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Life In Vain chords by Daniel Johnston (Official Version)

GuitarPianoUkulele

Dsus2
Dsus4
G
C
D
Cmaj7

Intro 1

Dsus2

Dsus4

G

C

D

G

C

D

Verse 1

G

C

D

Don't wanna be free of hope

G

C

D

And I'm at the end of my rope

G

C

D

It's so tough just to be alive

G

C

D

When I feel like the living dead

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Chorus 1

C

G

I'm givin' it up so plain

D

I'm living my life in vain

Cmaj7

And where am I going to?

G

I gotta really try

D

Try so hard to get by

Cmaj7

And where am I going to?

Solo 1

G

C

D

G

C

D

Verse 2

G

C

D

I don't know where is up or down

G

C

D

And there ain't any love left around

G

C

D

Everybody wearin' a frown

G

C

D

Waiting for santa to come to town

Chorus 2
C 
G 
You're giving it up so plain
D 
You're living your lives in vain
Cmaj7 
And where are you going    to?
G 
You gotta really try
D 
Try so hard to get by
Cmaj7 
And where are you going    to?

Solo 2

G

C

D

G

C

D

Verse 3

G

C

D

Flip on your TV

G

C

D

And try to make sense out of that

G

C

D

If we were all in the movies

G

C

D

Maybe we wouldn't be so bored

Chorus 3
C 
G 
We're giving it up so plain
D 
We're living our lives in vain
Cmaj7 
And where are we going    to?
G 
We gotta really try
D 
Try so hard to get by
Cmaj7 
And where are we going    to?

Outro 1

G

C

D

G

C

D

Goodbye

G

C

D

Goodbye

1994Alternative

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GuitarPianoUkulele

0

Dsus2
Dsus4
G
C
D
Cmaj7

Tuning: E A D G B EDifficulty: EasyKey: G majorBPM: 78

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Finger positions, low to high (E A D G B e). 0 is open, x is muted.

Dsus2: x-x-0-2-3-0
Dsus4: x-x-0-2-3-3
G: 3-2-0-0-0-3
C: x-3-2-0-1-0
D: x-x-0-2-3-2
Cmaj7: x-3-2-0-0-0

Accurately transcribed by the GuitarTuna team.

Sus2 and sus4 swap the third in a chord for a second or fourth. The sus course covers the shapes and how to drop them into a progression. Practice sus chords

Most chord-change problems come from the strumming hand, not the fretting hand. The basic strumming course covers the patterns and timing that make any chord progression easier to play. Practice basic strumming

Even perfectly fretted chords sound wrong on an out-of-tune guitar. Get in tune in seconds, right in your browser, with the free online guitar tuner

This is the definitive original version of Life In Vain by Daniel Johnston, transcribed exactly as it was recorded in the studio. Unlike our simplified arrangement, this chart preserves the precise chord voicings and progressions in the original key of G major. It suits players who want to learn Life In Vain the way Daniel Johnston intended, without oversimplifying the arrangement.

Life In Vain

Daniel Johnston

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