“Into the Great Wide Open” by Tom Petty

My cover of “Into the Great Wide Open” by Tom Petty

How to play “Into the Great Wide Open” by Tom Petty

I don’t know that this is exactly how the song is played on the album, but here’s how I like to play it. You’ll hear at least two guitar tracks on the album. Playing it this way allows you to work in elements from each so that you can mimic the total sound you hear on just one guitar.

The Chords

EADGBE

022000 = Em

021000 = Em/maj7

020000 = Em7

042000 = Em6

x02210 = Am

302013 = Am7/G

202210 = Am/F#

x02220 = A

320003 = G

320033 = G5

133211 = F

x32010 = C

x32033 = Cadd9

xx0232 = D

x54030 = Dsus4

5×4030 = Dsus4/A

Whew. Okay, don’t let the many chords and funky names (my best guesses) deter you. This song is really quite simple to play. Watch the video lesson for more. For the opening riff, it’s basically just in Em with a melody line that walks down from E to Eb to D to Db. So:

Fig. 1

Em –> Em/maj7 –> Em7 –> Em6

Then it just goes up to Am and you similarly hear a melody line as the bass notes walk down:

Fig. 2

Am –> Am7/G –> Am/F# –> Am7/G

Chords and Lyrics

Fig. 1 (x2)

Fig. 1

Eddie waited till he finished high school

Fig. 1

He went to Hollywood, got a tattoo

Fig. 2

He met a girl out there with a tattoo too

G                        F                       C

The future was wide open

G          C           G

Fig. 1

They moved into a place they both could afford

Fig. 1

He found a nightclub he could work at the door

Fig. 2

She had a guitar and she taught him some chords

G                      F                       C

The sky was the limit

G         C          G                      G          C            G            D

[Chorus Begins]

G5             Cadd9        Dsus4

Into the great wide open,

G5             Cadd9        Dsus4     Dsus4/A

Under them skies of blue

G5             Cadd9         Dsus4

Out in the great wide open,

G               F                Em              A

A rebel without a clue

[Chorus Ends]

G      C      G                G      C       G

[Solo Begins]

Fig.1 (x2)

[Solo Ends]

Fig. 1

The papers said Ed always played from the heart

Fig. 1

He got an agent and a roadie named Bart

Fig. 2

They made a record and it went in the charts

G                     F                     C

The sky was the limit

G      C       G

Fig. 1

His leather jacket had chains that would jingle

Fig. 1

They both met movie stars, partied and mingled

Fig. 2

Their A&R man said I don’t hear a single

G                     F                         C

The future was wide open

G        C         G                         G         C          G           D

[Play Chorus x2]

G        C        G                 G           C         G