Youthanasia - Megadeth

"Youthanasia" by Megadeth (Youthanasia, 1994)

Key: G Minor
Tuning: Eb Standard (Eb Ab Db Gb Bb Eb, half-step down, standard for Megadeth’s Youthanasia)
Chords Used: Gm, Bb, F, Cm, Eb, D, G5, Bb5, F5, C5, Eb5, D5 (power chords for riffs)
Note: Chords are placed above lyrics to align with vocal phrasing. Use a mid-tempo thrash/rock strumming pattern (e.g., downstrokes on eighth notes). The intro riff is critical for the song’s vibe. If in standard tuning, transpose chords up a half-step (G#m, B, F#, C#m, E, D#). Listen to the album for precise timing (~104 BPM, per Songsterr).

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Intro
(Sample: “I’m not going to tell you what to do…”)
G5 Bb5 F5 C5 (x2, with riff)
(Guitar 1 plays riff, Guitar 2 plays power chords)

Intro Riff (Guitar 1, Eb tuning, simplified from Songsterr):

Eb|-------------------|-------------------|
Bb|-------------------|-------------------|
Gb|-------------------|-------------------|
Db|--5----------------|--5----------------|
Ab|--5----------------|--5----------------|
Eb|----3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3|----3-3-3-3-3-3-3-|
   PM---------------|    PM-------------|

Verse 1
Gm (3ºfret) Bb (1º fret)
Who’d believe with the way things are here
F Cm (3º fret)
We’d be going anywhere telling people how to live?
Gm Bb
Who’d believe we’d spend more shipping drugs and guns
F Cm
Than to educate our sons? Sorry, but that’s what they did

Refrain
Eb (6º fret) D
I can’t help but think, I can’t help but think
Eb D
I can’t help but think, someone’s forsaken you and me

Verse 2
Gm Bb
Luck deserted me and the truth beat out my brains
F Cm
Men rise on stepping stones of their selves to higher things
Gm Bb
I’ve stepped over lots of bodies on my way
F Cm
Thanks for the information, don’t need no more anything

Refrain
Eb D
I can’t help but think, I can’t help but think
Eb D
I can’t help but think, someone’s forsaken you and me

Chorus
Gm Bb
We are the damned of all the world with sadness in our hearts
F Cm
The wounded of the wars, we’ve been hung out to dry
Gm Bb
You didn’t want us anyway and now we’re making up our minds
F Cm
You tell us how to run our lives, we run for youthanasia

Solo 1 (Dave Mustaine)
Gm Bb F Cm (x2)

Refrain
Eb D
I can’t help but think, I can’t help but think
Eb D
I can’t help but think, someone’s forsaken you and me

Chorus
Gm Bb
We are the damned of all the world with sadness in our hearts
F Cm
The wounded of the wars, we’ve been hung out to dry
Gm Bb
You didn’t want us anyway and now we’re making up our minds
F Cm
You tell us how to run our lives, we run for youthanasia

Solo 2 (Marty Friedman)
Gm Bb F Cm (x2)

Outro
Gm Bb
We are the damned of all the world with sadness in our hearts
F Cm
The wounded of the wars, we run for youthanasia
(Repeat Gm, Bb, F, Cm, fade out with riff and “youthanasia” vocal ad-libs)