The Pogues - Oretown: Guitar Chords

Learn to play "Oretown" 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 Oretown Guitar Chords and Lyrics by The Pogues

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 "Oretown" smoothly on your guitar.

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

Gm
The night stank of diesel, a stranger came to town
A cold wind blowing and the rain pouring down
   C
Street lights flicker and the power lines moan
     Gm
The moon beat down on a river of bone
 F                           C
Someone put the lights out, no one make a sound
     Gm
You won't find a thing down in Oretown

Foundry spits fire and smoke, air's foul and choking
Sky's full of sulphur, hills flat and broken
Black fogs and whirlwinds and thunder and rain
Open drink madness, purple mad pain
The circus is over, exit the clowns
Nobody's laughing down in Oretown

Ship's in the harbour, cargo's been pawned
Barrooms spill sailors all shipwrecked at dawn
Smelling of sawdust, uniforms torn
Came looking for flowers, only found thorns
Dreaming of mermaids in pearly white gowns
The captain is sleeping down in Oretown

There's a madman down on Main Street,
eyes all aflame
Laughing in the thunder of the Number 9 train
Selling old postcards in rusty frames
A thousand views of Oretown, they all look the same
Dressed up in sandals and a barbed wire crown
A lot of people lost their minds down in Oretown

Lock up the lawman, let go the thief
Rounding up the grey men, nail them to a tree
This town was a palace, this town was aglow
Then the sky burned orange and the iron river flowed
The night stinks of diesel, a stranger came to town
The night folded over down in Oretown


You can simplify chords by removing barre

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Simplify chords by removing barre

Guitar Chord Diagrams

C

Guitar chord C

F

Guitar chord F

Gm

Guitar chord Gm

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 "Oretown" on the ukulele, check out the chords on our sister site: Ukulele Chords for "Oretown" by The Pogues.

The Pogues Song List