Hey, Jennifer, I've been playing this song for a good decade now, and I'll be damned if what I play matches Johnny Marr note for note. The chords, ostensibly, are F#, A, and B in the verse, and C#m, E, and F# in the chorus (the "You shut your mouth" bit). Played straight, it sounds horrendously wrong. But with the right rhythm, you can approach Johnny-ness. I read in a "Guitar" magazine profile of Johnny five or six years ago that he actually played this song with his guitar tuned to an open E (that is, strumming all the open strings would be an E chord; so the strings were tuned, from lowest to highest, E-B-E-G#-B-E). It's a tuning that Bo Diddley used in many of his songs, and if you listen carefully, you'll notice the "Bo Diddley beat" lurking behind this mope-rock anthem (try playing the song to the rhythm of "Born to Hand Jive" from "Grease," and you'll get the picture. Anyway, on to the song.
chords (in standard tuning, BTW): verse chorus F# A B D A C#m E E-2 - - - 5 4 0 B-2 2 4 7 5 5 0 G-3 2 4 7 6 6 1 D-4 2 4 7 7 6 2 A-4 0 2 5 7 4 2 E-2 - - - 5 - 0 The opening "riff" is just the F# chord (2nd fret position) with loads of reverb, another way to get that "wavy" feeling from just playing the one chord is to position your hand to play the F# as I've shown you above, except hammer on the first-finger barre on the 2nd fret to begin the riff (^ = downstroke. v = upstroke): |F# ^ v ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ | do this twice; the second time the lead guitarist (on tour, Johnny) plays: E-----2-2-2-2-2-2-2 | (4/5\4) just before the rhythm guitarist (on tour, Craig Gannon) plays the next chords B-----2-2-2-2-2-2-2 | G-3---3-3-3-3-3-4-3 | D-4---4-4-4-4-2-2-2 | A-4---4-4-4-4-4-4-4 | E-0(h)2-2-2-2-2-2-2 | so the chord sequence for the intro and verse is: |F#|F#|F#|A/B/| How Soon Is Now ? F# I .. A B F# Of .. I .. A B Of .. D A You .. C#m E F# I ..? D A I am .. C#m E |F#|F#|F#|A/B/| Just .. F# I am .. A B F# Of ... I am .. A B Oh, .. D A You .. D A You .. C#m E F# I go .. D A I am ... C#m E |F#|F#|F#|A/B/| Just .. D A There's .. C#m E F# You .. D So .. A And .. C#m E And .. |F#|F#|F#|A/B/| And .. D A When .. C#m E F# Well, .. D A See .. C#m E F# And .. D A You .. C#m E F# I go .. D A I am .. C#m E |F#|F#|F#|A/B/| Just .. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alternative guitar chords and tabs for How Soon Is Now by The Smiths