Feels Like We Only Go Backwards

Feels Like We Only Go Backwards is not a guitar song per se, but we can still play it and sing along if we want to. It sounds great on the acoustic as well as the electric guitar, so pick up your guitar and let’s dive in!

Intro

The intro of the song has that very distinctive bass slide, from the note G. We could mimic that bass part by playing G on fret 3 of the low E string, and sliding back to fret 1. It’s a short slide, so the best thing to do is to let it slowly choke on your way to fret 1, rather than landing on it too strongly.

After these four slides, we then have to leave a bar (four beats) empty before jumping to the first chorus of the song. You can of course count four beats, or you can do as I do, and hum (very badly) the melody to know when to start!

The chorus

To play the chorus, we’re going to need four different chords: F, C, Bb and G minor. We’re going to play F and G minor with barre chords, but you’ve got the choice to play C with an open shape if you want, or an A shape barre chord.

We also have a choice for Bb, you can either play it with an A shape or an E shape barre chord!

I know most people tend to avoid barre chords when they can, and would probably think playing C with an open shape is easier, but that’s not entirely true! The good thing about playing C with the A shape is that the transition to G minor will be a bit easier as you’re already on the right frets, so I invite you to try both before making up your mind.

The structure of the chorus is pretty straightforward, we’re going to play F and C for two beats each, and G minor for four beats (a whole bar). We repeat that three times before moving on to the last part of the chorus where we play F and C for two beats again, and finish on Bb for four beats instead of G minor like we used to just before.

Since Feels Like We Only Go Backwards is not a “guitar” song, we have quite a lot of freedom when it comes to strumming. Feel free to experiment with different patterns!

I’ll still show you what pattern I decided to go for:

I’d also add an accent on beats 2 and 4, which is always a nice way to create dynamics with your strumming.

Something to be careful with is that we have an extra “empty” beat at the end of the chorus. That’s good news as that gives you a bit more time to get ready, but that means that you should either count to five when playing Bb, or play your pattern and wait an extra beat!

The verse

Let’s now move on to the verse, we’re going to need four chords: D minor, C, G and G minor. We’re going to play D minor and C open, but G and G minor with an E shape barre chord.

The difference between a major and a minor chord is just one note (the third of your chord), so all we have to do to go between G and G minor is to remove our middle finger!

The structure of the verse is a bit less hectic than the one we’ve seen in the chorus, as we’re going to stay on these chords for much longer. We’re going to play D minor for two bars, C for two bars, then back to D minor for two bars, and we’re going to finish with a bar on G, and a bar on G minor.

I’d keep the same strumming pattern, but again, feel free to play around. Since this is a verse, and it’s a bit more laid back than the chorus, you could for example choose to strum a bit less and let the chords ring out more.

If you feel comfortable with the structure and the chords we’ve just seen, I would advise you to try playing the same verse with barre chords instead of open chords for D minor and C. That can be a nice way for you to practice your barre chords without feeling like you’re practicing them!

Some Variations

If you feel like it, you can swap the C we’re playing on the second loop of the verse with a Cmaj7!

It definitely adds a bit of tension and colour, but it can be a nice way to get a bit closer to what the keys are playing on the original track.

The verse’s structure would then be:

Again, this is a great song to have fun with, so experiment with chord shapes and patterns!