Easy tutorial for beginners with some explanations, the tab, the lyrics and the chords to play the song Talkin’ Bout a Revolution chords by Tracy Chapman on guitar.
Talkin’ Bout a Revolution with chords
Whether it’s the choruses, the verses or the bridge, everything is played in the same way.
We will therefore only look at thirst chorus and verse 1.
Chords of Talkin’ Bout a Revolution
Here are the four chords you will need to know and master to play the whole song :

These are the only ones you will need to know for the entire song. When they are mastered, you can continue with the explanations.
Chorus of the song
The song starts with the chorus. This chorus 1 will help you for chorus 2 which is played in the same way. You have to look at the tab below to play it :
Remember that the chords are written above the lyrics so that you can play them at the right time. Therefore, it’s better to play while singing. Chords that are to the right of a phrase (not above a word) are played between the two phrases.

Verse 1 of the music
For the first verse as well as for the following ones, you don’t need to know any other new chords. You can directly follow and play the tab :

Everything is played in the same way : choruses and verses. So you have to keep the same melody and still be helped by the lyrics.
If you want, you can try an other style and play the famous tango el dia que me quieras.
Talkin’ Bout a Revolution video with tab
Talkin’ Bout a Revolution lyrics
The song Talkin’ Bout a Revolution by Tracy Chapman is composed of choruses, verses and a bridge.
The structure of the lyrics is like that:
Chorus 1 – Verse 1 – Chorus 1 – Verse 2 – Bridge – Chorus 2 – Verse 1 – Chorus 1 – Chorus 2
Chorus 1
Don’t you know
They’re talking about a revolution?
It sounds like a whisper
Verse 1
While they’re standing in the welfare lines
Crying at the doorsteps of those armies of salvation
Wasting time in the unemployment lines
Sitting around waiting for a promotion
Chorus 1
Verse 2
Poor people gonna rise up
And get their share
Poor people gonna rise up
And take what’s theirs
Bridge
Don’t you know you better run, run, run, run, run, run
Run, run, run, run, run, run
Oh, I said you better run, run, run, run, run, run
Run, run, run, run, run, run
Chorus 2
‘Cause finally the tables are starting to turn
Talkin’ ’bout a revolution
‘Cause finally the tables are starting to turn
Talkin’ ’bout a revolution, oh no
Talkin’ ’bout a revolution, oh
Verse 1
Chorus 1
Chorus 2
Watch for all our guitar tabs and learn to improvise with our article about the pentatonic scale.
Easy PDF score to play Talkin’ Bout a Revolution from Tracy Chapman
The following score is a “home-made” easy PDF score for beginners that we created according to the above frameworks and explanations.
This score summarizes everything we just covered. You can download it for free to play Talkin’ Bout a Revolution by Tracy Chapman on guitar.