Take It Back chords by Ed Sheeran

As played at Royal Albert Hall (24/3/2014)


Basically you can repeat the following nearly through the whole song:
Dm // Dm // Bb // C A7/C#

   Dm   Bb   C     A7/C#     A  A *
E----(5)----(1)----(3)------0--------0--------x---5----------------|
B-----6------3------5------(5)------(5)-------x---5----------------|
G-----7------3------5-------5---or---6--------2---6----------------|
D-----7------3------5-------5--------5--------2---7----------------|
A-----5------1------3-------4--------4--------0---7----------------|
E-----x------x------x-------x--------x--------0---5----------------|

I think when Ed Sheeran strums he mostly uses the A,D,G strings only and when he picks the A,G,B strings.

[Verse 1]

Dm
I'm not a rapper, I'm a singer with a flow
I've got a habit of spitting
quicker lyrics you know
       Bb
You found me ripping the writtens
out of the pages they sit in
     C
And never once I get bitten,
      A7/C#
cause plagiarism is hidden
       Dm
Which I would sit on the rhythm,
prisoner with a vision
Signs of a label, but didn't listen to any criticism
      Bb
Thought you knew but you didn't
Perk your ears up and listen
C
Studio with a system
             A7/C#
And you could say that I'm driven
       Dm
And now it's on to the next saga,
we drink the best lager
I never tried to win you over
like your stepfather
Bb
I do my own thing now, and get respect after
C           A7/C#
And I'm avoiding cocaine like it was Get Carter
Dm
For four years I never had a place to stay
but it's safe to say that it kept me grounded like a paperweight
  Bb
At 16 years old yeah I moved out of my home
   C             A7/C#
I was Macy Gray I tried to say goodbye and
I choked
      Dm
And we've been sleeping at the subway station, sleeping with a movie star and adding to the population
       Bb
Not my imagination, I don't want to relax
              A
But would it hurt your reputation,
        A *
if I put it on wax?
I take it back now


[Chorus]

Dm
Mmh Mmh Mmh Mmh
              Bb
Come on and take it back now
   C       A7/C#     Dm
Come on and take it back for us
Dm               Bb
Don't you fade into the back love,
 C  A7/C#
nooooohh


[Verse 2]
            Dm
Take it back with the rhythm and blues
and my rap pack I'll be singing the news,
trying to act like Jack Black when I repeat the school
Bb
I'll make a beat with my feet by just singing a loop,
C            A7/C#
bringing the lyrics to prove that I can fit in these shoes
Dm
And keeping the truth through the vocal booth,
stars burst out on the scene like an opal fruit,
      Bb
they try to take aim like beckham when he goes to shoot,
     C
but then again that's what they're supposed to do,
A7/C#
and I'm supposed to be calm,
   Dm
I tattooed the lyrics onto my arm, whispering everything that happens is from now on,
    Bb
I'll be willing to start again by the end of the song,
       C              A7/C#
still they're claiming that I handled it wrong,
             Dm
but then I never had an enemy, except the NME,
but I'll be selling twice as many copies as the magazines will ever be,
Bb
with only spectacles ahead of me on festival fees,
C          A7/C#
healthier than a Dalmatian, no pedigree,
Dm
singing for the masses,
rubber dinghy rapids,
I keep this rapping a habit
and keep on passioning magic,
Bb
I'm battling with respect,
            C
I don't know if I'll have it,
           A
this songs from the heart,
cover the plaque
I'll take it back now


[Chorus]

Dm
Mmh Mmh
              Bb
Come on and take it back now
   C       A7/C#     Dm
Come on and take it back for us
Dm                Bb
Don't you fade into the back love,
 C  A7/C#
nooooohh


[Verse 3]      (Pick here! Use A,G,B strings and second version of A/C#)

Take it back now
Dm
I don't ever wanna be perfect,
Cause I'm a singer that you
never wanna see shirtless
  Bb
I accept the fact that someone's got to win worst-dressed,
      C           A7/C#
Taking my first steps into the scene,
giving me focus
Dm
Putting on a brave face, like Timothy Dalton
Considering a name change,
thinking it was hopeless
 Bb
Rhyming over recordings,
avoiding tradition
      C
Cause everyday some lyrics
     A7/C#
and a melody can be written
  Dm
Now absence can make your heart break
But drinking absinthe can change your mind-state, vividly,
I need to let my liver be
Bb
And I say it again,
           C
Living life on the edge,
         A7/C#
with a closed hand full of friends
 Is good advice from a man
Dm
who took his life on the road with me
and I hope to see him blowing up globally
             Bb
Cause that's how it's supposed to be
screaming out vocally
       C
It might seem totally impossible
  A7/C#
achieving life's dreams
  Dm
But, but I just write schemes
I'm never having a stylist, giving me tight jeans
          Bb
Madison Square Garden is where I might be
But more likely,
      C
You'll find me in the back
     A7/C#
room of a dive bar with my mates
     Dm
Having a pint with McDaid
Discussing records we made
And every single second knowing
that we'll never betray
         Bb
The way we were raised
Remembering our background
Sat down
C
That's how we put it out
   A7/C#
It's time to take it back now


[Chorus]

Dm
Mmh Mmh Mmh Mmh
               Bb
Come on and take it back now
   C       A7/C#     Dm
Come on and take it back for us
Dm               Bb
Don't you fade into the back love,
   C     A7/C#
nooooohh    uuuuuuuhh

Dm
Mmh Mmh Mmh Mmh
               Bb
Come on and take it back now
   C        A7/C#     Dm
Come on and take it back for us
Dm                Bb
Don't you fade into the back love,
  C  A7/C#
nooooohh


[Verse 4]      (Strum every chord only once here!)

     Dm
My dreams keep me awake at night
            Dm
written in rhymes, and I, deliver the hype am I
just living the lie
    Bb
with this you must know that the number's just sold woah
C                A7/C#
Will keep me going through the tough times, dream with me
Dm
We forget 90 percent of it when we wake
     Dm
But the other 10 per cent it never fades
         Bb
Dreaming dreams, day to day goals,
                  C
Stay awake loads, try to make the cut like the
         A7/C#
paper or razor blade, oh, never give up
Dm
And just remember just to hold out more
Dm
Couple years ago
I couldn't just control that thought
        Bb
You'd find me buskin' on the street
When it was cold outdoors
       C
And now I'm sweating on the stage
   A7/C#
of a sold out tour
    Dm
Writing love songs for the sake of it,
never to make a hit
   Dm
You can't fake talent and work ethic just to make it quick
Bb
I'm not a rapper I'm a singer, I just take the piss and
C                 A7/C#
Most the other guys are kids that pose his little sister
     Dm
has to babysit, that's just a way it is
      Dm
Dreams you own, just set your goals
and have the utmost faith in it
Bb
Tread your own path, you'll never make it as a follower,
C                    A7/C#
you'll never know where you will go or where you'll be tomorrow