Southern Cross Chords & Guitar Lesson
Welcome to my Southern Cross guitar chord and lesson page by Crosby, Stills and Nash. I has some students in my Online Guitar Course request this song, so here it is!
This song is mostly open chords and you can actually get away with only 3 chords if you want to keep it simple. I recommend the 4 finger G chord to make transitioning to the D chord easier.
If you would like to spice it up a little, you can add in some suspended chords as recommend in the alternate strumming patterns below.
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Southern Cross Guitar Chords:
Southern Cross Strumming Patterns:
Basic Strumming 1:
A GG DDDD
1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +
DD DD DD DD
Basic Strumming 2:
A GG DDDA
1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +
DD DD DD DD
Adding in sus Chords over D Chord:
Dsus4 D Dsus2 D
1 + 2 + 3 + 4+
Dsus4 D Dsus2 A
1 + 2 + 3 + 4+
Chorus Strumming Option 1:
1 2 + 3 4 +
DDU DDU
Chorus Strumming Option 2:
1 2 + a 3 4 +a
DDD U D DDU
Southern Cross Guitar Lesson:
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Southern Cross Chord Chart:
Intro: |A G| D |A G| |D A|
Verse:
|A G| D
Got outta town on a boat for the southern islands
|A G | |D A|
Sailing a reach before a following sea
|A G| D
She was making for the trades on the outside
|A G| |D A|
And the downhill run to Papeete Bay
|A G| D
Off this wind on this heading lie the Marqueses
| A G| |D A|
We got eighty feet of the waterline nicely making way
|A G| D
In a noisy bar in Avalon I tried to call you
|A G| |D G A - |
But on a midnight watch I realized why twice you ran away
Pre-Chorus:
A (2/4)
Think about
| G D | |G A|
Think about how many times I have fallen
| G D| | G A|
Spirits are using me, larger voices calling
|G D| |G A| A
What heaven brought you and me cannot be forgotten
Chorus:
A(2/4) |D G| A
I have been around the world
|D G | A
Looking for that woman girl
|D G| A
Who knows love can endure
|A G| D |A G| |D A|
And you know it will
Verse:
|A G| D
When you see the Southern Cross for the first time
|A G| |D A|
You understand now why you came this way
|A G| D
Cause the truth you might be runnin' from is so small
|A G| |D A| A (mute)
But it's as big as the promise the promise of a coming day
|A G| D
So I'm sailing for tomorrow, my dreams are a dying
|A G| |D A (mute)|
And my love is an anchor tied to you tied with silver chain
|A G| D
I have my ship and all her flags are a flying
|A G| |D G A -|
She is all that I have left And music is her name
Pre-Chorus:
A (2/4)
Think about
| G D | |G A|
Think about how many times I have fallen
| G D| | G A|
Spirits are using me, larger voices calling
|G D| |G A| A
What heaven brought you and me cannot be forgotten
Chorus:
A(2/4) |D G| A
I have been around the world
|D G | A
Looking for that woman girl
|D G| A
Who knows love can endure
|A G| D |A G| |D A|
And you know it will
|A G| |D A|
And you know it will
|A G | D | A G | D A|
|A G | D | A G | D A|
Verse:
|A G| D
So we cheated and we lied and we tested
|A G| |D A|
And we never failed to fail, it was the easiest thing to do
|A G| D
You will survive being bested
|A G| (2/4) |D Bm| A
Somebody fine will come along make me forget about loving you
|A G| D |A G| D
In the Southern Cross.
This file is the author’s own work and represents his interpretation of this song. It’s intended solely for private study, scholarship or research.
We do not distribute printable chord and lyrics charts. These charts are here only to support online learning. We highly recommend buying music from Hal Leonard or a reputable online sheet music store.