Breakdown by Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers | Lyrics with Guitar Chords

Breakdown comes from Petty’s debut album with the Heartbreakers. The famous lick used throughout the song was played by Mike Campbell towards the end of the original recording. This is one of the classic recordings by legendary music producer and businessman Jimmy Iovine. 

You can learn to play Breakdown by Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers with guitar chords, lyrics and a strumming trainer directly in the Uberchord app. This app listens to your guitar chords and gives you visual feedback in real-time in case you make a mistake.

Key of the Song:

The original key of Breakdown by Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers is in A minor.

Guitar Chords for Breakdown by Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers

The whole song uses an Am to G chord change. So the easiest way to play this is to prepare for that 2nd finger of your fret hand to go from fret 2 on the D string to the fret 3 on the low E string. Except for the fingers that will play XX0033 of G, everything else should fall easily into place if you know the chord shapes well. 

Video Lesson

Breakdown by Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – Lyrics with Chords

[Intro]
Am   G   x3*
 N.C.    x3
Am   G   x8
 
[Verse 1]
Am     G            Am      G
It's alright if you love me,
Am     G            Am    G
It's alright if you don't
Am       G            Am       G
I'm not afraid of you runnin' away honey,
Am         G           Fmaj7  Fmaj7sus2  Fmaj7
I got this feeling you won't
 
[Verse 2]
    Am             G         Am      G
Say there ain't no use in pretending,
Am        G         Am   G
Your eyes give you away
Am          G           Am           G
Something inside you is feeling like I do,
Am          G           Fmaj7  Fmaj7sus2  Fmaj7
We said all there is to say...             Baby!
 
[Chorus]
Am   G    Fmaj7        G
Breakdown go ahead and give it to me
Am   G           Fmaj7               G
Breakdown honey, take me through the night
Am   G            Fmaj7          G
Breakdown now I'm standing here, can you see
Am   G           Fmaj7  Fmaj7sus2  Fmaj7
Breakdown it's alright...
          Fmaj7  Fmaj7sus2  Fmaj7
...it's alright,
          Am    G
...it's alright.
 
[Instrumental]
Am   G  x10
Fmaj7
 
[Chorus]
Am   G    Fmaj7        G
Breakdown go ahead and give it to me
Am   G           Fmaj7               G
Breakdown honey, take me through the night
Am   G            Fmaj7          G
Breakdown now I'm standing here, can you see
Am   G           Fmaj7  Fmaj7sus2  Fmaj7
Breakdown it's alright...
          Fmaj7  Fmaj7sus2  Fmaj7
...it's alright,
          Am    G
...it's alright.
 
[Outro]
Am   G  x7