Ghost of a Chance

Background and Commentary

“I’ve always shied away from love songs and even mentioning the word in songs because it’s so much cliché, and until I thought that I’d found a new way to approach it, or a new nuance of it to express, I was not going to write one of those kind of songs. ‘Ghost of a Chance’ fit right in with my overall theme of randomness and contingency and so on, but at the same time it was a chance for me to write about love in a different way, of saying, ‘Here are all these things that we go through in life and the people we meet, it’s all by chance. And the corners we turn and the places we go and the people we meet there.’ All those things are so random and yet through all of that people do meet each other, and if they work at it they can make that encounter last. So I’m saying there’s a ghost of a chance it can happen, and the odds are pretty much against it, but at the same time that ghost of a chance sometimes does come through and people do find each other and stay together.” (Radio Special)—Neil in Merely Players

Neil calls “Ghost of a Chance” “one of our all-time good ones.” It reached number one on the U.S. rock radio chart in 1991.

Lyrics

Like a million little doorways
All the choices we made
All the stages we passed through
All the roles we played

For so many different directions
Our separate paths might have turned
With every door that we opened
Every bridge that we burned

Somehow we find each other
Through all that masquerade
Somehow we found each other
Somehow we have stayed
In a state of grace

I don’t believe in destiny
Or the guiding hand of fate
I don’t believe in forever
Or love as a mystical state
I don’t believe in the stars or the planets
Or angels watching from above
But I believe there’s a ghost of a chance we can find someone to love
And make it last

Like a million little crossroads
Through the back streets of youth
Each time we turn a new corner
A tiny moment of truth

For so many different connections
Our separate paths might have made
With every door that we opened
Every game we played

Somehow we find each other
Through all that masquerade
Somehow we found each other
Somehow we have stayed
In a state of grace

Tablature

Excerpted from Fretplay.

Riff A |————————————–|
————————————————-
————————————————-
–4–4–4—4—-4–4–4–4—–4——-4–4–4–
–0–2–0—2>3–2–0–2–0—–4——-0–3–0–
—————————–0–2—————-
————————————————-

Play riff A again

Verse;

p.m.————————————————————————|

———————————————0——————————
——–0———–0————0————–0——–0———–0——
—–4—–4—–4————————4———–4—–4—–4———
–2———–0—————4—–4–4———–2———–0————
———————–2————————————————2—
—————————————————————————-

p.m.———————————————————————-|

—————–0———————————————–0—–
—–0————–0——–0———–0———–0————–0–
————–4———–4—–4—–4—————–4————–
–4—–4————–2———–0————–4———–4——–
———–2——————————–2————–2———–
———————————————————————–

p.m.——————————————–|

—————————————–0—–
——–0———–0———–0———–0–
—–4—–4—–4—————–4———–
–2———–0————–4—————–
———————–2————–2——–

Play that section again, but let note ring.

Pre chorus is just the intro riff.

Chorus:

(clean)
–9————————————————————————–
–10————————————-2———————————–
–11————————————-2———————————–
–12————————————-4———————————–
—————————————————————————–
—————————————————————————–

For complete tab, go to Fretplay.