Bad To The Bone

Words & Music:

George Thorogood

This is a bone-simple one-chord song (G, no 3) driven by the famous riff. If you want to play the song with slide in open G tuning, the tab is here. Otherwise, here is a good approximation of the main riff in standard tuning:

[fingerings are low to high – EADGBE]

XX00XX XX00XX XX55XX XX00XX XX33XX XX00XX

Well, on the day I was born, the nurses gathered 'round.

They gazed in wide wonder at the joy they had found.

The head nurse spoke up; said, "Leave this one alone."

She could tell right away I was bad to the bone.

CHORUS:

Bad to the bone.

Buh-buh-buh-buh-buh-bad.

Bad to the bone.

I broke a thousand hearts before I met you.

I'll break a thousand more, baby, before I am through.

I wanna be yours, pretty baby, yours and yours alone.

I'm here to tell you, honey, that I'm bad to the bone.

CHORUS:

I'll make a rich woman beg & I'll make a good woman steal.

I'll make an old woman blush & I'll make a young girl squeal.

I wanna tell you, pretty baby, what I see I make my own.

I'm here to tell you, pretty woman, that I'm bad to the bone.

CHORUS:

Now, when I walk the streets, kings and queens step aside.

Every woman I meet; they all stay satisfied.

I wanna tell ya, baby, what I see I make my own.

And I'm here to tell ya, pretty woman, that I'm bad to the bone.

CHORUS: