Chords + Lyrics | Do You Love Me
Intro
| F | Bb | C | Dm |
You broke my heart, ‘cause I couldn’t dance, you didn’t even want me around.
| C N.C | N.C | C |
And now I’m back, to let you know. I can really shake ’em down.
Chorus 1
||: F | Bb C :||
Do you love me? (I can really move).
Do you love me? (I’m in the groove).
Now do you love me? (Do you love me?)
| Bb | Bbm | C | C/E | C7/G | C7 N.C |
Now that I can dance (dance). Watch me now, hey!
Verse 1
| F | Bb C |
(Work, work) Ah, work it all baby.
| F | Bb C |
(Work, work) Well, you’re drivin’ me crazy.
| F | Bb C | F N.C | C7 N.C |
(Work, work) Just a little bit of soul now (work).
Bridge 1
||: F | Bb C :||
I can mash-potato (I can mash-potato).
And do the twist (I can do the twist).
Now, tell me baby (tell me baby).
Do you like it like this? (Do you like it like this?)
| C | C/E | C7/G | C7 |
Tell me (tell me), tell me.
Chorus 2
Do you love me? (Do you love me?)
Now, do you love me? (Do you love me?)
Now, do you love me? (Do you love me?)
Now that I can dance (dance), dance. Watch me now, hey!
Verse 2
| F | Bb C |
(Work, work) Ah, shake it up, shake it.
| F | Bb C |
(Work, work) Ah, shake ’em, shake ’em down.
| F | Bb C | F N.C | C7 N.C |
(Work, work) A little bit of soul now.
Verse 3 (as verse 1)
(Work) Ah, shake it, shake it baby.
(Work, work) Ah, you’re driving me crazy.
(Work, work) Ah, don’t get lazy (work).
Bridge 2
||: F | Bb C :||
I can mash-potato. (I can mash-potato).
I can do the twist (I can do the twist).
Well now tell me baby (Tell me, baby).
Do you like it like this? (Do you like it like this?)
| C | C/E | C7/G | C7 N.C C7 |
Tell me (tell me), tell me.
Chorus 3
Do you love me? (Do you love me?)
Do you love me? (Do you love me?)
Do you love me? (Do you love me?)
(Now, now, now)
Verse 4 (as verse 2)
(Work, work) I’m working hard baby.
(Work, work) Well, you’re driving me crazy.
(Work, work) And don’t you get lazy.
Verse 5 (as verse 2)
(Work) Ah, hey hey baby
(Work, work) Well, you’re driving me crazy
(Work, work) Oh, don’t get lazy (work).
Do You Love Me Backing Tracks | Chord Analysis
Above, you’ll find backing tracks to use when learning Do You Love Me. I’ve used stem-seperation to extract the guitar while keeping the drums, bass, keys, horns, and vocals intact.
After studying the chords and TAB, use my backing tracks to prepare for playing this tune with a band.
Should you want to play along with the original recording instead, you need to tune your guitar sharp to 442Hz. In the backing tracks, I’ve done this job for you by tuning it to 440Hz.
Chord Progressions – What’s Going On?
In the key of F, Do You Love Me is built around a classic I – IV – V progression: F – Bb – C, with the C occasionally played as C7.
Two standout moments define the song. First, the IV – IVm change (Bb – Bbm) during “now that I can dance…”. Second, the build-up “tell me, tell me…”, which is played over a C chord, though adding bass notes /E and /G enhances the backing vocals.
The trickiest part is the intro, played in free time. The guitar tremolo melody is accompanied by the piano outlining F – Bb – C – Dm.
Beyond these relatively simple chords, the song includes numerous stops, which can be unpredictable. Having played Do You Love Me (and watched other bands perform it) countless times, I can safely say that no one follows the original arrangement exactly. Bands typically use the stops as a way to interact with the audience, adjusting them according to the singer’s cues.
To play Do You Love Me with a band, what you need are parts that work for the verse and chorus, as well as the tremolo-picked intro. This is best described using TAB, check out my suggestions further down this guitar lesson.
Berry Gordy wrote Do You Love Me for a dance craze (the Mashed Potato), so when performing, the priority should be getting people moving—not perfectly replicating every stop.
That said, it’s still useful to know where the stops occur. Here’s a chord chart I made for you, with the correct stops indicated. Wether they appear in the right place or not on your gig is a different story…
Do You Love Me Chord Chart | PDF + iReal Pro Download
You can download my chord chart for Do You Love Me as a PDF, or in iReal Pro format to use in your practice apps.
Do You Love Me | TAB
Before exploring the different ways to play Do You Love Me, let’s start with that iconic intro. Rather than notating rhythms, we indicate tremolo picking (fast picking) and which notes to play.
Intro
To memorise the notes, I think about the chord progression and the intervals I play. These are notated below each note for reference.
Chorus
After the energetic intro, we move straight into the chorus. You could play it like this:
Or try this variation:
Once you’ve learned both ideas, aim to create your own variations.
Verse
For the verse, the rhythm changes — it’s trickier than it looks!
When you can play all the TAB, try the backing tracks with the chord chart!
Was The Contours a One-Hit Wonder?
Berry Gordy originally wrote Do You Love Me for The Temptations, but after they passed on it, The Contours recorded the track and scored a massive hit, selling over a million copies.
Released in 1962, it was the band’s only major success, making them one of the earliest groups to be considered a one-hit wonder. However, they had an unusual second moment in the spotlight when Do You Love Me recharted in 1988, thanks to its inclusion on the Dirty Dancing soundtrack.
Does that make The Contours the only band to be a “double one-hit wonder”? And after seeing the robots dance in the third video of the playlist at the top of this page, could Do You Love Me become a triple one-hit wonder? That would certainly be a first!
Do You Love Me Chords: Continue Learning
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