Crazy Little Thing Called Love | Chords + Lyrics
Intro
||: D (Dsus4) :|| x4
Verse 1
||: D (Dsus4) | D (Dsus4) | G | C G/B :||
This thing called love, I just can’t handle it.
This thing called love, I must get ’round to it.
Chorus 1
| D (Dsus4) | Bb C | D (Dsus4) | D N.C |
I ain’t ready, crazy little thing called love.
Verse 2
This thing (this thing) called love (called love). It cries (like a baby), in a cradle all night.
It swings (woo), it jives (woo). Shakes all over like a jellyfish.
Chorus 2
I kinda like it, crazy little thing called love.
Bridge 1
| G (G6) | G (G6) |
There goes my baby.
| C | G (G6) | Bb | Bb |
She knows how to rock and roll, she drives me crazy.
| E7 | A5 N.C | (D C# C) | (A G# G) | E7 | A5 N.C |
She gives me hot and cold fever, she leaves me in a cool, cool sweat.
Verse 3
I gotta be cool, relax, get hip, and get on my tracks.
Take a back seat, hitchhike, and take a long ride on my motorbike.
Chorus 3
Until I’m ready, crazy little thing called love.
Solo
| Bb | Bb | D | D |
| Bb | Bb | E7 | A N.C |
| (D C# C) | (A G# G) | E7 | A5 N.C |
Yeah
Verse 4
| N.C | N.C | N.C | N.C |
I gotta be cool, relax, get hip and get on my tracks.
| N.C | N.C | N.C | N.C |
Take a back seat, hitchhike, and take a long ride on my motorbike.
Chorus 5
| N.C | N.C | N.C | (A G F# E) |
Until I’m ready (ready Freddie), crazy little thing called love.
Verse 5
This thing called love, I just can’t handle it
This thing called love, I must get ’round to it.
Chorus 5 (as chorus 1)
I ain’t ready, crazy little thing called love.
Outro
||: Bb C | D (Dsus4) :|| x8
||: Crazy little thing called love (yeah, yeah) :|| x8
Crazy Little Thing Called Love Chords: Learn the progressions
Crazy Little Thing Called Love is in the key of D, and the D chord is where we start in the intro and verse.
This D chord is varied with the sus4 extension being added and taken away twice per bar. To avoid writing too many chords, I put the Dsus4 in brackets when writing the chords and lyrics above.
After this D chord riff, we move to chord IV (G) then bVIIx (C) a very Rock ‘N’ Roll chord. This is followed by a fast G/B before we’re back at D and Dsus4 again.
Here are all of Crazy Little Thing Called Love‘s verse chords:
| D (Dsus4) | D (Dsus4) | G | C G/B |
| D (Dsus4) | D (Dsus4) | G | C G/B |
To play this on the acoustic guitar without a band, or on the electric with a band will be different. You’ll need TAB to understand it, here’s a link to that part of the lesson: Crazy Little Thing Called Love – Guitar Lesson with TAB.
For the chorus, we move to Bb and C. This is a modal interchange, making us feel as if we are in the key of Dm temporarily, like this:
| D (Dsus4) | Bb C | D (Dsus4) | D N.C |
There’s TAB for both acoustic and electric available for this and all other sections of Crazy Little Thing Called Love as well (follow the link above).
The bridge is a mix between D major and D minor chords too as we have G, C, and Bb again. The final line of the bridge moves from E7 – A – D, a cycle of 4th movement taking us to D.
The chromatic bass line that follows, D C# C, and A G# G, is simply genius and creates yet another great memorable hook for the song.
Here are all of Crazy Little Thing Called Love’s bridge chords:
| G (G6) | G (G6) | C | G (G6) | Bb | Bb |
| E7 | A N.C | (D C# C) | (A G# G) | E7 | A5 N.C |
The bridge is the most sophisticated part of this tune, I’ve arranged an acoustic part which incorporates the bass line for you. You also get an electric part in TAB.
Once you’ve gone through all that TAB, a simple chord chart will be a good reminder, here’s one I made for you.
Crazy Little Thing Called Love Chord Chart | PDF + iReal Pro
Notice how I’ve written the chords differently depending on if with chords and lyrics, chord chart or TAB.
During the intro, with chords and lyrics, I put the Dsus4 in brackets, like this
||: D (Dsus4) :||
In the chord chart, it’s a Dadd4 only, indicating we have both the 3rd and sus4. This saves space and makes the chart less cluttered.
With TAB, you see all chords in the bar: D Dsus4 D Dsus4 D.
Should you want to download this chart, here’s a PDF: Crazy Little Thing Called Love Chord Chart PDF.
This chord chart was created using iReal Pro, here’s a link to that file: Crazy Little Thing Called Love iReal Pro. Using the app, you can change the key.
This may work using the electric in a band but on acoustic, you really do need it in the key of D.
Crazy Little Thing Called Love was the only song Freddie Mercury wrote on the guitar!
Crazy Little Thing Called Love is a single by Queen from the album The Game. Released in 1980 it became an integral part of the band’s live shows, being the only song Freddie would play guitar on.
Witten on the guitar by Mr. Mercury who is a great pianist but beginner/intermediate guitarist, it contained “only chords I knew” as he put it.
According to the man himself, he felt that being limited helped him write this simple song, as it restricted him. Freddie has also mentioned how it is a song that pays tribute to two of his heroes, Elvis and Cliff Richard.
Apparently, it took him only ten minutes to write, how long will it take you to learn Crazy Little Thing Called Love’s chords?
What makes this song is the simplicity of its writing, the great vocals, and the straightforward lyrics. However, without Brian May’s sophisticated licks, it wouldn’t have worked – so much for sticking to the basics!
Crazy Little Thing Called Love Chords | Related Pages
Crazy Little Thing Called Love
In this lesson, you get TAB for how to play Crazy Little Thing Called Love‘s verse, chorus, and bridge on both the acoustic and electric guitar.
| D (Dsus4) | D (Dsus4) | G | C G/B |
This thing called love, I just can’t handle it…
Five similar tunes | Chords + Lyrics
- Blue Suede Shoes chords by Elvis Presley
- Faith chords by George Michael
- Hooked On A Feeling chords by Blue Swede
- I’m A Believer chords by The Monkees
- Johnny B. Goode chords by Chuck Berry
Queen tunes
Formed in 1970 in London when Freddie Mercury added himself to the band Smile, Queen was destined for greatness, eventually selling 300 million albums.
Their impressive catalogue includes Bohemian Rhapsody, We Are The Champions, We Will Rock You, Don’t Stop Me Now, and Crazy Little Thing Called Love.
Queen on the web
About me | Dan Lundholm
This was a guitar lesson about Crazy Little Thing Called Love chords, by Dan Lundholm. Discover more about him and how you can learn guitar with Spytunes.
Most importantly, find out why you should learn guitar through playing tunes, not practising scales, and studying theory in isolation.
