As played at Royal Albert Hall (24/3/2014)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WJNZB0Dyuw
Basically you can repeat the following nearly through the whole song:
Dm // Dm // Bb // C A7/C#
Dm Bb C A7/C# A A *
E----(5)----(1)----(3)------0--------0--------x---5----------------|
B-----6------3------5------(5)------(5)-------x---5----------------|
G-----7------3------5-------5---or---6--------2---6----------------|
D-----7------3------5-------5--------5--------2---7----------------|
A-----5------1------3-------4--------4--------0---7----------------|
E-----x------x------x-------x--------x--------0---5----------------|
I think when Ed Sheeran strums he mostly uses the A,D,G strings only and when he picks the A,G,B strings.
[Verse 1]
Dm
I'm not a rapper, I'm a singer with a flow
I've got a habit of spitting
quicker lyrics you know
Bb
You found me ripping the writtens
out of the pages they sit in
C
And never once I get bitten,
A7/C#
cause plagiarism is hidden
Dm
Which I would sit on the rhythm,
prisoner with a vision
Signs of a label, but didn't listen to any criticism
Bb
Thought you knew but you didn't
Perk your ears up and listen
C
Studio with a system
A7/C#
And you could say that I'm driven
Dm
And now it's on to the next saga,
we drink the best lager
I never tried to win you over
like your stepfather
Bb
I do my own thing now, and get respect after
C A7/C#
And I'm avoiding cocaine like it was Get Carter
Dm
For four years I never had a place to stay
but it's safe to say that it kept me grounded like a paperweight
Bb
At 16 years old yeah I moved out of my home
C A7/C#
I was Macy Gray I tried to say goodbye and
I choked
Dm
And we've been sleeping at the subway station, sleeping with a movie star and adding to the population
Bb
Not my imagination, I don't want to relax
A
But would it hurt your reputation,
A *
if I put it on wax?
I take it back now
[Chorus]
Dm
Mmh Mmh Mmh Mmh
Bb
Come on and take it back now
C A7/C# Dm
Come on and take it back for us
Dm Bb
Don't you fade into the back love,
C A7/C#
nooooohh
[Verse 2]
Dm
Take it back with the rhythm and blues
and my rap pack I'll be singing the news,
trying to act like Jack Black when I repeat the school
Bb
I'll make a beat with my feet by just singing a loop,
C A7/C#
bringing the lyrics to prove that I can fit in these shoes
Dm
And keeping the truth through the vocal booth,
stars burst out on the scene like an opal fruit,
Bb
they try to take aim like beckham when he goes to shoot,
C
but then again that's what they're supposed to do,
A7/C#
and I'm supposed to be calm,
Dm
I tattooed the lyrics onto my arm, whispering everything that happens is from now on,
Bb
I'll be willing to start again by the end of the song,
C A7/C#
still they're claiming that I handled it wrong,
Dm
but then I never had an enemy, except the NME,
but I'll be selling twice as many copies as the magazines will ever be,
Bb
with only spectacles ahead of me on festival fees,
C A7/C#
healthier than a Dalmatian, no pedigree,
Dm
singing for the masses,
rubber dinghy rapids,
I keep this rapping a habit
and keep on passioning magic,
Bb
I'm battling with respect,
C
I don't know if I'll have it,
A
this songs from the heart,
cover the plaque
I'll take it back now
[Chorus]
[ Tab from: https://www.guitartabs.cc/tabs/e/ed_sheeran/take_it_back_crd.html ]
Dm
Mmh Mmh
Bb
Come on and take it back now
C A7/C# Dm
Come on and take it back for us
Dm Bb
Don't you fade into the back love,
C A7/C#
nooooohh
[Verse 3] (Pick here! Use A,G,B strings and second version of A/C#)
Take it back now
Dm
I don't ever wanna be perfect,
Cause I'm a singer that you
never wanna see shirtless
Bb
I accept the fact that someone's got to win worst-dressed,
C A7/C#
Taking my first steps into the scene,
giving me focus
Dm
Putting on a brave face, like Timothy Dalton
Considering a name change,
thinking it was hopeless
Bb
Rhyming over recordings,
avoiding tradition
C
Cause everyday some lyrics
A7/C#
and a melody can be written
Dm
Now absence can make your heart break
But drinking absinthe can change your mind-state, vividly,
I need to let my liver be
Bb
And I say it again,
C
Living life on the edge,
A7/C#
with a closed hand full of friends
Is good advice from a man
Dm
who took his life on the road with me
and I hope to see him blowing up globally
Bb
Cause that's how it's supposed to be
screaming out vocally
C
It might seem totally impossible
A7/C#
achieving life's dreams
Dm
But, but I just write schemes
I'm never having a stylist, giving me tight jeans
Bb
Madison Square Garden is where I might be
But more likely,
C
You'll find me in the back
A7/C#
room of a dive bar with my mates
Dm
Having a pint with McDaid
Discussing records we made
And every single second knowing
that we'll never betray
Bb
The way we were raised
Remembering our background
Sat down
C
That's how we put it out
A7/C#
It's time to take it back now
[Chorus]
Dm
Mmh Mmh Mmh Mmh
Bb
Come on and take it back now
C A7/C# Dm
Come on and take it back for us
Dm Bb
Don't you fade into the back love,
C A7/C#
nooooohh uuuuuuuhh
Dm
Mmh Mmh Mmh Mmh
Bb
Come on and take it back now
C A7/C# Dm
Come on and take it back for us
Dm Bb
Don't you fade into the back love,
C A7/C#
nooooohh
[Verse 4] (Strum every chord only once here!)
Dm
My dreams keep me awake at night
Dm
written in rhymes, and I, deliver the hype am I
just living the lie
Bb
with this you must know that the number's just sold woah
C A7/C#
Will keep me going through the tough times, dream with me
Dm
We forget 90 percent of it when we wake
Dm
But the other 10 per cent it never fades
Bb
Dreaming dreams, day to day goals,
C
Stay awake loads, try to make the cut like the
A7/C#
paper or razor blade, oh, never give up
Dm
And just remember just to hold out more
Dm
Couple years ago
I couldn't just control that thought
Bb
You'd find me buskin' on the street
When it was cold outdoors
C
And now I'm sweating on the stage
A7/C#
of a sold out tour
Dm
Writing love songs for the sake of it,
never to make a hit
Dm
You can't fake talent and work ethic just to make it quick
Bb
I'm not a rapper I'm a singer, I just take the piss and
C A7/C#
Most the other guys are kids that pose his little sister
Dm
has to babysit, that's just a way it is
Dm
Dreams you own, just set your goals
and have the utmost faith in it
Bb
Tread your own path, you'll never make it as a follower,
C A7/C#
you'll never know where you will go or where you'll be tomorrow
