Lyle Ritz, Steve Martin, Bernadette Peters – Tonight You Belong to Me (Tab/Chords)
This is one of the definitive ukulele songs, yet it no two tab/chords seem to agree how to play it. There are at least two videos (1, 2) declaring that everyone else’s version are wrong and theirs is right. Well, everyone else is wrong and I’m right.
Seriously, though, I don’t think I’m dead on. The turnaround sections are packed with jazzy chords and tricky to get right.
First off, you’ll have to tune every string down half a step (I suppose you’d call it B tuning). But, to keep things simple, I’ve named the chords after their C tuning shapes.
The intro goes like this:
With the G string carrying the little melody.
The chords for the verse are based on a G chord with a descending note and a little filigree on the top string. At the end of the first verse, there’s little little lick (or something like it):
Similarly, there’s this at the end of the second verse:
After that is the, “Way down…” section and you get a break from the jazz chords. It’s mostly Cm with occasional slides up from Bm.
The chords for the trumpet solo are exactly the same as those in the verse.
You can get a solo version by Lyle Ritz (who played the Jerk version) in his Jumpin’ Jim’s Ukulele Masters book (he also has a new book out Lyle Lite. And don’t miss out on the Guthrie girls’ version of Tonight, You Belong to Me.
thanks for this.
I especially like having the tab in the pdf – good stuff :)
Ive got the Lyle Ritz songbook, but its really difficult. I dont think there a single song i can play out of the whole book!
( i might have to invest in ‘Lyle Lite’