Some songs move into your brain in 1984 and simply never pay rent again. Limahl's "The Neverending Story" is one of them: that soaring chorus has been living rent-free in an entire generation of skulls for decades, and honestly, the title was a warning label the whole time.
So here's my little revenge on it — a fingerstyle chord-melody arrangement where one guitar plays both the famous melody and the chords underneath it at the same time. No synths, no Luck Dragon, no band. Just six strings pretending to be a whole 80s production, and yes, there are tabs if you want to steal it note for note.
How this chord-melody thing actually works
The whole trick of a MelodyChords arrangement is that the melody always lives on top — it has to be the highest-sounding note in every voicing, so your ear tracks it as "the tune" while everything below is just accompaniment. Your thumb takes the bass and the inner chord tones, your fingers pick out the melody, and the two happen in the same breath. The moment you bury the melody note in the middle of a chord, the whole illusion collapses and it just sounds like strumming.
The useful takeaway: before you play a bar, find the melody note first, then build the smallest chord shape you can underneath it that keeps that note ringing on top. You rarely need the full six-string cowboy chord — three or four notes with the melody on the high E or B string is plenty, and it keeps your left hand from turning into a pretzel. If you're not sure which notes are even in the tune, this is how I work them out by ear.
Is arranging an entire 80s power ballad for one guitar slightly unhinged? Yes. Did I do it anyway? Also yes — it is, after all, a neverending story. If you want the Guitar Pro file and the original videos, they live on my Patreon.