Chords + Lyrics | Baby Love
Intro
| Dm | Bb | G G7 | C N.C | N.C |
Ooh-oh-oh.
Verse 1
| C | C7/Bb | A7 | Dm |
Baby love, my baby love, I need you, oh how I need you.
| Dm | C | F | C |
But all you do is treat me bad, break my heart and leave me sad.
| F | C | F C/E | Dm7 G |
Tell me, what did I do wrong? To make you stay away so long.
Verse 2
‘Cause baby love, my baby love, been missing ya, miss kissing ya.
Instead of breaking up, let’s do some kissing and making up.
Don’t throw our love away. In my arms why don’t you stay?
Solo
| C | C7/Bb | A7 | Dm |
Need ya, need ya, (baby love, oh-oh baby love).
| Dm | C | F | C |
| F | C | F C/E | Dm7 G |
Verse 3
(Baby love), my baby love, why must we separate, my love?
All of my whole life through. I never loved no one but you.
| F | C | F C/E | Dm7 G | Db | Db |
Why you do me like you do? I get this need. Oh, oh.
Verse 4 (key change)
| Db | Db7/B | Bb7 | Ebm |
Need to hold you, once again, my love. Feel your warm embrace, my love.
| Ebm | Db | Gb | Db |
Don’t throw our love away, please don’t do me this way.
| Gb | Db | Gb Db/F | Ebm7 Ab |
Not happy like I used to be, loneliness has got the best of me.
Verse 5
My love, my baby love, I need you, oh how I need you.
Why you do me like you do? After I’ve been true to you.
So deep in love with you, baby, baby (baby).
Outro
| Db | Db7/B | Bb7 | Ebm |
‘Til it’s hurtin’ me, ’til it’s hurtin’ me, baby love
| Ebm | Db | Gb | Db |
||: Don’t throw our love away (don’t throw our love away). :||
Baby Love Backing Tracks | Chord Analysis
Above, you’ll find backing tracks to use when learning Baby Love. I’ve used stem separation 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 446Hz. In the backing tracks, I’ve done this job for you by tuning it to 440Hz.
Chord Progressions – What’s Going On?
The chords in Baby Love create an initial sense of ambiguity about the key centre. Starting with Dm – Bb – G, and a quick G7 resolving to C, we could be in F major, with G acting as the IIx chord. Alternatively, we could be in C major, where Bb functions as a bVIIx chord.
Verse
As the verse begins, the progression moves through C – C7/Bb – A7 – Dm. The key remains ambiguous here as well, though it begins to lean towards F major, with A7 functioning as the IIIx chord. Mid-verse, things settle slightly as the progression moves between Dm, C, and F—VI – V – I in F major.
Interestingly, the lyrics at this point mirror the musical uncertainty: phrases such as “all you do is treat me bad”, “breaking up”, “break my heart”, “I never loved no one but you”, and “don’t throw our love away” highlight the tension and contrast that make the song so compelling.
After roughly two and a half verses, a solo appears, followed by another verse and a semitone key change.
In the TAB below, we cover two areas of the neck, adapt to the key change, and even play the sax solo on guitar.
Once you’ve mastered the TAB, this chord chart is all you need to play along with the original recording.
Baby Love Chord Chart | PDF + iReal Pro Download
If you’d like to download the chart, here’s the PDF: Baby Love chord chart PDF.
This chart was created using iRealPro. Here’s a link to that file: Baby Love iReal Pro.
Using the iRealPro app, you can easily change the key at the last minute—perfect for when your dramatic singer insists they shouldn’t be performing due to a cold.
Baby Love | TAB
Starting with the intro, you need to decide whether to play held chords, on-the-beat strums, or a combination of the two.
Intro
Here’s the first idea: simply hold each chord until the G7 and C.
To play on every beat instead, it looks like this:
If you’re lucky enough to have fired the keys player, you could combine the two parts like this:
Verse
When the verse kicks in, hold your position and don’t get too fancy. Notice how the Dm falls on the upbeat—you don’t mute it, as there’s no chord change.
Next, play all of this in a different area of the neck so you can improvise your rhythm part. I’ve also included the key change at the end here.
Before tackling the new key, let’s work out the solo in the original key.
Solo
Here’s the sax solo adapted for guitar. I love working out sax solos—check out that lick over A7 – Dm, so cool!
Key change
Here’s the verse in the new key.
Your final challenge is to play this new key starting with an E shape for the Db. Can you do it without the TAB?
When you feel comfortable, play along with The Supremes in my backing tracks above, using only the chord chart a a guide.
Baby Love was Motown’s first #1
Written by Holland-Dozier-Holland, performed by The Supremes, and backed by the house band The Funk Brothers, Baby Love was released in 1964. It quickly reached #1 in both the U.K. and the U.S., marking The Supremes’ and Motown’s first chart-topping single.
This success prompted Berry Gordy to focus all his attention on the group, setting the stage for a very busy schedule for what would become the most successful American vocal group of all time.
Baby Love is featured on The Supremes’ second album, which also includes another #1 hit, Where Did Our Love Go? Following this, the group released a Beatles covers album in 1964.
In 1965, they released a country and western album, a Sam Cooke tribute, and More Hits by The Supremes, which, ironically, contained only one hit: Stop! In the Name of Love. Before the year ended, they also managed to release a Christmas album. In total, The Supremes recorded six albums in just two years.
Baby Love Chords: Continue Learning
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