‘Famous Blue Raincoat’ Leonard Cohen - Chords In Description (Tune Entire Guitar Down A Whole Note)

Some Songfacts wisdom:

Ron Cornelius played guitar on this album and was Cohen's band leader for several years. Here's what he told Songfacts about this track:

"We performed that song a lot of places. Typically gardens in Copenhagen, the Olympia Theater in Paris, the Vienna Opera House. We played that song a lot before it ever went to tape. We knew it was going to be big.

We could see what the crowd did - you play the Royal Albert Hall, the crowd goes crazy, and you're really saying something there.

If I had to pick a favorite from the album, it would probably be 'Famous Blue Raincoat.' I ran his band for four years all over the world and played on four of his albums, and hands down the best one was Songs Of Love And Hate.

We worked 18 months on that album, Paul Buckmaster did the strings in London, and I went to London nine times recording that album."

Tuning
Tune all strings down two fret steps (one whole note)…or just play these chords in standard tuning and sing it a note higher.

Fingerstyle
I don’t often add detail around specific picking styles but Leonard’s is similar to the first style I ever learned - this one here:    • ‘Um Cha’: The First Fingerstyle Techn...  . You can use this to practice.

T = Thumb
(plays bass strings 4, 5 and 6 depending on chord - for example Bm uses 5th string whereas D uses 4th string)

1 = 1st finger

2 = 2nd/Index finger

3 = 3rd/Ring finger

For this song, use the following simple pattern all the way through:

T
1
2&3
1
2&3
1
…and just repeat

Chords

Each chord represents one fingerstyle cycle. Bass notes (for thumb picking) are added in bold.

Intro
Bm (x-2-4-4-3-x) 5th string
Bm
G (3-2-0-0-0-x) 6th string
G
Em (0-2-2-0-0-x) 6th string
Em
F#m (2-4-4-3-2-x) 6th string
F#m

Verse
Bm (x-2-4-4-3-x)
Bm
G (3-2-0-0-0-x)
G
Em (0-2-2-0-0-x)
Em
F#m (2-4-4-3-2-x)
F#m

Bm (x-2-4-4-3-x)
Bm
G (3-2-0-0-0-x)
G
Em (0-2-2-0-0-x)
Em
F#m (2-4-4-3-2-x)
F#m

Pre-chorus
Bm
Bm
C#m (4-4-6-6-5-4) 5th string
C#m
Bm
Bm
C#m
C#m

Bm
Bm
A 5th string
A
Bm
Bm
A
A

Chorus
D (x-x-0-2-3-2) 4th string
D
D
D
Asus2 (x-0-2-2-0-x)
A (x-0-2-2-2-x)
Asus2
A
Asus2
A
Asus2
A
Bm
Bm
Bm
Bm
C#m
C#m
A
A
G
G
F#m
F#m

…and back into verse 2 and pre-chorus

Instrumental
Bm (x-2-4-4-3-x)
Bm
G (3-2-0-0-0-x)
G
Em (0-2-2-0-0-x)
Em
F#m (2-4-4-3-2-x)
F#m

…and into verse 3 and pre-chorus

End by repeating the chorus twice, then one intro/verse phrase as follows:

Bm (x-2-4-4-3-x)
Bm
G (3-2-0-0-0-x)
G
Em (0-2-2-0-0-x)
Em
F#m (2-4-4-3-2-x)
F#m

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