Forever Young

Words and music Bob Dylan
Released on Planet Waves (1974) and in an early demo version on Biograph (1985)
Tabbed by Eyolf Østrem

Album version I (slow):

D

        D                  
May God bless and keep you always
         F#m/c#
May your wishes all come true
        Em/b
May you always do for others 
        G             D
And let others do for you
        D                   
May you build a ladder to the stars 
    F#m/c#
And climb on every rung
        Em   A(sus4-A) D
May you stay    forever young
        A         Bm
Forever young, forever young 
        D   A        D     
May you stay forever young.

May you grow up to be righteous 
May you grow up to be true
May you always know the truth 
And see the lights surrounding you
May you always be courageous 
Stand upright and be strong
May you stay forever young
Forever young, forever young 
May you stay forever young.

May your hands always be busy 
May your feet always be swift
May you have a strong foundation 
When the winds of changes shift
May your heart always be joyful 
And may your song always be sung
May you stay forever young
Forever young, forever young 
May you stay forever young.

Album version II (fast):

G(/f#-g)

        G
May God bless and keep you always
         C               G 
May your wishes all come true
        G              
May you always do for others 
        D
And let others do for you
        G          
May you build a ladder to the stars 
    C              
And climb on every rung
        G    D         G      C
May you stay   forever young
        G    D         G
May you stay   forever young.

Biograph version

The guitar is tuned low, almost a half tone.
The strumming is very square, something like this (with sample embellishment included, with no extra cost)

                                    Last bar:
  :       .       .       .         
|-----3-------3-------3-------3---||-----0---------------
|-----0-------0-------0h1-----0---||-----1---------------
|-----0-------0-------0-------0---||-----0-------0------- etc
|-----0-------0-------0h2-----0---||-----2-------0-------
|---------------------------------||-3-------2---0-------
|-3-------3-------3-------3-------||-----------------3---

        G
May God bless and keep you always
         C               G      C/g G
May your wishes all come true
        G              
May you always do for others 
        D      /c     D                [D/c=x3023x; 
And let others do for you              played A7  D  in subsequent verses]
        G          
May you build a ladder to the stars 
    C        /b    Am      
And climb on every rung
        G    D         G      C/g
May you stay   forever young
        G    D         C     /b /a G
May you stay   forever young.

May you grow up to be righteous 
May you grow up to be true
May you always know the truth 
And see the lights surrounding you
May you always be courageous 
Stand upright and be strong
May you stay forever young
Forever young, forever young 
May you stay forever young.

May your hands always be busy 
May your feet always be swift
May you have a strong foundation 
When the winds of changes shift
May your heart always be joyful 
And may your song always be sung
May you stay forever young
Forever young, forever young 
May you stay forever young.

Budokan version

Capo 5th fret (sounding key F major)

        C
May God bless and keep you always
         Em                
May your wishes all come true
        F
May you always do for others 
        G                C
And let others do for you
        C
May you build a ladder to the stars 
    Em              
And climb on every rung
        F    G         C      Csus4 C
May you stay   forever young
        G
Forever young
        Am
Forever young
        C   G        F    C
May you stay forever young