#m

F

Guitar chord F

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 "When I Paint My Masterpiece" on the ukulele, check out the chords on our sister site: Ukulele Chords for "When I Paint My Masterpiece" by The Band.

The Band Song List