How to Play City of New Orleans Chords on Guitar

“City of New Orleans” is a folk song written by Steve Goodman and popularized by Arlo Guthrie and Willie Nelson. It tells the story of a train journey from Chicago to New Orleans, capturing the sights, sounds, and feelings of the passengers and the railroad. The song has been covered by many artists, including John Denver, Johnny Cash, Judy Collins, and Dolly Parton.

The song is easy to play on guitar, as it uses mostly basic chords and a simple strumming pattern. In this article, we will show you how to play “City of New Orleans” on guitar, using the versions by Arlo Guthrie and Willie Nelson as references. We will also explain some of the lyrics and the history behind the song.

Chords

[Intro]
E
 
[Verse 1]
                              E
She never mentions the word "addiction"
 
In certain company
                              E
Yes, she'll tell you she's an orphan
 
After you meet her family
 
[Interlude]
| B   | A   | E   | E   | x2
 
[Verse 2]
                                 E
She paints her eyes as black as night now
 
Pulls those shades down tight
                                   E
Yeah, she gives a smile when the pain come
 
The pain gonna make everything alright
 
[Chorus]
                  B       A
Says she talks to angels
                  E
They call her out by her name
                      B        A
Oh yeah, she talks to angels
                       E
Says they call her out by her name
 
[Verse 3]
                                 E
She keeps a lock of hair in her pocket
 
She wears a cross around her neck
                         E
Yes, the hair is from a little boy
 
And the cross is someone she has not met
 
Not yet
 
[Chorus]
                  B       A
Says she talks to angels
                  E
They call her out by her name
                      B        A
Oh yeah, she talks to angels
                       E
Says they call her out by her name
 
[Bridge]
A                  E
She don't know no lover
A                 E
None that I ever seen
A                        E
Yeah, to her that ain't nothin'
        A
But to me, it means
         E
Means everything
 
[Verse 2]
                                 E
She paints her eyes as black as night now
 
Pulls those shades down tight
                                   E
Yeah, she gives a smile when the pain come
 
The pain gonna make everything alright
 
[Chorus]
                  B       A
Says she talks to angels
                  E
They call her out by her name
                      B        A
Oh yeah, she talks to angels
                       E
Says they call her out by her name
 
[Outro]
                   B     A
Oh, ooh, oh, oh, angels
                   E
They call her out by her name
                          B      A
Oh, oh, oh, she talks to angels
 
They call her out
B          A
Yeah, ee, eah, eah, eah
 
Call her out
B                    A
Don't you know that they
              E
Call her out by her name?

The Strumming Pattern

The strumming pattern for “City of New Orleans” is:

D D U U D U

Where D is downstroke and U is upstroke. You can also add some accents and variations to make it more interesting. For example, you can emphasize the first downstroke of each measure, or add some muted strums or palm mutes.

Here is how the strumming pattern looks like in tablature:

e|—————-|—————-| B|—————-|—————-| G|—————-|—————-| D|-0—-0–0–0—|-0—-0–0–0—| A|-0—-0–0–0—|-0—-0–0–0—| E|-2—-2–2–2—|-3—-3–3–3—| D D U U D U D D U U D U

The Lyrics and Meaning

The lyrics of “City of New Orleans” are divided into three verses and a chorus. Each verse describes a different part of the train journey, while the chorus expresses the narrator’s love for America and his identity as a native son.

The first verse introduces the train as the City of New Orleans, which is the name of a passenger train service that runs between Chicago and New Orleans. The verse also mentions some of the places that the train passes by, such as Kankakee, Illinois; houses, farms, and fields; freight yards and graveyards.

The second verse describes some of the activities and people that the narrator encounters on the train, such as playing card games with old men, drinking from a paper bag, seeing Pullman porters and engineers, and mothers with their babies.

The third verse depicts the night time on the train, when it changes cars in Memphis, Tennessee; approaches the Mississippi River; and sees towns and people fading into a bad dream. The verse also hints at the decline of the railroad industry, as the narrator says that the steel rails still haven’t heard the news, and that the train has got the disappearing railroad blues.

The chorus repeats four times throughout the song, with slight variations in each repetition. The chorus expresses the narrator’s affection for America, as he greets it with “good morning” or “good night”, and says that he is its native son. He also identifies himself with the train, as he says that he is the train they call the City of New Orleans. He also states that he will be gone five hundred miles when the day is done, which implies that he is a traveler who enjoys seeing different places and meeting new people.

The History and Legacy

“City of New Orleans” was written by Steve Goodman in 1970, after he took a train ride from Chicago to New Orleans with his wife. He was inspired by the sights and sounds of the journey, and wanted to capture them in a song. He later said that he wrote the song as a tribute to his grandfather, who was a railroad man.

Goodman first recorded the song in 1971 for his debut album, but it did not receive much attention. He then gave the song to his friend Arlo Guthrie, who recorded it in 1972 for his album Hobo’s Lullaby. Guthrie’s version became a hit, reaching number 18 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and earning Goodman a Grammy nomination for Best Country Song.

In 1984, Willie Nelson recorded a cover of the song for his album City of New Orleans, which won the Grammy Award for Best Country Vocal Performance, Male. Nelson’s version also reached number one on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, and number 30 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

The song has been recognized as one of the greatest folk songs of all time, and has been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and the National Recording Registry. The song has also been used in various movies, TV shows, and commercials, such as The Muppet Movie, The Simpsons, and Budweiser.

Conclusion

“City of New Orleans” is a classic folk song that celebrates the beauty and diversity of America, as seen through the eyes of a train traveler. The song uses simple chords and strumming patterns that are easy to play on guitar, and has lyrics that are rich in imagery and emotion. The song has been recorded by many artists, such as Arlo Guthrie and Willie Nelson, who have added their own styles and interpretations to it. The song has also become a cultural icon, and has influenced many other songs and works of art.