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Editor’s notes
Hey there friends! Here’s a lesson teaching you how to play Guy Clark’s song “My Favorite Picture of You” – which he released on his final studio album in 2013. This is a great song, with Clark describing the circumstances surrounding a spontaneous Polaroid taken of his wife a few decades ago. Musically, this features fingerstyle guitar played in a very casual manner – primarily focusing on a change from A7sus4 => A7 => Dadd6 => D. I’ll explain how to play these chords, and give you plenty of tips on how to go about practicing this chords. In the back part of the lesson, I’ll show you the rough tab of how I play things – should you want to get a bit more advanced with it.
Note, you’ll need a capo on 2nd fret if you want to play along with Guy Clark’s version. Willie Nelson’s 2019 cover of this song uses a capo on the 3rd fret.
Here’s my timestamps for this lesson:
- 0:00 Lesson overview
- 3:08 Chord progression overview
- 5:28 How to play the chords
- 9:03 Playthrough: simple strums
- 12:43 Playthrough: advanced tab
- 20:39 Farewell & final advice
I hope you enjoy! If you’re hungry for more Guy Clark, I also have lessons for these songs:
Thanks all, and enjoy! David Pots.
Guy Clark’s telling of the tale
Here’s a short video of Guy Clark telling the story behind this song – i.e., him and Townes Van Zandt were drinking & acting afool, which lead to Clark’s wife storming out of the house. Where, chance would have it, a friend with a Polaroid camera was waiting. In this video he also performs the song. It’s absolutely not as sharp as the official album cut, but it’s still valuable in that it shows how a very stripped back, solo, and minimal performance of this song can still work. Enjoy!
Lyrics with chords
INTRO (same as verse)
| A7sus4 A7 | A7sus4 A7 | Dadd6 D | Dadd6 D |
| A7sus4 A7 | A7sus4 A7 | Dadd6 D | Dadd6 D |
| A7 | A7 A7* | Bm | E7 |
| A7 | A7 |
VERSE #1
(D) A7sus4 A7 A7sus4 A7
.....My favorite picture of you, is the one where you're staring
Dadd6 D Dadd6 D
Straight into the lens
A7sus4 A7 A7sus4 A7
.....It's just a Polaroid shot, someone took on the spot
Dadd6 D Dadd6 D
No beginning, no end
A7 A7*
It's just a moment in time, you can't have back
Bm E7 A7
You never left but your bags were packed.... just in case
(use same chord progression for all remaining verses)
VERSE #2
My favorite picture of you, is bent and faded
And it's pinned to my wall
Oh, and you were so angry, it's hard to believe
We were lovers at all
There's a fire in your eyes, you've got your heart on your sleeve
A curse on your lips, but all I can see... is beautiful
VERSE #3
My favorite picture of you, is the one where
Your wings are showing
Oh, and your arms are crossed, your fists are clenched
Not gone but going
Just a stand up angel, who won't back down
Nobody's fool, nobody's clown... you were smarter than that
VERSE #4
My favorite picture of you, is the one where
It hasn't rained yet
Oh and as I recall, came a winter squall
And we got soaking wet
It's a thousand words, in the blink of an eye
The camera loves you, and so do I... click
ENDING
My favorite picture of you, is the one where you're staring
Straight into the lens
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📝 My "song" PDFs are now individually purcasheable! I've arranged a licensing agreement with Musicnotes, a service that lets you buy sheet music. Patreon suppoters get 50% off each purchase. Get the latest info here » (last updated July 1, 2021)
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