Broken-Hearted
by Eric Clapton
Originally released in non-acoustic form
on Pilgrim album (Reprise Records, 1998);
played acoustic live on Music for Montserrat
DVD; also played acoustic featuring John Mayer
on CNN's Hurricane Relief telethon in 2005.
Videos of both live performances are on Youtube.
Song Structure:
B B/G# C#m C#m/A
When the wind blows down this hard
B B/G# A E/A
Many a bond is broken
B B/G# C#m C#m/A
See the water lie on the ground
B B/G# A E/A
From where the heavens opened
E Asus2 F#m B
Lord, how will you get through this night
E/G# C#m F#m B
With your dreams departed?
B B/G# C#m C#m/A
And who alone will comfort you?
B B/G# A E/A
Only the broken hear-art
A E/A
Hear-art-ed
B B/G# C#m C#m/A
So you've gone beyond your means
B B/G# A E/A
Every wound is open
B B/G# C#m C#m/A
Your best laid plans are out of reach
B B/G# A E/A
And all your fears unspoken
E Asus2 F#m B
Lord, how will you get through this night
E/G# C#m F#m B
With your dreams departed?
B B/G# C#m C#m/A
And who alone will comfort you?
B B/G# A E/A
Only the broken hear-art
A E/A
Hear-art-ed
F# F#/E B B/A
Sweet revenge is spoken then
A C#m
In the twilight it is gone
F# F#/E B B/A
To living lies with no escape
E/G# A E/A A E/A
Lord, I would rather be alone
B B/G# C#m C#m/A
I press my fingers to the wood
B B/G# A E/A
To tell you of my dreaming
B B/G# C#m C#m/A
To sing you songs from olden times
B B/G# A E/A
To keep the love light gleaming
E Asus2 F#m B
'Cause there's a place where we can go
E/G# C#m F#m B
Where we will not be parted
B B/G# C#m C#m/A
And who alone will enter there?
B B/G# A E/A
Only the broken hearted
Main riff (Clapton's way, very easy):
| e 4 |
| B 4 7 5 7~~ 4 7 5 4 |
| G 4 6 4 6 6~~ |
| D |
| A |
| E |
Main riff (my way, very VERY easy):
| e 2 0 4 2~~ 2 0 |
| B 0 2 4 0 2 4 4 2~~ |
| G |
| D |
| A |
| E |
*Lower-case "v"s above the tab indicate
where Clapton mute-slaps the strings to
keep the beat.*
Acoustic Verse:
B B/G# C#m C#m/A
v v v v
| e |
| B 4 4 5 5 |
| G 4 4 6 6 |
| D |
| A 2 0 4 0 0 |
| E 4 4 |
B B/G# A E/A
v v v v
| e 0 |
| B 4 4 2 0 0 |
| G 4 4 2 1 |
| D 2 2 |
| A 2 0 0 0 0 |
| E 4 4 |
Acoustic Chorus:
E Asus2 F#m B
v v v v
| e 0 0 |
| B 0 0 0 2 4 |
| G 0h1 2 2 4 |
| D |
| A 0 0 2 0 |
| E 0 0 2 2 |
E/G# C#m F#m B
v v v v
| e 4 2 |
| B 5 5 2 4 |
| G 4 6 2 4 |
| D |
| A 4 2 2 |
| E 4 4 4 2 2 |
B B/G# C#m C#m/A
v v v v
| e |
| B 4 4 5 5 |
| G 4 4 6 6 |
| D |
| A 2 0 4 0 0 |
| E 4 4 |
B B/G# A E/A
v v
| e 0 0 |
| B 4 4 2 0 0 |
| G 4 4 2 1 |
| D 2 2 |
| A 2 0 0 0 0 |
| E 4 |
A E/A
| e 0 |
| B 2 0 0 |
| G 2 1 |
| D 2 2 |
| A 0 0 0 |
| E |
Acoustic Bridge:
F# F#/E B B/A
v v v v
| e 2 |
| B 2 2 4 4 |
| G 3 3 4 4 |
| D 4 |
| A 4 2 2 2 0 0 0 |
| E 2 2 2 0 0 0 |
A C#m
v v v
| e |
| B 2 2 5 5 |
| G 2 2 6 6 |
| D |
| A 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 4 4 |
| E |
F# F#/E B B/A
v v v v
| e 2 |
| B 2 2 4 4 |
| G 3 3 4 4 |
| D 4 |
| A 4 2 2 2 0 0 0 |
| E 2 2 2 0 0 0 |
E/G# A E/A
v v
| e 0 0 |
| B 5 5 2 0 |
| G 4 4 2 1 |
| D 2 2 |
| A 0 0 |
| E 4 4 4 4 4 4 |
A E/A
| e 0 |
| B 2 0 0 |
| G 2 1 |
| D 2 2 |
| A 0 0 0 |
| E |
I looked all over the Internet for a decent
tab of this song, but none seemed to be
quite right. So I decided to transcribe the
tab from Clapton's own fingerwork in the
Youtube videos of Broken-Hearted. This is my
first tab, and I tried to make it as thorough
as possible without going overboard. Feedback
and corrections are welcome!
- Jaquito