Lyrics and Chords

When You Were Sweet Sixteen

Sweet 16 home page
The Fureys Recording
Recordings by others
Lyrics and Chords Sweet 16
James Thornton 1
James Thornton 2

The chords to When You Were Sixteen are mostly straightforward but there are a few surprises along the way.

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Our chord converter enables you to play this song in any key.

Watch out for the A chord which isn’t really part of the key of G Major but which comes in very effectively at the beginning of the third line. It’s not a key change as such but it could throw you.

The line finishes on the chord of D. It then helps to add a D7 to lead you into the G chord on the opening line of the chorus.

When You Were Sweet 16 Lyrics and Chords

 

When  

G 

first I saw the  

Em 

love light in your  

C 

eyes,

Am 

 

I  

D 

thought the world held  

D7 

nought but joy for  

G 

me

D 

 

And  

G 

even though we  

Em 

drifted far a

C 

part 

 

 

Am 

 

I  

A 

never dream but what I dream of  

D - D7 

you

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chorus

 

I  

G 

love you as I  

Em 

never loved be

C 

fore

Am 

 

Since  

D 

first I saw  

D7 

you on the village  

G 

green 

 

 

D 

 

Come  

G 

to me e’er my  

Em 

dreams of love is  

C 

o’re,

Am 

 

I  

C 

love you as I  

G 

loved you,  

Em 

when you were  

Bm 

sweet

 

When you were  

Am - D 

sweet 

 

six

G 

teen

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Last night I dreamt I held you in my arms

And once again you were my happy bride

I kissed you as I did on ‘Auld Lang Syne’,

As to the church we wandered side by side

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chorus

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Note on Fureys version of When You Were Sweet 16

The Fureys use same basic chords as shown above.

However, some guitar tabs and songbooks will show added chords such Gmaj7 or Em7.

While this may present no problem for experienced musicians it can be a little confusing for others. The extra chords shown in some music books stem from the way the Fureys use a walking bass line to take them from one chord to another.

Try a walking bass line to add texture

For example, on the first G chord in the opening line, they have a bass line running down the scale from G to F# taking them to the E of Em.

When the F# is played, it effectively turns the G chord into Gmaj7.

The same thing happens between the C and Am chord at the end of the line. The bass line runs from C to B to the A of Am. When the B note is played it turns the C chord into Cmaj7.

This walking bass line and the extra chords they produce are not necessary to perform the song successfully but, of course, as The Fureys’ show, they do add a lot colour and texture.

Sweet 16 home page
The Fureys Recording
Recordings by other Singers
Lyrics and Chords Sweet 16
James Thornton 1
James Thornton 2