Ben Folds Five - Army

artist : ben folds five
song : army
album : the unauthorized biography of reinhold messner

( see bottom for chords )

verse 1 ( see below for guitar interlude played during verse )
G#
well i thought about the army
D#m
dad said , “son you’re fxxking high”
C# G#
and i thought , yeah there’s a first for everything

so i took my old man’s advice , three sad semesters
D#m
it was only fifteen grand
C#
spent in bed , i thought about the army
G# C#/F
i dropped out and joined a band instead

chorus ( piano solo )
D#m A#m G#maj7
D#m A#m G#maj7

verse 2 ( same as verse 1 except for Fm chord )
grew a moustache and a mullet
got a job at chick – fillet
citing artistic differences
the band broke up in may
Fm
and in june reformed without me
and they got a different name
i nuked another grandma’s apple pie
and hung my head in shame , no

chorus ( listen to song for the arrangement of the chords )
D#m A#m G#maj7
been thinking a lot today

D#m A#m G#maj7
been thinking a lot today

bridge
F# C# G#
oh oh think i’ll write a screenplay
F# C# G#
oh oh think i’ll take you to la
F# C# Cm
oh oh think i’ll get it done yesterday

( the guitar part played during the bridge goes something like this )
E | – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – |
B | – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – | ( this followed by triplets of each note heading back down )
G | – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – | ( 11 – 11 – 11 – 10 – 10 – 10 – 9 – 9 – 9 . )
D | – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – |
A | – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – |
E | – 4 – 5 – 6 – 7 – 8 – 9 – 10 – 11 – |

piano solo ( listen to song for arrangement of chords )
Fm7 Cm Fm7 Cm
A#7 D#7 G# G#maj7
Fm7 C# C#maj7 Fm/C Fm

guitar solo ( played along with G# D#m C# G# chords )
E | – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – |
B | – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – |
G | – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – |
D | – – – 6 – – – – – – – 6s10 – – – 8 – – – – – – – 8s13 – – – 11 – – – – – – – 11s15 – – – 13 – – – 11 – – – 10 – – – 8 – – – 6 – |
A | – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – |
E | – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – |

horn interlude ( “” )
G# D#m C# G#
G# D#m C# G#

verse 3 ( same chords as previous verse )
in this time of introspection
on the eve of my election
i say to my reflection
god please spare me more rejection
’cause my peers , they criticize me
and my ex – wives all despise me
try to put it all behind me
but my redneck past is nipping at my heels

chorus ( same as previous chorus )

ending
F#maj7
i thought about
A# G#maj7
the army

chords ( these are all the chords used in the song . there are a lot but you basically just need G# , D#m and C# for the main parts of the song )

G# 466544
D#m x68876
C# x46664
C#/F x46464
A#m x13321
G#maj7 xx6543
Fm 133111
F# 244322
Cm x35543
Fm7 131111
A#7 x13131
D#7 x68686
C#maj7 xx ( 11 ) ( 10 ) 98
F#maj7 xx4321
A# x13331