The Cure - How Beautiful You Are: Guitar Chords

Learn to play "How Beautiful You Are" 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.

Am                      D
You want to know why I hate you?
           C         D
Well I'll try and explain...
     Am                   D
You remember that day in Paris
         C                    D
When we wandered through the rain

     Am              D
And promised to each other
          C                 D
That we'd always think the same
     Am                    D              C  D
And dreamed that dream to be two souls as one

Chorus:
     Bm                  A
And stopped just as the sun set
    Bm              A
And waited for the night
    Bm                A
Outside a glittering building
    Bm
Of glittering glass and burning light...

And in the road before us stood
a weary greyish man
Who held a child upon his back
A small boy by the hand

The three of them were dressed in
rags and thinner than air
And all six eyes stared fixedly on you

Chorus:
    Bm                  A
The father's eyes said beautiful
    Bm            A
How beautiful you are
    Bm                   A
The boy's eyes said how beautiful
     Bm
She shimmers like a star

     Am                   Em
The child's eyes uttered nothing
     F                G
But mute and utter joy
      Am                   Em
And filled my heart with shame for us
         F        G
For the way we are
     Am      Em  F G
(The way we are)

I turned to look at you
To read my thoughts upon your face
And gazed so deep into your eyes
So beautiful and strange

Until you spoke
And showed me understanding is a dream
"I hate these people staring
Make them go away from me!"

Chorus:
The father's eyes said "Beautiful!
How beautiful you are!"
The boy's eyes said
"How beautiful!
She glitters like a star!"
The child's eyes uttered nothing
But a quiet and utter joy
And stilled my heart with sadness
At the way we are
At the way we are
At the way we are

And this is why I hate you
And how I understand
That no-one ever knows or loves another


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

Bm

Guitar chord Bm

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 "How Beautiful You Are" on the ukulele, check out the chords on our sister site: Ukulele Chords for "How Beautiful You Are" by The Cure.

The Cure Song List