The Absence Of You Chords

by Tim Minchin
6,640 views, added to favorites 293 times
Different key to the original version, slightly different chord changes in parts of the verse and chorus. Absolutely love Tim and the new album, and the chords here seem to fit the official video a bit better.(https://youtu.be/48bfKs5p4Ik) Have a mess around, see what you prefer, lemme know what changes to make in the comments. Thanks. (obviously this isn't as good without an orchestra and choreography, but who's got that lying around).Was this info helpful?
Difficulty: beginner
Tuning: E A D G B E
Capo: no capo
Author EwmonH [a] 54. Last edit on Nov 18, 2020

Chords

F
G
C
E7
Am
Em

Strumming

There is no strumming pattern for this song yet. Create and get +5 IQ
[Intro]
F G C
F G C
F G C F C E7 Am
E7 Am E7 Am
F G C
 
[Verse 1]
F        G           C
I take a walk on the Seine
           F            G            C
Cross Pont Neuf on my way to St. Germain
               F           G           C
Love-hearts on padlocks on wire in the mist
      F            C
Where young lovers kiss
     E7         Am
And swear to be true
          E7           Am        E7
Echoes of ten thousand sighs of love
        Am
And yet I
     F        G          C
Feel only the absence of you
 
[Verse 2]
         F             G         C
Out of a window on the thirtieth floor
              F              G         C
Central Park shines with the coming of dawn
                      F        G          C
Through eyes rendered weary by jetlag and wine
  F             C
I turn round to find
          E7         Am
There’s a girl in my room
      E7        Am
For a moment we kiss
        E7           Am
But her vodka-soaked lips
      F           G          C
Taste only of the absence of you
 
[Chorus]
C       Am
I don’t know
                 Em*
What all of this means
               F
If you are not here with me
    C    Am
And I am lost
             Em
When we are apart
 
There’s a hole in my heart
                  F
That light passes through
        F
And the pattern it creates
 
Is the shape of
               C
The absence of you
 
[Verse 3]
                 F            G          C
Spring has been found hanging round Soho Square
              F         G         C
So I take my coffee and newspaper there
               F           G         C
To bask in the not-warm-enough April sun
          F          C
With the workers who come
       E7           Am
To eat Pret with no shoes
        E7           Am
But the grass to the side
       E7               Am
Of the patch where I’m lying
   F              G         C
Is flat with the absence of you
 
[Chorus 2]
C       Am
I don’t know
                 Em
What all this is for
               F
If you are not near to me
    C       Am
And I can’t sleep
            Em
Sleep is no fun when the unruly sun
                F
Will reveal the truth
   F
A space in my bed as cold as the dead
 
Exactly the size and the shape of
               C
The absence of you
 
[Ending]
    Am            Em
And all of this beauty
 
Runs over and through me
        F
And pools round my shoes
 
And the puddle it forms
 
Conforms to the shape of
               C
The absence of you
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The Absence Of You – Tim Minchin
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"The Absence Of You"
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5 comments
floyd.marsden
Yeah, I finished working out my version from a bad recording of it from 2017, and then the day after I did that the new version came out which was pitched up about eight keys and changed a bit. Thanks for doing this :D
+2
richardvilla31
Excellent tab. 5 stars. Just saw him on CBS Saturday Morning. Luv this tune. Thanks.
+1
dashakisa2003
absolutely gorgeous for a strumming pattern id suggest going with DDD at the beginning and pick it up later with D DUDU thank you for the tab!!
0