Contact Me
Pricing: $3.25ea | any 10 for $10 (use code "Any10410" at checkout) | $.50ea best deal
Paid Requests for $25ea (comes with any 8 freebies ... so 9 for $25)
100's Of Free Demos & Chord Sheets

Carefree Highway Chords
On The Acoustic

Welcome to my Carefree Highway chords page you'll find the lyrics to this song, a free pdf chords and lyrics sheet along with tutorial demos and a link to purchase full lessons in .mp4 format.

Carefree Highway Chords
Chords, Lyrics, Demo, Tutorial

"Carefree Highway" is a song created by Gordon Lightfoot and was the second single from his 1974 album, Sundown. This tune reached No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 and held the top spot on the Easy Listening chart for one week in October 1974.

The title of the song comes from a part of Arizona State Route 74 in north Phoenix. Lightfoot shared, "I thought it would make a good title for a song. I wrote it down, put it in my suitcase and it stayed there for eight months."

In the song, "Carefree Highway" is like a way of thinking where the singer wants to escape from thinking too much about a past relationship with a woman named Ann. Lightfoot revealed that Ann was the name of a woman he dated when he was 22 years old, describing it as one of those situations where you meet someone special who leaves a lasting impression and then says she's moving on.

Drop D Tuning: No
Capo: 2nd fret
Rhythm: down down up down up down up and repeat
Picking: a little in the rhythm
Chords: D, C, G, A7sus, A7, Gb, Bm, Bm/A, E7sus, E7

Little Known Facts About Carefree Highway

The album "Sundown", which this song hails from, won the Grammy Award for Best Album Notes in 1975.
The song is often considered to be autobiographical, with the "Carefree Highway" representing a nostalgic reflection on the past.

Carefree Highway Lyrics

The lyrics of "Carefree Highway" evoke a sense of longing and reflection, capturing a mood of looking back on a simpler and carefree time. The song is known for its poetic and introspective lyrics.

Picking up the pieces of my sweet shattered dream
I wonder how the old folks are tonight?
Her name was Ann and I'll be damned if I recall her face
She left me not knowing what to do

Carefree highway - let me slip away on you
Carefree highway - you've seen better days
The morning after blues - from my head down to my shoes
Carefree highway - let me slip away, slip away on you

Turning back the pages to the times I love best
I wonder if she'll ever do the same?
Now the thing that I call living is just being satisfied
With knowing I got no one left to blame

Carefree highway - I've got to see you my old flame
Carefree highway - you've seen better days
The morning after blues from my head down to my shoes
Carefree highway - let me slip away, slip away on you

Searching through the fragments of my dream shattered sleep
I wonder if the years have closed her mind?
I guess it must be wanderlust or trying to get free
From the good old faithful feeling we once knew

Carefree highway - let me slip away on you
Carefree highway - you've seen the better days
The morning after blues from my head down to my shoes
Carefree highway - Let me slip away, slip away on you

Let me slip away on you - Carefree highway
I've got to see you my old flame
Carefree highway - you've seen better days
The morning after blues - from my head down to my shoes
Carefree highway - let me slip away, slip away on you

Download the free Carefree Highway chords and lyrics sheet below.

Chords & Lyrics

Full tutorial and demo lesson avail for $3.25

Jump To Top

Carefree Highway Tips

This song for the most part has one rhythm pattern and that is a down down up down up down up and repeat. The exception is when you play the E chord which I explain in the video above you can change that pattern slightly.

The chords you'll need here are D, C, G, A7sus, A7, Gb, Bm, Bm/A and an E with an Esus also. There is a bit of a lead riff at the end of each chorus and if you'd like, you could play the same thing each time or you can modify it slightly each time.

In the full purchase tutorial I play a demo of the song where you'll see what I mean by slightly modifying the picking. But as I say, that's always optional.

Thanks for stopping by this Carefree Highway chords page and I hope the info here was useful and helpful.