E|E|E|E|E|---------------------------------------------------------------------------||||| A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall – Bob Dylan E|E|E|E|E|---------------------------------------------------------------------------||||| Written by: Bob Dylan From: "The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan" (1963) Tabbed by: maguri Tuning: Drop-D (D-A-D-G-B-e) + capo 2nd (= E-B-E-A-C#-f#) / Standard (E-A-D-G-B-e) These are the chords played on the studio version from “Freewheelin’”. The key is E, but here I suggest using a Drop-D tuning with a capo 2nd fret. Drop D is easy to do: Just tune down the 6th string (low E) down two steps to D and leave the other strings as they are. What makes Dylan's usage of Drop D tuning interesting is the continuous drone in the verses. I made a quick demo recording, so you can hear what this For novice players: (1) Use Standard Tuning with the voicings suggested below. (2) Additionally one could just leave out the notes after the slashes - instead of G/D play a regular G shape, instead of A/D play a regular A. You can use the "Simplify" button at the bottom of the screen to make the slash chords disappear from the chord sheet. E|E|E|E|E|---------------------------------------------------------------------------||||| capo: 2nd fret tuning: Drop D key: E For chords in original key transpose these chords +2 to E. E|E|E|E|E|---------------------------------------------------------------------------||||| CHORDS Tuning Drop D Standard D-A-D-G-B-e E-A-D-G-B-e D 0-0-0-2-3-2 x-x-0-2-3-2 A 2-0-2-2-2(0) x-0-2-2-2-0 G (0)2-0-0-3-3 3-x-0-0-0-3 G/D 0-0-0-4-3-3 (actually: Gadd2/D) x-x-0-0-0-3 A/D 0-0-0-6-5-5 (actually: Aadd4/D) x-x-0-2-2-0 D* 0-0-0-7-7-5 x-x-0-7-7-5 D* - this voicing is used fleetingly in the last bar (before the final chord) E|E|E|E|E|---------------------------------------------------------------------------||||| [Intro] | D | % | G/D | D | | D | % | % | [Verse] 1 D G/D D Oh, where have you been, my blue-eyed son? D A Oh, where have you been, my darling young one? G/D A/D D I’ve stumbled on the side of twelve misty mountains G/D A/D D I’ve walked and I’ve crawled on six crooked highways G/D A/D D I’ve stepped in the middle of seven sad forests G/D A/D D I’ve been out in front of a dozen dead oceans G/D A/D D I’ve been ten thousand miles in the mouth of a graveyard D A D G And it’s a hard, and it’s a hard, it’s a hard, and it’s a hard D A [ D ] It’s a hard rai---n’s a-gonna fall [Interlude] | D | % | G | D | % | % | % | [Verse] 2 D G D Oh, what did you see, my blue-eyed son? D A And what did you see, my darling young one? G/D A/D D I saw a newborn baby with wild wolves all around it G/D A/D D I saw a highway of diamonds with nobody on it G/D A/D D I saw a black branch with blood that kept drippin’ G/D A/D D I saw a room full of men with their hammers a-bleedin’ G/D A/D D I saw a white ladder all covered with water G/D A/D D I saw ten thousand talkers whose tongues were all broken G/D A/D D I saw guns and sharp swords in the hands of young children D A D G And it’s a hard, and it’s a hard, it’s a hard, and it’s a hard D A [ D ] And it’s a hard rai---n’s a-gonna fall [Interlude] | D | % | G | D | % | % | % | [Verse] 3 D G D And what did you hear, my blue-eyed son? D A And what did you hear, my darling young one? G/D A/D D I heard the sound of a thunder that roared out a warnin’ G/D A/D D I heard the roar of a wave that could drown the whole world G/D A/D D I heard one hundred drummers whose hands were a-blazin’ G/D A/D D I heard ten thousand whisperin’ and nobody listenin’ G/D A/D D I heard one person starve, I heard many people laughin’ G/D A/D D I heard the song of a poet who died in the gutter G/D A/D D I heard the sound of a clown who cried in the alley D A D G And it’s a hard, it’s a hard, it’s a hard, it’s a hard D A [ D ] It’s a hard rai---n’s a-gonna fall [Interlude] | D | % | G | D | % | % | % | [Verse] 4 D G D Oh, who did you meet, my blue-eyed son? [Dylan actually sings "what did you meet"] D A Who did you meet, my darling young one? G/D A/D D I met a young child beside a dead pony G/D A/D D I met a white man who walked a black dog G/D A/D D I met a young woman whose body was burning G/D A/D D I met a young girl, she gave me a rainbow G/D A/D D I met one man who was wounded in love G/D A/D D I met another man who was wounded in hatred D A D G And it’s a hard, it’s a hard, it’s a hard, it’s a hard D A [ D ] It’s a hard rai---n’s a-gonna fall [Interlude] | D | % | G | D | % | % | % | % | % | [Verse] 5 D G | D | G | D | % | And, what’ll you do now, my blue-eyed son? D A And, what’ll you do now, my darling young one? G/D A/D D I’m a-goin’ back out ’fore the rain starts a-fallin’ G/D A/D D I’ll walk to the depths of the deepest dark forest G/D A/D D Where the people are many and their hands are all empty G/D A/D D Where the pellets of poison are flooding their waters G/D A/D D Where the home in the valley meets the damp dirty prison G/D A/D D And the executioner’s face is always well hidden G/D A/D D Where hunger is ugly, where the souls are forgotten G/D A/D D Where black is the color, where none is the number G/D A/D D And I’ll tell it and speak it and think it and breathe it G/D A/D D And reflect from the mountain so all souls can see it G/D A/D D Then I’ll stand on the ocean until I start sinkin’ G/D A/D D But I’ll know my song well before I start singin’ D A D G And it’s a hard, it’s a hard, it’s a hard, and it’s a hard D A [ D ] It’s a hard rai---n’s a-gonna fall [Coda] | D | % | G | D | % | D | D (timing becomes fuzzy here)