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Paying The Cost To Be The Boss | Chords + Lyrics
Intro
| B9 (Fm7b5 D#m7b5) | E9 (A#m7b5 G#m7b5) |
| B9 (Fm7b5 D#m7b5) | B9 |
| E9 (A#m7b5 G#m7b5) | E9 | B9 (Fm7b5 D#m7b5) | B9 |
| F#9 (Cm7b5 A#m7b5) | E9 (A#m7b5 G#m7b5) | B9 (Fm7b5 D#m7b5) | F#7 |
Verse 1
| B9 (Fm7b5 D#m7b5) | E9 (A#m7b5 G#m7b5) |
You act like you don’t wanna listen, when I’m talking to you.
| B9 (Fm7b5 D#m7b5) | B9 |
You think you outta do baby, anything you wanna do.
| E9 (A#m7b5 G#m7b5) | E9 | B9 (Fm7b5 D#m7b5) | B9 |
You must be crazy baby, you just gotta be out of your mind.
| F#9 (Cm7b5 A#m7b5) | E9 (A#m7b5 G#m7b5) | B9 (Fm7b5 D#m7b5) | F#7 |
As long as I’m paying the bills woman, I’m paying the cost to be the boss.
Verse 2
| B7 N.C | B7 N.C |
I’ll drink if I wanna, and play a little poker too.
| B7 N.C | B7 N.C |
Don’t you say nothing to me, as long as I’m taking care of you.
| B7 N.C | B7 N.C |
As long as I’m working, baby, and paying all the bills.
| B7 N.C | B7 N.C |
I don’t want no mouth from you, about the way I’m supposed to live.
| E9 (A#m7b5 G#m7b5) | E9 | B9 (Fm7b5 D#m7b5) | B9 |
You must be crazy woman, just gotta be out of your mind.
| F#9 (Cm7b5 A#m7b5) | E9 (A#m7b5 G#m7b5) | B9 (Fm7b5 D#m7b5) | F#7 |
As long as I foot the bill, I’m paying the cost to be the boss.
Solo
| B9 (Fm7b5 D#m7b5) | E9 (A#m7b5 G#m7b5) |
| B9 (Fm7b5 D#m7b5) | B9 |
| E9 (A#m7b5 G#m7b5) | E9 | B9 (Fm7b5 D#m7b5) | B9 |
| F#9 (Cm7b5 A#m7b5) | E9 (A#m7b5 G#m7b5) | B9 (Fm7b5 D#m7b5) | F#7 |
Verse 3
| B7 N.C | B7 N.C |
Now that you’ve got me, you act like you ashamed.
| B7 N.C | B7 N.C |
You don’t act like my woman, you’re just using my name.
| B7 N.C | B7 N.C |
I tell you I’m gonna handle all the money, and I don’t want no back talk.
| B7 N.C | B7 N.C |
‘Cause if you don’t like what I’m doing, just pick up your things and walk.
| E9 (A#m7b5 G#m7b5) | E9 | B9 (Fm7b5 D#m7b5) | B9 |
You gotta be crazy baby, oh you must be out of your mind.
| F#9 (Cm7b5 A#m7b5) | E9 (A#m7b5 G#m7b5) | B9 (Fm7b5 D#m7b5) | N.C | Bb9 |
As long as I’m paying the bills, I’m paying the cost to be the boss.
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Paying The Cost To Be The Boss Chords: Learn the progressions
B.B. must have heard Papa Ain’t Salty before he designed the rhythm guitar part for this one, it’s got those sliding min7b5 substitutes all over it!
Let’s recap how this works in case you haven’t played that T-Bone tune.
To chord substitute, a dom7 for a dom9 sound, start on the 3rd of the chord and apply a min7b5 chord. Am-shapes and Dm-shapes work best.
To take it to the next level, slide up a tone, then back down again, now you’re hinting at extensions like 13 and b5 as well!
The basic progression is laid out during the intro:
| B9 (Fm7b5 D#m7b5) | E9 (A#m7b5 G#m7b5) |
| B9 (Fm7b5 D#m7b5) | B9 |
| E9 (A#m7b5 G#m7b5) | E9 | B9 (Fm7b5 D#m7b5) | B9 |
| F#9 (Cm7b5 A#m7b5) | E9 (A#m7b5 G#m7b5) | B9 (Fm7b5 D#m7b5) | F#7 |
Those sliding min7b5 chords happen in every bar but to make it less messy, I’ve only written 9 the second time.
The only variation to this is the stops we hear in verses 2 and 3. Now we stay on the B chord for eight bars before we move to chord IV and play as normal, with sliding m7b5 substitutes.
||: B7 N.C | B7 N.C :|| x4
| E9 (A#m7b5 G#m7b5) | E9 | B9 (Fm7b5 D#m7b5) | B9 |
| F#9 (Cm7b5 A#m7b5) | E9 (A#m7b5 G#m7b5) | B9 (Fm7b5 D#m7b5) | N.C | Bb9 |
B.B. King’s vibrato
B.B. King (possibly along with Albert King) is known mainly for two things in the guitar fraternity: Bending and Vibrato.
B.B. was the first to fully explore the possibilities of string bending and fluid vibrato on the instrument, turning both techniques into a sophisticated and slick style.
Bending and Vibrato is such a stock part of the electric guitar’s vocabulary that it’s almost impossible to think of it without them.
Yet, before the 1950′s, guitarists didn’t use vibrato and they would certainly have kept bending to quarter notes at the very most!
One of B.B. King’s best-known songs is Paying The Cost To Be The Boss, which you can learn how to play using the video lesson above. To nail it, focus on your vibrato!
Listen to/play along with original recordings of B.B. King, and aim to copy his vibrato. Every time you vibrato a note, consider what you like about it, as well as what you don’t like about it.
It may sound simple but the only way to improve is to pay attention, copy, and pay even more attention!
B.B. King’s vibrato is clearly one of the best, so why not start by copying him?
Paying The Cost To Be The Boss Chords | Related Pages
Five similar tunes with chords and lyrics
- Blue Suede Shoes chords by Elvis
- Born Under A Bad Sign chords by Albert King
- Papa Ain’t Salty chords by T-Bone Walker
- The Stumble chords by Freddie King
- The Thrill Is Gone chords by B.B. King
B.B. King tunes
The King Of The Blues, B.B. King is easily the most famous blues artist around. He earned his nickname and reputation through constant touring.
With hits like The Thrill Is Gone and Paying The Cost To Be The Boss, B.B. will forever be known as one of the original blues giants.
B.B. King on the web
Blues & Jazz
The foundation upon which popular music stands, tunes must be explored in depth by the serious guitar player.
Learn from the best by studying the greatest tunes of the genres. Study the iconic licks and melodies to grasp the language of these most important styles.
About me | Dan Lundholm
This was a guitar lesson about Paying The Cost To Be The Boss chords, by Dan Lundholm. Discover more about him and learn guitar with Spytunes.
Most importantly, find out why you should learn guitar through playing tunes, not practising scales, and studying theory in isolation.
