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6.10.15 Chords to "All Along the Watchtower": One of the Greatest Bob Dylan Songs
"All Along the Watchtower," one of Bob Dylan's greatest, is a 3-chord song ... in the
key of C major/A minor, the chords are Am – G – F. The famous Jimi Hendix cover is in the key of
E♭ major/C minor, so the chords are Cm – B♭–- A♭. The Dylan version is in the
key of E major/C♯ minor, so the chords are C♯m – B – A. On the guitar the Dylan
version sounds great with the capo on the fourth fret (or third fret for the Hendrix key); you
play the chords Am – G – F.
This song spends half its time in minor and half in major harmony. But it doesn’t really modulate because it does not establish a tonal centre outside of the minor tonaltiy.
The chord map reveals no fifth or third progressions at all—only second progressions. The chords simply move back and forth between (if in the key of C major/A minor) A minor (the tonic chord) and F major, via the transient G major chord (Figure 88 below).