How to Play Can’t You See

I got turned onto The Marshall Tucker Band by my best friend. My first of many passes through their catalog was fun, but then I heard one song and thought, “I need to know how to play this RIGHT! NOW!” It was Can’t You See, and it became something of an anthem for me at various campouts and bonfires. I imagine you’re here because this song inspired you just like it inspired me!

Today I’m going to teach you how to play Can’t You See including the chords to the song and the acoustic guitar introduction. Yes, there are some sweet guitar riffs that Toy Caldwell plays on his Les Paul, and I plan on making a future post or adding to this post to cover some of these in the future. For now, let’s figure out how to play the chords and work on the fingerstyle intro.

And if you wanted to learn more about the song and show off how much musical history you know, check out Can’t You See’s Wikipedia page! I always learn something new when I start reading a song’s wiki page!

The Chords

This is a 3 chord song, which makes it perfect for a beginner to strum and sing along to. It makes use of a D chord, a C2 chord, and a G chord. To put this in Nashville numbers, the song is in the key of D and follows a I-VII-IV (1-7-4) progression. It’s really interesting because if the song happened to be in the key of G, you would have the same chords in a I-IV-V (1-4-5) progression which is constantly found in pop, country, and rock music. It makes me wonder if The Marshall Tucker band knew what they were doing theory wise, or if they just played the 1-4-5 progression backward and thought, “Hey man, that sounds really good!”

Here are the chords diagrams for the song so you can start working on getting these memorized!

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The Acoustic Guitar Intro

Learning how to play Can’t You See’s acoustic guitar introduction is challenging, and I would recommend this for intermediate and advanced guitarists. I’ve watched a number of videos that get the feel and style of this lick, but I have yet to come across one that has the riff note for note. Check out the tablature below and the Youtube video! I will briefly walk you through the chords, and then we will dissect the acoustic guitar intro note by note so you can hear each part.

Lyrics!

Let’s take the chords we learned, combine this some lyrics, and get strumming!

D………………………………………….C2

I’m gonna take a freight train, down at the station

G……………………………D

I don’t care where it goes

D…………………………………………C2

Gonna climb me a mountain, the highest mountain

G…………………………………………….

Jump off, nobody gonna know

D………………………C2

Can’t you see oh can’t you see

…………..G………………………………………..D

What that woman, she been doin’ to me

D………………………C2

Can’t you see oh can’t you see

…………..G………………………………………..D

What that woman, she been doin’ to me

D………………………..C2……………………..

I’m gonna find me a hole in the wall

G………………………………………..

I gonna crawl inside and die

D…………………………….C2……………………………..G………………………………….D

‘Cause my lady now, mean ol’ woman lord, never told me goodbye

D………………………C2

Can’t you see oh can’t you see

…………..G………………………………………..D

What that woman, she been doin’ to me

D………………………C2

Can’t you see oh can’t you see

…………..G………………………………………..D

What that woman, she been doin’ to me

D……………………………………….C2………………….

I gonna buy me a ticket now, as far as I can

G………………………………D

Ain’t a-never comin’ back

D……………………………….

Ride me a Southbound

C2………………………………………..

All the way to Georgia now

G………………………………………..

Till the train run out of track

D………………………C2

Can’t you see oh can’t you see

…………..G………………………………………..D

What that woman, she been doin’ to me

D………………………C2

Can’t you see oh can’t you see

…………..G………………………………………..D

What that woman, she been doin’ to me

That’s It!

Oh yeah! You just learned how to play Can’t You See by the Marshall Tucker Band! Start practicing and keep learning!

Similar Beginner Songs

If you enjoyed this lesson, you should check out Willin’ by Little Feat! Willin’ features similar chords and is another great song to strum along with.

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And if you struggled with any part of this lesson, reach out and let me know! I’d be happy to help you work through one part or another!