Long May You Run – How To Play on Guitar and Harmonica – Quick Facts
Long May You Run is from the 1976 album of the same name by the Stills-Young Band.
The album was to be a reunion album for CSNY but Crosby and Nash left before the project finished to work on their own album.
Young wrote the song in memory of his first car, Mort, which was a 1948 Buick Roadmaster Hearse.
Long May You Run Guitar Backing Track
If you’re looking for a guitar track to play or sing along with, here is the guitar track taken from the video above. Just guitar, no vocals or harmonica.
Long May You Run Guitar Backing Track
Guitar Chords, Lyrics, Harmonica Tabs
Long May You Run music and lyrics are property and copyright of their owners and provided for educational purposes and personal use only.
The following is my transcription of my version of this awesome song. If you want how the author intended, check out the links above.
Harmonica Tabs – KEY: D
Intro
5 -4 4 -4 5 4
5 6 -6 6 5 -4 -4
5 6 6 6 -6 -6 6 5
-4 4 4 -4 5
-4 -4 5 4
Melody
-6 -7 | 7 7 -7 6 -6 6 -6 | 6 5 4 4 5 | 6 6 5 -6 6 -4 | -6 -7 | 7 7 -7 6 -6 6 |-6 6 6 5 -4 4 |5 5 -4 4 6 |
-6 -7 | 7 7 -7 6 | -6 6 5 4 -4 5 | 6 5 5 -6 6 -4 | 7 7 -7 7 -7 6 -6 6 | -6 6 5 -4 4 |5 5 -4 4 6 |
Chords and Lyrics
D A/D G D
We’ve been through some things together
Bm G A
With trunks of memories still to come
D A/D G D
We found things to do in stormy weather
Bm A D
Long may you run
CHORUS
D A/D G D
Long may you run, long may you run,
Bm G A
Although these changes have come.
D A/D
With your chrome heart shinin’
G D Bm A D G Bb
in the sun, long may you run.
Well it was back in Blind River in nineteen sixtytwo
When I last saw you alive.
But we missed that ship on the long decline.
Long may you run.
CHORUS
D Dsus4 D
Maybe the Beach Boys have got you now
With those waves singin’ Caroline.
Rollin’ down that empty ocean road,
Get into the surf on time.
CHORUS
Musical Instruments and Recording Equipment
Takamine Acoustic-Electric EG Series Guitar
In this video I am playing a Takamine Electric Acoustic EG series guitar similar to the one pictured here.
It has a solid spruce top with nato back and sides and a rosewood fretboard with abalone fret markers.
The built-in Takamine TK-40 preamp features EQ Bypass, Notch Filter, Mid Contour, Bass, Mid, Treble and Gain in addition to a built-in electronic tuner.
This guitar performs great and records great.
Hohner 560 Special 20 Harmonica D
I’m using a Hohner Special 20 in the key of D for Harvest. The song is in the key of D so I’m playing harmonica in first position.
Hohner Harmonica Neck Holder
I made my first harmonica holder out of an old wire coat hanger. It wasn’t beautiful but it worked and put me on the road to earning my McGyver certificate at an early age.
For me now, a comfortable and properly fitting harmonica holder is a must for hands free harmonica playing. This
Hohner Harmonica Neck Holder works great for me.
Another harmonica holder that you may want to try that has gotten great reviews is the
Lee Oskar Harmonica Holder. You can also check out other harmonica holders on my George’s Harp Shop page.
Video Transcription
Hey, George here. Welcome to this video where I show you how I play Neil Young’s Long May You Run on guitar and harmonica. I’m going to go through the guitar chords and give you a rhythm to play on that. I’ll pick out a harmonica. The song’s got a great little harmonica intro right off the top so I’ll demonstrate and tab through that. I will also demonstrate and tab through the melody. Once we’ve done all that, we’ll put it all together and play through it. Ok? Let’s do this.
Looking at the guitar part, what I’ll do here is I will demonstrate all the chords for the chorus. All the chords for the verse are in this. There are two chords thrown in at the end on the chorus so I’ll show you the difference.
We start off in D, then A/D, G, back to D. We go to Bm, to G, to A. Back to D, to A/D to G, to D. Then Bm, A, D. Then we’re going to play G and the last chord is Bb#11. The verse is the exact same as the chorus but it does not have the final G and Bb#11.
For the strumming rhythm, I’m going to play an eighth note rhythm and put the accent on 2 and 4.
I’m using a D harmonica and will play through and tab out the melodies for the intro and the chorus. Let’s take it slow.
Ok, so let’s put this all together. Make sure you’re in tune and using a D harmonica.
Alright, Neil Young’s Long May You Run. We went through the chords and strumming, picked out a harp and tabbed through the intro as well as the melody to the chorus and then we put it all together. I hope that helps you put that all together.
Ok, so have some fun with that and I’ll see you in the next video.
Peace.
Good stuff George!
It was always a dream of me to play guitar and harmonica together. I play
guitar for years and the first song i learned with harmonica was “heart of
gold” from Neil Young. Ofc. i used George Goodman’s guide ! Now its time to
go buy my second harmonica in the key of D and learn this song. Thank u so
much George !!
harmonica key please ??? key D or A ???
Anyone play Old Man ? If so how do you get around the high vocal part, my
voice is deep and cant get up there, your thoughts George.
Thank you Mr. George..Brilliant work.
I sub.
Mostafa-Iraq.
Thanks. Love this song. Think you’ve inspired me to take out my old guitar,
dust it off, and give this a try.
i liked it
Nice job…
Thanks for the post !
Thank you George. You have a very clear and natural way of explaining the different parts of this song. This is the first time I have come across any of your videos and I plan on viewing the others. Best wishes and good luck to you.
Hello George.
Im a guitar and harmonica player from Brazil, Your lessons are amazing. Im training to maybe start busking around here someday. Thanks, and God Bless.
I was referring to the tabs for the harmonica break between second and third verse. Thanks again.
What tabs did I miss?
George you left out the harmonica tabs for the break, could you post them? Thanks!!
Great post!
Thanks. Out On The Weekend is on the list.
Cheers, George
Nice job! I like the way you show the harmonica tabs while you play the guitar, very helpful. Now all you need to post is Out on the Weekend and Are there anymore Real Cowboys. Thanks!
There is no shortage of great Neil Young songs.
another great Young tune,,, I always use you as back up lol
thank you, I requested this one a year ago, worth the wait, and because im terrible I couldn’t figure it out myself in that long a time, thanks again
D – first position
Which harmonica key?
Lessons are slow but sure. between work, and the blizzard we had, there has been a small interruption in the lessons. But, I keep chipping away at it.
Thanks Raffaele. Happy to help.
Cheers, George
Thanks Tony. Much appreciated. How are lessons going?
Great job as usual George. You are the Master.
Thank you for this nice, clear tutorial, George. Great work and muchly appreciated.
Raffaele