The Night We Called It a Day

Written by 
Matt Dennis and Tom Adair
Released on 
Shadows In the Night (2015)
Tabbed by 
Eyolf Østrem

Recorded Feb/March 2014

Ok - lots of chords here. And it isn't made any easier by the presence of the brass, who most of the time provide the juicy extra tones that give the real character to the arrangement.

It isn't necessarily that hard to play though, even though the chord names look scary. The sequence at the beginning of the bridge, for example, lends itself very comfortably to a single guitar.

As always in "thick" arrangements, the chords could be written in many ways. This is a suggestion only. If you want a simpler arrangement, just chop off everything after the base chord and play plain major or minor chords, or add a maj7 (for E) or a 7 (for all the other chords). Or go in the other direction and add new tones. Whichever tone you add, it's likely there already, in the mix.

Also included is a sheet-music version – not exactly what Dylan does, but close enough.

Chords 
B7        x2120(x)
B7-9      x2121x
Emaj7     021100 or 022444
       or 0xx444 or 022140
E6        022120 or 022424
       or 0xx424
C#m9      x46444
F#m9      242224
F9        131213
E7-9      07676x
Amaj7     x0665x
Bm7/a     x0443x
Ab/a      x0111x
G#+       4x655x
G#7       4x454x
D#m7-5    x6767x
F#7-9     2xx323 or x9898x
Bbm7-5    x1212x

            B7   B7-9   Emaj7    C#m9
There was a moon out in space,
      F#m7          B7       Emaj7     E6
But a cloud drifted over its face
    C#m7          F#7          B7    G7
You kissed me and went on your way
    F#m(9)   F(9)        Emaj7    E6
The night we called it a day
            
            B7   B7-9   Emaj7    C#m9
I heard the song of the spheres
       F#m7    B7         Emaj7     E6
Like a minor lament in my ears.
  C#m7       F#7           B7    G7
I hadn't the heart left to pray,
    F#m(9)   F(9)        E9      E7-9
The night we called it a day
            
Amaj7 Bm7/a   Ab/a   A
Soft thru the dark,
    G#+        G#7        C#m9
the hoot of an owl in the sky
D#m7-5 G#7      C#m7
Sad    tho' his song,
   C          F#7-9  G  B
No bluer than he was I.
            
              B7    B7-9       Emaj7    C#m9
The moon went down, stars were gone,
        G#7                      C#m7
But the sun didn't rise with the dawn,
      C#m7     E/b           Bbm7-5   A7
there wasn't a thing left to say,
    G#m7  G7 F#m7   F7   E
The night we called it a day.
Sheet music 
Click here to download the PDF file.

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