The Man That Got Away

Words & Music by Harold Arlen & Ira Girshwin 1953
Recorded by Judy Garland**, 1953
Written for the 1954 movie "A Star Is Born"


A    D   Cdim A            D        Fdim         A
The night is bitter, the stars have lost their glitter;

     Bm   Cdim   A         Bm   Fdim       A
The winds grow colder, and suddenly you're older,

    D   Em    F#m  Em      D   Em  F#m A    G    Gdim
And all be - cause of the man that got a - way.

   Em7             A7       Bm       Edim     A
No more his eager call, the writing's on the wall;

     Em          A          Em7 Edim    D   Em7  DM7  Em7
The dreams you dreamed have all gone astray.


     D  Cdim A            D      Fdim    A
The man that won you has gone off and undone you.

     Bm   Cdim   A              Bm     Fdim   A
That great be - gin - ning has seen the final inning.

        D  Fdim F#m      Em       D  Em  F#m A    B7
Don't know what happened -- it's all a  cra - zy game!

   Em7                 A7/9       D6           Edim       B7
No more that all-time thrill, for you've been through the mill -

    G     G/F#   E7       A7/6 Edim     D
And never      a new love will  be the same.

Bridge:

 D    Em7       D   Gdim         C7      B7         E7 A7/9
Good riddance, good-bye!  Ev'ry trick of his you're on  to.

      D6   Em7 F#m  B7         D9    Em7 Fdim A7
But, fools will be fools, and where's he gone to?


     D  Cdim  A             D          Fdim    A
The road gets rougher, it's lone - li - er and tougher.

     Bm  Cdim  A          Bm   Fdim     A
With hope you burn up, tomorrow he may turn up.

        D  Fdim F#m   Em      D   Em   F#m    A  B7
There's just no letup    the live-long night and day!

      G          Em7     A7sus4  Edim     D      F#7    B7 
Ever since this world be - gan, there is nothing sadder than

   G5  G6/F# A7/6  Em7     G5     G6/F#    A7/6 Edim
A one - man  woman looking for the man that got  a - way,

    A7   G/B  A  Edim  Dalt  Cdim(IV) A7(V) A7 Dalt
The man that got   a - way.


*Suggested by recent visitor Paul Edmond.

**A tip of the hat is also well deserved by Barbra Streisand's 1994 concert version, which is also exceptional.


 
 


The lyric and guitar chord transcriptions on this site are the work of The Guitarguy and are intended for private study, research, or educational purposes only. Individual transcriptions are inspired by and based upon the recorded versions cited, but are not necessarily exact replications of those recorded versions.