Tracy Chapman - Across the Lines: Guitar Chords

Learn to play "Across the Lines" 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 Across the Lines Guitar Chords and Lyrics by Tracy Chapman

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 "Across the Lines" smoothly on your guitar.

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

Chorus:
F#m         E      Bm        D
Across the lines, who would dare to go
F#m         E                Bm
Under the bridge, over the tracks
                 D
That separates whites from blacks
F#m               E            A
Choose sides, or run for your life
Bm           D       E
Tonight the riots began
F#m                  E
On back streets of America,
Bm                         D    A
They killed the dream of America

F#m                                E
Little black girl gets assaulted, ain't
no reason why
     Bm                         D
Newspaper prints the story and racist
tempers fly
     F#m                       E
Next day it starts the riot, knives
and guns are drawn
     Bm                          D
Two black boys get killed, one white boy goes blind

Chorus

Little black girl gets assaulted
Don't no one know her name
Lots of people hurt and angry
She's the one to blame

Chorus:
Across the lines
Who would dare to go
Under the bridge
Over the tracks
That separates whites from blacks
Choose sides
Run for your lives
Tonight the riots begin
On the back streets of America
They kill the dream of America


You can simplify chords by removing barre

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Simplify chords by removing barre

Guitar Chord Diagrams

A

Guitar chord A

D

Guitar chord D

E

Guitar chord E

F#m

Guitar chord F#m

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 "Across the Lines" on the ukulele, check out the chords on our sister site: Ukulele Chords for "Across the Lines" by Tracy Chapman.