A Night To Remember | Chords + Lyrics
Intro
| Dm7 | Am7 | Cm7 F7 | Bbmaj7 |
| Dm7 | Am7 | Cm7 F7 | Bbmaj7 N.C |
Verse 1
| Bbmaj7 | Am7 |
When you love someone, it’s natural, not demanding.
| Bbmaj7 | Am7 |
And that’s one thing I’m proud to say I’ve found in you.
| Bbmaj7 | Am7 |
I’m so glad we reached an understanding.
| Bbmaj7 Bm7b5 | C | C |
Now I know my heart is safe with you, ooh.
| Ebmaj7 F7 Cm7 | Bbmaj7 |
So now my love to you, baby, I surrender.
Chorus 1
| Dm7 | Am7 |
Get ready, tonight.
| Cm7 F7 | Bbmaj7 |
Gonna make this a night to remember.
| Dm7 | Am7 |
Get ready, oh, baby, tonight.
| Cm7 F7 | Bbmaj7 N.C |
Gonna make this a night to remember.
Verse 2
| Bbmaj7 | Am7 |
Celebrations in the heart ’cause we’re united.
| Bbmaj7 | Am7 |
And there’s nothing in this world to come between me and you.
| Bbmaj7 | Am7 |
We’re together, and it keeps me so excited.
| Bbmaj7 Bm7b5 | C | C |
To think of what the power of love can do, ooh.
| Ebmaj7 F7 Cm7 | Bbmaj7 |
And I’m filled with a love that’s, oh, so tender.
Chorus 2
| Dm7 | Am7 |
Get ready (baby), tonight (girl).
| Cm7 F7 | Bbmaj7 |
I’m gonna make this a night to remember.
| Dm7 | Am7 |
Get ready (get ready), tonight.
| Cm7 F7 | Bbmaj7 |
I’m gonna make this a night to remember.
Chorus 3
| Db Eb | Bmaj7 | Bbm7 |
Make this a night to remember. Get ready, tonight.
| Dbm7 Gb7 | Bmaj7 |
Gonna make this a night to remember.
| Ebm7 | Bbm7 |
Get ready, (get ready) tonight.
| Dbm7 Gb7 | Bmaj7 |
Gonna make this a night to remember.
Instrumental
| Ebm7 | Bbm7 | Dbm7 Gb7 | Bmaj7 |
Chorus 4
| Ebm7 | Bbm7 |
This night you won’t forget.
| Dbm7 Gb7 | Bmaj7 |
Gonna make this a night to remember.
| Ebm7 | Bbm7 |
‘Cause your love I won’t regret.
| Dbm7 Gb7 | Bmaj7 N.C |
Gonna make this a night to remember.
Middle 8
| Bmaj7 | Bbm7 |
Let’s make a toast to those who helped make this occasion.
| Bmaj7 | Bbm7 |
They turned their back on love, and that’s what drove you straight to me.
| Bmaj7 | Bbm7 |
Now to you I make a lasting dedication.
| Bmaj7 Cm7b5 | Db | Db |
I’ll show you all that love and life can be, ooh.
| Emaj7 Gb7 Dbm7 | Bmaj7 |
And each day that I live I will deliver.
Chorus 5
| Ebm7 | Bbm7 |
Get ready (this night you won’t forget), tonight.
| Dbm7 Gb7 | Bmaj7 |
Gonna make this a night to remember.
| Ebm7 | Bbm7 |
Get ready (‘cause your love I won’t regret), tonight.
| Dbm7 Gb7 | Bmaj7 |
Gonna make this a night to remember.
Chorus 6
| Ebm7 | Bbm7 |
Get ready, baby, tonight, darling.
| Dbm7 Gb7 | Bmaj7 |
Gonna make this a night to remember.
| Ebm7 | Bbm7 |
Get ready (it won’t be like the past), tonight (I will make it last).
| Dbm7 Gb7 | Bmaj7 |
Gonna make this a night to remember.
A Night To Remember’s chords and progressions
Let’s take a look a the chords for each section of A Night To Remember, they’ve really managed to squeeze the most out of them! Starting with the intro, which later becomes the chorus, looks like this.
||: Dm7 | Am7 | Cm7 F7 | Bbmaj7 :||
We are in the key of Bb here, starting on chord III and then an unexpected Am7, which should really have been a min7b5 as it’s chord VII. Swiftly moving on, we have an obvious II – V – I in Cm7 – F7 – Bbmaj7.
Clearly, the Am7 is the standout chord. It makes it feel as if we’re in both the key of F with Dm7 being VI and Am7 being III. As well as in the key of Bb, Dm7 being III and Am7 being a modified VII.
Microscopic changes like this are what give meaning to the saying “familiarity with a twist”.
Let’s now look at the verse. First, we go between what I can only describe as IV – III in the key of F. Nowhere else do we find a maj7 chord, with a min7 a semitone below.
||: Bbmaj7 | Am7 :|| x3
This s followed by Bbmaj7 – Bm7b5 – C. We must here see the Bbmaj7 as chord IV and C as V so still in the key of F. The Bm7b5 is just a passing chord, it’s not chord VII.
Finally, we go back to the key of Bb as the chords move like this:
| Ebmaj7 F7 Cm7 | Bbmaj7 |
That’s IV – V – II – I in the key of Bb.
By now, we’ve essentially played all chords A Night To Remember consists of, the rest is just arrangement tricks!
Start off with a key change that looks like this:
| Db Eb | Bmaj7 | Bbm7 | Dbm7 Gb7 | Bmaj7 |
That Bmaj7 is a reharmonized Ebm7 which helps with the key change.
Next, we play the chorus a semitone up, like this.
||: Ebm7 | Bbm7 | Dbm7 Gb7 | Bmaj7 :||
This is followed by an instrumental and breakdown chorus, staying on the same chords.
Next, we actually go back to the verse again, although in the new key, like this.
||: Bmaj7 | Bbm7 :|| x3
| Bmaj7 Cm7b5 | Db | Db |
| Emaj7 Gb7 Dbm7 | Bmaj7 |
| Ebm7 | Bbm7 | Dbm7 Gb7 | Bmaj7 |
Finally, we go back to a chorus and play to fade.
||: Ebm7 | Bbm7 | Dbm7 Gb7 | Bmaj7 :||
To summarise, A Night To Remember’s chords are both in the keys of F and Bb, we then move up a semitone, and now both sections are in the keys of Gb and B.
A Night To Remember gave Michael Jackson the moonwalk
In 1982, Shalamar released A Night To Remember as a single on their 6th album Freinds. Seemingly not caring about the idea that Disco by now should be dead, it has been described as post-Disco.
The song did reasonably well in the charts, had it been released three or four years earlier, it would probably have been a worldwide hit.
In 1982, on Top Of The Pops in the U.K, a year before Michael Jackson would famously do it as he performed Billie Jean for the first time, Jeffrey Daniel did the Moonwalk. Check the video above at 2:00.
Apparently, Jeffrey taught Micahel how to do it! Saying he invented it would be taking it a bit far though as this dance move goes back to the 1930s.
Should you play in a band that wants people to dance, A Night To Remember is a great, unexpected choice. The chords are really great for this unexpected floor filler as well so lots of fun to be had.
What I really want to know is, will you moonwalk as you play A Night To Remember’s chords?
A Night To Remember chords | Related pages
Five similar tunes
- Best Of My Love chords
- Everybody Dance chords
- I Feel For You chords
- Never Too Much chords
- Stayin’ Alive chords
Shalamar
A vocal and dance group that started out during the Disco era, Shalamar is famous for teaching Michael Jackson to Moonwalk.
Their biggest hit was, without a doubt A Night To Remember, incidentally the song where they showcased the moonwalk that got Michael’s attention.
Shalamar on the web
Dance, Disco & Funk
