[Verse 1]

There’s a silence in the city
There’s nobody around
And everyone that we knew
Moved to higher ground

There’s a shadow hanging overhead
It lingers there alone
Changing all we ever knew
The changes start to show

There’s a sorrow[Fm7/C]
About to fall[Fm7/C]
There’s a sorrow[Fm7/C]
About to fall[Fm7/C]

[Verse 2]

There’s a new sound in the wires
And ears are to the ground
And everything that once was ours
Has slowly turned around

Something happened to the seasons
Started falling with the rain
And something changed forever
We gotta find a way

There’s a sorrow[Fm7/C]
About to fall[Fm7/C]
There’s a sorrow[Fm7/C]
About to fall[Fm7/C]

[Instrumental]

Cm Bb6 Fm7 x3

[Verse 3]

There’s people in the photographs
But they all had to run
They went away to somewhere
Beyond the setting sun

Cause there’s a sorrow[Fm7/C]
About to fall[Fm7/C]
There’s a sorrow[Fm7/C]
About to fall[Fm7/C]
Yeah, there’s a sorrow[Fm7/C]
About to fall[Fm7/C]
Well, there’s a sorrow[Fm7/C]
About to fall[Fm7/C]

Cm Bb6 Fm7 x4

Sorrow about to fall
Fall fall fall
Sorrow about to fall

Cm Bb6 Fm7 x2

Sorrow about to fall
Sorrow about to fall

So Serious
Electric Light Orchestra
from “Balance of Power”

Notes: on the “serious, so serious” ending to the chorus, skip the last
bar and immediately start into the next verse with the C-chord.

Riff 1 Riff 2 Riff 3

e ———— e ———— e —————–
B ———— B ———— B —————–
G ———— G ———— G —0————-
D ———— D -3–2–0—- D -3—3-2-0-2-0—
A -5–3–2–0- A ———-3- A —————3-
E ———— E ———— E —————–

(triplet feel) (8th note run) (16th note run)

Verse:
C G (riff 1)
Night after night
I try to make it all fit together
C G (riff 1)
Night after night
I see you as someone I remember

Pre-Chorus:
You took me by surprise
Opened up my eyes
F (riff 2)
Now we gotta talk this over.

Chorus:
Can it really be so serious?
To be all broken up and delirious
I guess we’ve really been out of touch
But can it really be so serious?
(Serious, so serious)

Verse (same as first verse):
Day after day
I know it’s not the way that you wanted it
Day after day
I try to find the key, but it don’t fit

Pre-Chorus:
But you know how it is
No matter what I did
We gotta talk it over. (riff 3 instead of riff 2)

Chorus:
Can it really be so serious?
To be all broken up and delirious
I guess we’ve really been out of touch
But can it really be so serious?
(Serious, so serious)

Verse:
Tonight, tonight
I’m thinking over everything you said to me
Tonight, tonight
I’m sorry, but I just didn’t see

Pre-Chorus:
And now it’s up to you
There’s nothing else to do
We’ve gotta talk it over. (riff 3)

Chorus:
Can it really be so serious?
To be all broken up and delirious
I guess we’ve really been out of touch
But can it really be so serious?

Ending (use the Am-F-G-C progression from chorus):
Serious, so serious
Serious, so serious…