Arcade Fire – Keep the Car Running (Chords)

Arcade Fire – Keep the Car Running (Chords)

Given Arcade Fire’s penchant for strange instruments such as French horns, the hurdy-gurdy, the sackbut and the Tuvan nose-banjo, it’s a huge oversight of them not to have used a ukulele.

Happily for us, their latest single, Keep The Car Running, fits very nicely on the ukulele.

Keep the Car Running ChordsThe chords for the song are straightforward enough. The only chord name you might not recognise is Gsus2. However, the chord is so simple even a baby could play it (although perhaps not this baby, who can’t even finger a chord at all). A Gsus2 is just the standard G chord with the finger taken off the top string allowing it to ring open.

The song’s riff also falls nicely on the uke.Keep the Car Running Riff

This riff is played over the D and the Gsus2 chords. If you’re playing this part on a single uke you’ll want to support these notes with others from the chords. For example, over the Gsus2 you can play:

Keep the Car Running Riff

There you have it. Next time you go to see Arcade Fire you can hustle your way on stage and add that vital missing ingredient.

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16 Comments

  1. Craig January 6th, 2008 9:38 pm

    “(although perhaps not this baby, who can’t even finger a chord at all)”

    When I read this I was fully expecting a picture of a baby with no arms/hands/fingers…I think the Internet has jaded me a little too much.

    Thanks for the tab. I love Arcade Fire and I’m getting my first ukulele delivered tomorrow so hopefully I’ll have this song down soon!

    ~Craig

  2. DogSolitude » Blog Archive » Uke Chords: Arcade Fire - Keep the Car Running May 12th, 2008 10:57 pm

    […] Chords: Arcade Fire – Keep the Car Running Filed under: […]

  3. aardvark July 26th, 2008 3:39 pm

    I am having trouble with strumming patterns can anyone help?

  4. Woodshed July 26th, 2008 8:22 pm

    aardvark: You could just go with a simple down, up, down, up etc.

    Or you could pick up on the other rhythms in there and go:

    down, down, up, up, down.

  5. Kokonot October 11th, 2010 5:44 pm

    hey thanks a lot for this easy nice song, but here’s a little mistake: (it’s not a big deal but)… they are from Montreal… not USA :)

    Tagged: , Arcade Fire, Easy, Indie, USA..

  6. Woodshed October 12th, 2010 9:05 pm

    Kokonot: Dang, I am so ashamed. I did know that. Honest. Thanks for picking up on it – fixed now.

  7. Duckandmiss October 16th, 2010 4:31 pm

    Actually, you’re both right.

    Arcade Fire is an indie rock band based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and fronted by the husband and wife duo of Win Butler and Régine Chassagne who are American.

    Win Butler (born April 14, 1980) is the Texas -born American lead vocalist and songwriter of the Montreal-based indie rock band Arcade Fire.

    His wife Régine Chassagne was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and grew up in St-Lambert, a suburb south of Montreal.[2][3] Her parents immigrated from Haiti during the dictatorship of Jean-Claude Duvalier, which is alluded to in the Arcade Fire song “Haiti”, in which she sings, Mes cousins jamais nés hantent les nuits de Duvalier (“My unborn cousins haunt Duvalier’s nights”).[4]

  8. Duckandmiss October 16th, 2010 4:32 pm

    Arcade Fire is an indie rock band based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and fronted by the husband and wife duo of Win Butler and Régine Chassagne. Sorry there is no edit feature? Son Win is from Texas and Regine from Montreal and is Haitian. Band is based in Montreal.
    The more you know!

  9. Woodshed October 17th, 2010 9:30 am

    Duckandmiss: Thanks very much for the info. From now on, all bands have to come from one place to make tagging easier.

  10. Molly July 5th, 2011 2:13 am

    I present to you a chord so simple even a baby could play it….
    *drum roll*:
    The Baby Gsus

  11. Nina August 13th, 2011 5:56 am

    I use strumming pattern: down X down up X up down up

    Strummed quickly, this captures the rolling, frantic rhythm of this song. Sounds to me like the rumbling of a car engine, how fitting!

  12. Woodshed August 13th, 2011 8:52 am

    Nina: Thanks!

  13. Arlo James Barnes January 28th, 2013 8:37 am

    Molly: *applause*
    >which is alluded to in the Arcade Fire song “Haiti”
    And the whole album ‘The Suburbs’ is about Will and Win growing up in suburban Texas.

  14. rioch September 19th, 2016 9:31 pm

    where’d the pdf go for this!!?

  15. Woodshed September 19th, 2016 9:37 pm

    rioch: No idea but it should be there now.

  16. rich September 26th, 2016 7:19 pm

    awesome, thank you

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