Beg Steal or Borrow – Ray LaMontagne

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Tuning: Half step down (Eb Ab Db Gb Bb Eb) confirmed across multiple sources. Standard chord shapes throughout — everything sounds a half step lower. No capo.

6 (low)Eb

5Ab

4Db

3Gb

2Bb

1 (high)Eb

🎸 Chord Shapes — Half Step Down · Shapes in D, sounds in C#

sounds Db · home

sounds B

sounds F#

sounds Ab · chorus lift

sounds E · chorus turn

All shapes are standard fingerings — the whole guitar sounds a half step lower. Tune to a tuner before every session.

🎵 Strum Pattern · Per Bar (4/4)

Beat1&2&3&4&

Main↓ ↓↑ ↑↓↑

Drive↓↓↑↓↑↓↑

↓ Down strum ↑ Up strum (light, treble)

Start with Main pattern for verses — loose and folky. Shift to Drive for chorus to push the energy. Ray often adds a percussive mute on beat 2 in heavier moments.

Intro / Outro feel

Sparse fingerpicking on D → C → G before the strum kicks in. Let the open strings ring. Listen to the recording for the specific figure — it's simple but signature.

🎻 Warm-Up: Chord Tone Arpeggios

Ascending & descending 4-note arpeggios — one chord per bar. Play slowly with even tone before each practice session.

D · F# · A

C · E · G

G · B · D

A · C# · E

F · A · C

🗺 Song Map

Intro

DCG

(fingerpicked, repeat)

Verse

DCGDCG

Are you gonna step into line…

Chorus

ACGDACGFFDCG

Beg steal or borrow…

Full Structure

Intro → V1 → Chorus → V2 → Chorus → Bridge → Chorus → Outro

Other Versions

Live on Letterman version shows how he adapts energy for a room — slightly slower, more dynamic space between phrases.

📄 Lyrics

♫ Lyrics & Song — Apple Music Web ♫ Live on Letterman

Apple Music shows synced lyrics as the song plays. Paste the full lyrics below for offline reference while practicing — saved automatically across sessions.

Speed 1.0×

So your home town's bringing you down
Are ya drowning in the small talk and the chatter
Or you gonna step into line like your daddy done
Punching the time and driving life's long ladder
You've been howling at the moon like a slack jawed fool
And breaking every rule they can throw on
But one of these days it's gonna be right soon
You'll find your legs and go and stay gone
Young man, full of big plans and thinking about tomorrow
Young man, going to make a stand
You beg, steal, you borrow
Ya beg, ya steal, ya borrow
Well all the friends that you knew in school
They used to be so cool now they just bore you
Well look at them now, already pulling the plow
So quick to take to grain like some old mule
Young man, full of big plans and thinking about tomorrow
Young man, going to make a stand
You beg, steal, you borrow
You beg, you steal, you borrow
Dreaming of the day
You're gonna pack your bags
Put the miles away
Oh, just grab your girl and go
Where no one knows you
What will all the old folks say?
So the home town's bringing you down
Are you drowning in the small talk and the chatter?
Or you gonna step into line like your daddy done
Punching the time and climbing life's long ladder
Young man, full of big plans and thinking about tomorrow
Young man, going to make a stand
You beg, steal, you borrow
You beg, you steal, you borrow

Personal lyric notes — phrasing, breath marks, delivery:

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📖 Story Behind It

From God Willin' & the Creek Don't Rise (2010), LaMontagne's first album made with a band — The Pariah Dogs. A departure from his solo records, leaning into a more earthy country-soul groove while keeping his voice front and center.

The album won the Grammy for Best Contemporary Folk Album, and Beg Steal or Borrow was nominated for Song of the Year. Thematically the song is about restlessness and the refusal to settle — the push against punching the clock and climbing the ladder just because your father did.

The half-step-down tuning gives LaMontagne's voice room to sit in its natural lower register without straining — a reminder that his tuning choices are always in service of the vocal, not technique for its own sake.

Your notes — personal connection to this song:

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🎯 Performance Notes

→Tune to a tuner before every session — half step down drifts. Get it right first, it changes the whole feel of the song.

→The D → C → G intro figure is the signature. Don't rush it. Let each chord breathe before the move. This is where the mood is set.

→Verse strumming should feel loose and slightly behind the beat. This song leans back. Don't push it forward.

→The chorus lift from D to A is the emotional turn — feel it before you play it. Let the A chord ring open and full.

→The F chord in the chorus is the surprise — it adds tension before resolving. Don't rush past it.

→Listen to the Letterman performance for the live arrangement — it shows how he adapts the energy for a room.

Practice log:

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🎛️ Looping Notes

L1L1 — Guitar rhythm loop: Record 4 bars of the D→C→G→A verse progression (sounds C#→B→F#→G# in half-step-down), Main strum pattern. Loose and folky — no click, no drive. The loop should feel like a rocking front porch, not a grid.

L2L2 — Vocal melody: Loop one pass of the opening verse phrase at low volume. LaMontagne's vocal is breathy and close — match that intimacy with a light loop level.

L3L3 — Counter-line or open string: A single picked note or lightly touched open string held between changes. Less is more; leave space.

L4Performance: Sing all verses over loops. The song's arc is quiet → achingly quiet. Resist the urge to add layers. The loop should feel like it disappears under the vocal.

L5HeadRush — sync note: At ~90bpm, 4 bars ≈ 2.67s. Standard 4/4 sync. Record the loop with the lightest possible touch — the strum is barely there.

Looper session notes:

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📁 Practice & Performance Book · Michael Carlucci Added May 2026