How Little We Know

Words & Music by Johnny Mercer & Hoagy Carmichael, 1944
Recorded by Susannah McCorkle, 1977


AM7     Bm7-5         A6    Cdim
Maybe it happens this way,

AM7      Bm7-5      C#m7-5  F#7
Maybe we really be - long together,

     Bm7 Bm7-5  E7    Fdim      Bm7   Fdim
But after all,    how little we know.


AM7       Bm7-5        A6    Cdim
Maybe it's just for a day;

AM7       Bm7-5      C#m7-5  F#7
Love is as changeable as the weather,

     Bm7  Bm7-5  E7    Bm7-5     Fdim  Bm7-5  E7
And after all,     how little we know.

    E7-9         AM7    Edim   A6 Fdim      AM7   Cdim  AM7
Who knows why an April breeze      never remains?

    G#m7               C#7              F#    Gdim
Why stars in the trees     hide when it rains?

Em7         G/B   A7  A7+5       DM7      D6
Love comes along,     casting a spell --

         F#m            B7            
Will it sing you a song?  

        B9         E7     F7             E7
Will it say a farewell?  Who can tell?



AM7          Bm7-5        A6    Cdim
Maybe you're meant to be mine;

AM7      Bm7-5    C#m7-5   F#7          Bm7    Bm7-5  E7
Maybe I'm only supposed to stay in your arms a while,

   Bm7-5       Fdim    Bm7-5   E7
As others have done.

   E7-9           AM7    Edim  A6 E7-9      AM7 
Is this what I've waited for?      Am I the one?

E7     D9         Dm6            F#m
Oh, I hope in my heart that it's so,

    D9           Fdim  E7   A
In spite of how little we know.


Coda:  

   E7-9           AM7    Edim  A6 E7-9      AM7 C#7  F#7
Is this what I've waited for?      Am I the one?

       D9        Bm7-5           F#7
Oh, I hope in my heart that it's so,

    D9     Bm7-5 Fdim   E7  A6
In spite of how  little we know.



Hearing this song reinforced for me, once again, the tragedy of Susannah McCorkle. Her delivery may have been called unspectacular by some, but lyricists must have loved her -- her singing never got in the way of the words. Yet for all her success, chronic depression got the best of her and she took her own life.


 
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 and based upon the recorded versions cited, but are not necessarily exact replications of those recorded versions.