{title: Sultans of swing}
{artist: Dire Straits}
{time: 4/4}
{tempo: 148}
{key: Dm}
{meta: author Frans-Willem Post, 2026-05-06}
{start_of_part: Intro}
[Dm] [C] [Dm]
[Dm] [C] [Dm]
{end_of_part}
{start_of_verse: Verse 1}
you get a [Dm]shiver in the dark, it's [C]raining in the [Bb]park but [A]meantime
[Dm] south of the river you [C]stop and you h[Bb]old everything [A]
[F] a band is blowing Dixie double [C]four time
[Bb] you feel alright when you hear that music [Dm]ring [Bb] [C]
{end_of_verse}
{start_of_verse: Verse 2}
you [Dm]step inside but you [C]don't see [Bb]too many [A]faces
[Dm] coming in out of the [C]rain to hear the [Bb]jazz go [A]down
[F] competition in other [C]places, [Bb] but the horns, they're blowin' that [Dm]sound [Bb] [C]
way on down south, [Bb] [C] way on down south
[Dm]London town [Bb] [C] [Dm] [Bb] [C]
{end_of_verse}
{start_of_verse: Verse 3}
you check out [Dm] Guitar George, [C] [Bb] he knows [A] all accords
[Dm] mind he's strictly rhythm he [C]doesn't want to [Bb]make it [A]cry or sing
[F] and an old guitar is [C]all he can afford
[Bb] when he gets up under the lights to play his [Dm]thing [Bb] [C]
{end_of_verse}
{start_of_verse: Verse 4}
[Dm] and Harry doesn't [C]mind [Bb]if he doesn't [A] make the scene
[Dm] he's got a daytime [C]job, he's [Bb]doing al[A]right
[F] he can play the honky tonk like [C]anything
[Bb] saving it up for Friday night [Dm] [Bb] [C]
with the Sultans, [Bb] [C] with the Sultans of
[Dm]Swing [Bb] [C] [Dm] [Bb] [C]
{end_of_verse}
{start_of_verse: Verse 5}
and a [Dm]crowd of young boys they're [C]fooling a[Bb]round in the [A]corner
[Dm] drunk and dressed in their best [C]brown baggies and their [Bb]platform [A]soles
[F] they don't give a damn about any [C]trumpet playing band
[Bb] it ain't what they call rock and [Dm]roll [Bb] [C]
and the Sultans, [Bb] [C] yeah the Sultans played
[Dm]Creole [Bb] [C] [Dm] [Bb] [C]
{end_of_verse}
{start_of_part: Solo}
[Dm] [C] [Bb] [A]
[Dm] [C] [Bb] [A]
[F] [C]
[Bb] [Dm] [Bb] [C]
[Bb] [C]
[Dm] [Bb] [C] [Dm] [Bb] [C]
{end_of_part}
{start_of_verse: Verse 6}
[Dm] and then the man he [C]steps right [Bb]up to the [A]microphone
[Dm] and says at [C]last just as the [Bb]time bell [A]rings
[F] 'Goodnight, now it's [C]time to go home'
[Bb] and he makes it fast with one more [Dm]thing [Bb] [C]
'we are the Sultans, [Bb] [C] we are the Sultans of
[Dm]Swing' [Bb] [C] [Dm] [Bb] [C]
{end_of_verse}
{start_of_part: Outtro, repeat}
[Dm] [Bb] [C]
{end_of_part}