To Her Door by Paul Kelly

To Her Door is one of the best loved songs by Paul Kelly, released in September 1987 with his band The Coloured Girls, later renamed The Messengers.

One of Australia’s most adored songwriters, Kelly is often described as Australia’s Poet Laureate. He is renowned for his ability, through quite simple lyrics, to weave a strong emotional tale that deals with the beauty and struggles of everyday life. In his career that has spanned over 50 years, he has played with many different bands including The High Rise Bombers, The Dots, The Messengers, The Stormwater Boys, and The Stardust Five, all of which consisted of a variety of legendary Australian musicians from acts like The Divinyls and The Hoodoo Gurus, The Drones, Tim Rogers and the Temperance Union, The Richard Clapton Band, The Colin Hay Band, Kate Ceberano and the Ministry of Fun, Vika and Linda Bull, and his son Dan Kelly.

To Her Door tells the tale of a mans' journey through marriage, alcoholism, divorce and recovery, and ends on the verge of reconciliation with his family. In his book How To Make Gravy, Kelly notes that the entire story takes three and a half minutes and ends at the beginning. Kelly has said he may have subconsciously written about the same protagonist in Love Never Runs On Time in 1994 and How To Make Gravy in 1996.

The strong driving rhythm contrasts with the themes of loss and regret, and keeps the feel of the song upbeat and hopeful. The original version features a full band and beautiful piano melody that features heavily in the instrumental sections between verses. The strength of Kelly’s songwriting means that the song sounds great whether it is with a full band or solo on acoustic. We can capture some more of the original depth by adding a bass note at the start of every chord change.

The music video for To Her Door won the 1987 ARIA for best music video, watch it below.

Here is a chord sheet for the song I found on Ultimate Guitar... 

Watch the full lesson here...