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After learning how to play “Everybody Hurts”, We are going to take a close look at an REM classic track, Losing My Religion.

The original track contains many guitar parts, including a mandolin. Chords are pretty straightforward and nice guitar techniques and a good song to have under your belt and include in your repertoire.

How To Play Losing My Religion

To play this REM hit, you need to know the guitar chords, the strumming pattern for the intro, verse and chorus, the middle eight and that’s it!

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Guitar chords

The chords that we need for this song are F major,  G major open position, A minor (Am), an E minor (Em), D minor chord (Dm), and we do have a D major chord.

Strumming Pattern for Losing My Religion

The notes for the strumming pattern basically uses 8 and 16th notes.

Let’s take a look at the chords of the intro section which is also the ones used in the chorus. The intro section is where the mandolin plays the melody.

We start off with the F major and then a G major which starts in the 3rd beat of the 2nd bar. F major basically is 1 1/2 bar long.

Strumming patter for F major on the first bar is Down, Down, Down-Up, Down-Up. First two beats can be a down-up, up.
Strumming pattern for the G major can be just 2 downs (2 quarter notes).

Next is the Aminor (Am), same strumming for the F major.

We then repeat F-G-and Am.

Guitar Chord for Losing My Religion

INTRO
|F . . . | . Dm G . | Am . Am/B . | Am/C . Am/D Am|
|F . . . | . Dm G . | Am . . . |

VERSE 1
G      Am
   Oh, life is bigger
Em
   It's bigger than you
            Am
And you are not me.
                        Em
The lengths that I will go to,
                     Am
The distance in your eyes,
Em                      Dm
   Oh no, I've said too much,
         G
I set it up.

[CHORUS]
                 Am
That's me in the corner,
                 Em
That's me in the spotlight
            Am
Losing my religion.
          Em
Trying to keep up with you.
      Am
And I don't know if I can do it.
Em                      Dm
   Oh no, I've said too much,
                G
I haven't said enough.

[BRIDGE]
  G                        F
I thought that I heard you laughing,
  Dm             G         Am   Am/B   Am/C   Am/D
I thought that I heard you sing.
Am F                 F   Dm G   Am
I  think I thought I saw    you try.

[VERSE 2]
G        Am                      Em
   Every Whisper of every waking hour
                   Am
I'm choosing my confessions,
          Em
Trying to keep an eye of you
       Am
Like a hurt lost and blinded fool, fool
Em                      Dm
   Oh no, I've said too much,
         G
I set it up.

<B>[VERSE 3]B>
         Am
Consider this, consider this,
    Em
The hint of a century,
         Am
Consider this: the slip
     Em
That brought me to my knees failed.
Am
What if all these fantasies
     Em
Come    flailing around?
         Dm       G
Now I've said too much.

<B>[BRIDGE]B>
  G                        F
I thought that I heard you laughing,
  Dm             G         Am   Am/B   Am/C   Am/D
I thought that I heard you sing.
Am F                 F   Dm G   Am    G
I  think I thought I saw    you try.

<B>[LINK]B>

Here you can play the mandolin fill or just the chords.

    Am                      G
e| -12-12-12-10-10-10-10-10- 8- 8- 8- 5- 5- 5- 5- 5- |
B| ------------------------------------------------- |
G| ------------------------------------------------- |
D| ------------------------------------------------- |

    F                       G
e| -12-12-12-10-10-10-10-10- 8- 8- 8- 5- 5- 5- 5- 5- |
B| ------------------------------------------------- |
G| ------------------------------------------------- |
D| ------------------------------------------------- |

    C               D
But that was just a dream,
C               D
That was just a dream.

<B>[CHORUS]B>
                 Am
That's me in the corner,
                 Em
That's me in the spotlight
            Am
Losing my religion.
          Em
Trying to keep up with you.
      Am
And I don't know if I can do it.
Em                      Dm
   Oh no, I've said too much,
                G
I haven't said enough.

<B>[BRIDGE]B>
  G                        F
I thought that I heard you laughing,
  Dm             G         Am   Am/B   Am/C   Am/D
I thought that I heard you sing.
Am F                 F   Dm G   Am   Am/B   Am/C   Am/D   Am
I  think I thought I saw    you try.
    F               Dm   G
But that was just a dream,
Am   Am/B   Am/C   Am/D   Am
Try, cry,   why,   try.
F                      Dm G      Am            G
That was just a dream,    just a dream, just a dream, dream.

[OUTRO]
This is the mandolin outro played over Am on the guitar.

  Am
    >        >              x7
e| -12-12-12-12-12-12-12-12- | -12-10-------10---------- | ---- |
B|:-------------------------:| -------13-10----13-10-13- | -10- |
G| ------------------------- | ------------------------- | ---- |
D| ------------------------- | ------------------------- | ---- |
A|:-------------------------:| ------------------------- | ---- |
E| ------------------------- | ------------------------- | ---- |