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Afterlife

Arcade Fire

RockAdvanced for beginners4 chords

How to play it

Fingering diagrams for the shapes in this song. × = don't play, ○ = open string.

E○○○
BDiagram coming soon
F#Diagram coming soon
G#mDiagram coming soon

Chords & lyrics

Chord names sit directly above the word where you change.

Text size
 
              
Intro E B F# G#m 
 
verse 1 
E    B     F#                       G#m 
Afterlife, oh my God, what an awful word 
E             B                           F#               G#m 
After all the breath and the dirt and the fires are burnt 
E                  B     F#                           G#m 
And after all this time, and after all the ambulances go 
E                  B                                    F# 
And after all the hangers-on are done hanging on to the dead light 
        G#m 
Of the afterglow 
 
G#m 
I've gotta know? 
 
Chorus 
F#             E 
Can we work it out? 
                 G#m                    B      F# 
If we scream and shout 'till we work it out 
                     E 
Can we just work it out? 
            G#m                      B 
Scream and shout 'till we work it out? 
                   E                    G#m 
'Till we work it out, 'till we work it out 
                 F#                      E 
'Till we work it out, 'till we work it out 
 
verse 2 Same Chords 
Afterlife, I think I saw what happens next 
Oh it was just a glimpse of you, like looking through a window 
Or a shallow sea 
Could you see me? 
And after all this time 
It's like nothing else we used to know 
And after all the hangers-on are done hanging on to the dead light 
Of the afterglow 
I've gotta know? 
 
Chorus 
F#              E 
Can we work it out? 
                  G#m                    B 
Let's scream and shout 'till we work it out 
F#                    E 
Can we just work it out? 
            G#m                      B 
Scream and shout 'till we work it out? 
 
Bridge 
 
But you say 
F#  E 
Oh 
               G#m 
When love is gone 
               B 
Where does it go? 
 
And you say 
F#  E 
Oh 
              G#m 
When love is gone 
               B 
Where does it go? 
                 E 
And where do we go? 
             G#m 
Where do we go? 
             F# 
Where do we go? 
             E 
Where do we go? 
 
verse 3 
And after this 
Can it last another night? 
After all the bad advice 
Had nothing at all to do with life 
I've gotta know 
 
Chorus 
F#              E 
Can we work it out? 
                  G#m                    B 
Let's scream and shout 'till we work it out 
F#                    E 
Can we just work it out? 
            G#m                      B 
Scream and shout 'till we work it out? 
 
Bridge 
 
But you say 
F#  E 
Oh 
               G#m 
When love is gone 
               B 
Where does it go? 
 
And you say 
F#  E 
Oh 
              G#m 
When love is gone 
               B 
Where does it go? 
 
F#  E 
Oh 
              G#m 
When love is gone 
              B 
Where did it go? 
 
F#  E 
Oh 
              G#m 
When love is gone 
              B 
Where did it go? 
                 F#   E 
And where do we go? 
 
G#m  B  F#  E  (cycle) 
 
B (hold) 
It's just an afterlife 
It's just an afterlife 
It's just an afterlife with you 
It's just an afterlife

Details

Rating

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Chord set

E · B · F# · G#m

Practice tip

Loop the first two chords slowly until the change is clean, then add the rest.