This song requires a little bit of finger picking, and does not require a Plectrum – which is the correct word for what is commonly known as a pick. This is a great song for the beginner guitarist because you are required to use your thumb to hit the bass notes first, and your middle and ring finger or whatever fingers work to pluck the other strings together to fill out the notes.

This song will help you find your own style of finger picking – do not be afraid to practice the riffs slowly at first, until you get a true feel of the speed of the measures.

I always like to play around with any new song that I learn to see how the artist plays it – and to see how I interpret the music in a way that I can play it comfortably. Hey There Delilah is a pretty straight forward acoustic guitar song – and may be one of those songs that you need to learn almost note for note to get the true feel of what songwriters Tom Higgenson and Luke Ebbin had in mind.

Here is a link to the full fingering picking structure of Hey There Delilah

Here is a link to the full fingering picking structure of Hey There Delilah

Here are the chords and lyrics together for easier learning if you want to sing and play

INTRO
D, F#m, D, F#m

VERSE 1
D                            F#m
Hey there Delilah, What’s it like in New York City?
      D                               F#m
I’m a thousand miles away, But girl tonight you look so pretty,
        Bm  G                 A                  Bm
Yes you do, Time Square can’t shine as bright as you,
             A
I swear it’s true.
D                            F#m
Hey there Delilah, Don’t you worry about the distance,
          D                                  F#m
I’m right there if you get lonely, Give this song another listen,
           Bm    G            A                Bm
Close your eyes, Listen to my voice it’s my disguise,
            A
I’m by your side.

CHORUS
D                      Bm  D                      Bm
Oh it’s what you do to me, Oh it’s what you do to me,
D                      Bm  D                      Bm           
Oh it’s what you do to me, Oh it’s what you do to me,
               D
What you do to me.

VERSE 2
D                         F#m
Hey there Delilah, I know times are getting hard,
           D                                    F#m
But just believe me girl some day, I’ll pay the bills with this guitar,
              Bm    G              A               Bm
We’ll have it good, We’ll have the life we knew we would,
           A
My word is good.
D                           F#m  
Hey there Delilah, I’ve got so much left to say,
         D                                 F#m
If every simple song I wrote to you, Would take your breath away,
             Bm   G            A                  Bm
I’d write it all, Even more in love with me you’d fall,
             A
We’d have it all.

CHORUS
D                      Bm  D                      Bm
Oh it’s what you do to me, Oh it’s what you do to me,
D                      Bm  D                      Bm           
Oh it’s what you do to me, Oh it’s what you do to me,

Bridge
G                                      A
A thousand miles seems pretty far, But they’ve got planes and trains and cars,
D                                 Bm 
I’d walk to you if I had no other way
G                                         A
Our friends would all make fun of us, And we’ll just laugh along because,
   D                                     Bm
We know that none of them have felt this way,
G                               A           
Delilah I can promise you, That by the time that we get through,
    Bm                                               A
The world will never ever be the same, And you’re to blame.

VERSE 3
D                        F#m
Hey there Delilah you be good, And don’t you miss me,
         D                                         F#m
Two more years and you’ll be done with school, And I’ll be making history,
Bm        G                 A              Bm
Like I do, You’ll know it’s all because of you,
G             A            Bm
We can do whatever we want to,
G           A               Bm                  A
Hey there Delilah here’s to you, This one’s for you.

FINAL CHORUS
D                      Bm  D                      Bm
Oh it’s what you do to me, Oh it’s what you do to me,
D                      Bm  D                      Bm
Oh it’s what you do to me, Oh it’s what you do to me,
               D
What you do to me.
   Bm   D    Bm    D    Bm   D    Bm   D D
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