Celluloid Heroes

The Kinks

Verse 1:

D	A	G	D
Everybody’s a	dreamer and	everybody’s a	star,

	F#m	Bm	G	A
And	everybody’s in	movies, it doesn’t	matter who you	are.

	Bm	F#m
There are	stars in every	city,

	G	A
in every	house and on every	street,

	C	G
and if you	walk down Hollywood	Boulevard

	A	D
their names are	written in con	crete.

Verse 2:

D	A	G	D
Don’t tread on Greta	Garbo as you walk	down the Boule	vard,

	F#m	Bm	G	A
She	looks so weak and	fragile that’s why she	tried to be so	hard.

	Bm	F#m	G	A
But they	turned her into a	princess and they	sat her on a	throne,

	C	G	A	D
but she	turned her back on	stardom, because she	wanted to be alon	e.

Chorus

	C	G	D
You can	see all the stars as you	walk down Hollywood	Boulevard.

C	G	D
Some that you recognise,	some that you’ve hardly even	heard of.

C	G	D
People who worked and	suffered, and struggled for	fame,

C	G	D
some who succeeded and	some who suffered in	vain.

Verse 3:

D	A	G	D
Rudolph Valen	tino, looks	very much al	ive,

	F#m	Bm	G	A
And he	looks up ladies’	dresses as they	sadly pass him	by.

	Bm	F#m	G	A
Avoid	stepping on Bela	Lugosi, cause he’s	liable to turn and	bite.

	C	G	A	D
But stand	close by Bette	Davis, because	hers was such a lonely	life.

Verse 4:

D	A	G	D
If you covered him with	garbage, George	Sanders would still have	style.

	F#m	Bm	G	A
And if you	stamped on Mickey	Rooney, he would	still turn round and	smile.

	Bm	F#m	G	A
But please don’t	tread on dearest	Marilyn, cause	she’s not very	tough.

	D	G
She	should have been made of	iron or steel,

	A	D
but she was	only made of flesh and	blood.

Chorus

	C	G	D
You can	see all the stars as you	walk down Hollywood	Boulevard

...

Verse 5:

D	A	G	D
Everybody’s a	dreamer and	everybody’s a	star,

	F#m	Bm	G	A
And	everybody’s in	show biz, it doesn’t	matter who you	are.

	Bm	F#m	G	A
And	those who are	successful, be	always on your	guard.

	C	G
Success	walks hand in hand with	failure,

	A	D
along	Hollywood Boule	vard.

Chorus Alt-1:

	C	G	D
I	wish my life was a	non-stop Hollywood	movie show,

	C	G	D
a	fantasy world of	celluloid villains and	heroes.

C	G	D
Because celluloid heroes	never feel any	pain,

	C	G	D
and	celluloid heroes	never really	die.

Chorus

	C	G	D
You can	see all the stars as you	walk along Hollywood	Boulevard.

C	G	D
Some that you recognise,	some that you’ve hardly even	heard of.

C	G	D
People who worked and	suffered, and struggled for	fame,

C	G	D
some who succeeded and	some who suffered in	vain.

Chorus Alt-2:

	C	G	D
La,	la, la, la, la, la, la,	la, la, la, la, la,	la, la.

	C	G	D
La,	la, la, la, la, la, la,	la, la, la, la, la,	la, la.

	C	G	D
Oh,	celluloid heroes	never feel any	pain,

	C	G	D
Oh,	celluloid heroes	never really	die.

Coda:

	C	G	D
I	wish my life was a	non-stop Hollywood	movie show,

	C	G	D
a	fantasy world of	celluloid villains and	heroes.

C	G	D
Because celluloid heroes	never feel any	pain,

	C	G	D
and	celluloid heroes	never really	die.