What'll I Do

Words & Music by Irving Berlin, 1923
Recorded by Linda Ronstadt, 1983


Intro:

     C        Fdim        C       F
Gone is the romance that was so divine;

       C          G       C
'Tis broken and cannot be mended;

 C           Fdim        C        Gdim
You must go your way and I must go mine,

     Dm7        Cdim(IV)            G                    
But now that our love dreams have ended...


Melody:

G+        C       Fm      C    F
What'll I do when you are far away, 

    C     G               C     Cdim    G7
And I am blue, what'll I do?


           C      Fm    C     F
What'll I do when I am wondering

       C      G               C  C7
Who's kissing you, what'll I do?


Bridge:

           F       Dm     F      Fm7/6
What'll I do with just a pho-to-graph

    C       A7      D7     G7
To tell my troubles to?


          C          Fm     C       F
When I'm alone with only dreams of you

      C          G              C      C7
That won't come true, what'll I do?


(Instrumental interlude - 1 verse)


(Repeat Bridge)


(Repeat Last Verse)

Last time:

       C         G               C     Fdim    C
That won't come true, what'll I do?
This song has been a popular choice for use in films. It was featured in the "Music Box Revue Of 1923," in the 1938 film "Alexander's Ragtime Band," and in the 1948 film "Big City." Several ecorded versions charted in 1924 -- by Paul Whiteman (#1); Henry Burr and Marcia Freer (#4); Lewis James (#6); Vincent Lopez (#8); Carl Fenton (#10); and Irving Kauffman (#11). It charted again nearly a quarter-century later by Nat "King" Cole (#22) and Frank Sinatra (#23), both in 1948.


 
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.