How Soon Is Now? The Smiths
Hey, Jennifer, I've been playing this song for a good decade now, and I'll be
damned if what I play matches Johnny Marr note for
note. The chords, ostensibly, are F#, A, and B in the verse, and C#m, E, and
F# in the chorus (the "You shut your mouth" bit).
Played straight, it sounds horrendously wrong. But with the right rhythm, you
can approach Johnny-ness.
I read in a "Guitar" magazine profile of Johnny five or six years ago that he
actually played this song with his guitar tuned to an
open E (that is, strumming all the open strings would be an E chord; so the
strings were tuned, from lowest to highest,
E-B-E-G#-B-E). It's a tuning that Bo Diddley used in many of his songs, and
if you listen carefully, you'll notice the "Bo Diddley
beat" lurking behind this mope-rock anthem (try playing the song to the
rhythm of "Born to Hand Jive" from "Grease," and you'll get
the picture. Anyway, on to the song.
chords (in standard tuning, BTW):
verse chorus
E-[F#]2 [A]- [B]- [D]- [A]5 [C#m] 4 [E]0
B-2 2 4 7 5 5 0
[G-3] [2] [4] [7] [6] [6] [1]
[D-4]A-4 [2]0 [4]2 [7]5 [7]7 [6]4 [2]2
E-2 - - - 5 - 0
The opening "riff" is just the F# chord (2nd fret position) with loads of
reverb, another way to get that "wavy" feeling from just
playing the one chord is to position your hand to play the F# as I've shown
you above, except hammer on the first-finger barre on
the 2nd fret to begin the riff (^ = downstroke. v = upstroke):
|F# ^ v ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ | do this twice; the second time the lead guitarist (on
tour, Johnny) plays:
E-----2-2-2-2-2-2-2 | (4/5\4) just before the rhythm guitarist (on tour,
Craig Gannon) plays the next chords
B-----2-2-2-2-2-2-2 | G-3---3-3-3-3-3-4-3 | D-4---4-4-4-4-2-2-2 | A-4---4-4-4-4-4-4-4 | E-0(B)2-2-2-2-2-2-2 |
so the chord sequence for the intro and verse is:
|F#|F#|F#|A/B/|
How Soon Is Now ?
I am the [F#]son and the heir
Of a [A]shyness that is [B]criminally [F#]vulgar
I am the son and heir
Of nothing in particular[A] [B]
[D]You shut your [A]mouth, how can you say
[C#m]I go[E] about things the [F#]wrong way ?
I am [D]Human and I need to be [A]loved
C#m E |F#|F#|F#|A/B/|
Just like everybody else does
I am the [F#]son and the heir
Of a [A]shyness that is [B]criminally [F#]vulgar
I am the son and heir
Oh, of nothing in particular[A] [B]
[D]You shut your [A]mouth
[D]You shut your [A]mouth, how can you say
[C#m]I go[E] about things the [F#]wrong way ?
I am [D]Human and I need to be [A]loved
C#m E |F#|F#|F#|A/B/|
Just like everybody else does
[D]There's a club if you'd like to [A]go
You could meet [C#m]somebody [E]who really [F#]loves you
So you [D]go, and you stand on your own
[A]And you leave on your own
And you [C#m]go home, and you [E]cry
|F#|F#|F#|A/B/|
And you want to die
[D]When you say it's gonna happen [A]"now"
[C#m]Well, when ex[E]actly do you [F#]mean?
See I've [D]already waited too [A]long
[C#m]And [E]all my hope [F#]is gone
[D]You shut your [A]mouth, how can you say
[C#m]I go[E] about things the [F#]wrong way ?
I am [D]Human and I need to be [A]loved
C#m E |F#|F#|F#|A/B/|
Just like everybody else does
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