Chords + Lyrics | Dancing In The Moonlight (It’s Caught Me In Its Spotlight)
Intro
| Em Em7 | D | C G/B | G (Gsus4) |
| Em Em7 | D | C G/B | G N.C | N.C |
Verse 1
||: Em Em7 | D | C G/B | G (Gsus4) :||
When I passed you in the doorway, well, you took me with a glance.
I should’ve took that last bus home, but I asked you for a dance.
Now we go steady to the pictures, I always get chocolate stains on my pants.
And my father, he’s going crazy, he says I’m livin’ in a trance.
Chorus 1
| Em Em7 | D | C G/B | G (Gsus4) |
But I’m dancing in the moonlight, it’s caught me in its spotlight (it’s alright, alright).
| Em Em7 | D | C G/B | G N.C | N.C |
Dancing in the moonlight, on this long, hot summer night.
Verse 2
It’s three o’clock in the morning, and I’m on the streets again.
I disobeyed another warning, I should’ve been in by ten.
Now I won’t get out until Sunday, I’ll have to say I stayed with friends.
Oh, but it’s a habit worth forming, if it means to justify the end.
Chorus 2
Dancing in the moonlight, it’s caught me in its spotlight (it’s alright, alright).
Dancing in the moonlight, on this long, hot summer night.
Verse 3 (breakdown)
||: Em | D | C5 G/B | G (Gsus4) :|| x3
And I’m walking home, the last bus has long gone.
Chorus 3 (short)
| Em | D | C5 G/B | G N.C | N.C |
But I’m dancing in the moonlight.
Solo
||: Em Em7 | D | C G/B | G (Gsus4) :|| x4
Outro
||: Em Em7 | D | C G/B | G (Gsus4) :||
Dancing in the moonlight, it’s caught me in its spotlight (it’s alright, it’s alright).
Dancing in the moonlight, on this long, hot summer night.
Dancing in the moonlight (I’m dancing in the moonlight) it’s caught me in its spotlight (it’s caught me in its spotlight).
Dancing in the moonlight (dancing in the moonlight), on this long, hot summer night (it’s got me hot).
Dancing in the moonlight (I’m dancing in the moonlight), it’s caught me in its spotlight (it’s caught me alright, alright).
Dancing in the moonlight (alright, alright, alright, alright, alright), on this long, hot summer night (got so goddamn hot).
Dancing in the moonlight (I’m dancing), it’s caught me in its spotlight (I’m still dancing).
Dancing in the moonlight (I’m dancing in the moonlight), on this long, hot summer night.
Dancing in the Moonlight Backing Tracks | Chord Analysis
Above, you’ll find backing tracks to use when learning Dancing in the Moonlight. 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.
Chord Progressions – What’s Going On?
||: Em (VI) | D (V) | C (IV) | G (I) :||
However, to truly capture the feel, you need to include some extensions—and, most importantly, that iconic bass line!
I recommend starting with the bass line first, then adding the chords.
To do this, you’ll need TAB, find it further down this guitar lesson. The TAB focus on blending the bass line with the chords, creating a full acoustic guitar part.
Master this, and you’ll be able to play the tune solo or seamlessly fit into a band, having a full understanding of its structure.
Dancing In The Moonlight Chord Chart | PDF + iReal Pro Download
At first, this song seems easy, as it’s essentially the same chords on repeat. However, the arrangement introduces some unexpected twists.
Using the chart above, along with the chords and lyrics, you’ll quickly work out what happens from the breakdown verse to the end, where things start to get more complex.
If you’d like to download the chart, here’s a PDF: Dancing in the Moonlight (It’s Caught Me in Its Spotlight) chord chart PDF.
This chord chart was created using iReal Pro—here’s a link to that file: Dancing in the Moonlight (It’s Caught Me in Its Spotlight) iReal Pro.
With the iRealPro app, you can change the key, but if you’re playing solo, this will be quite challenging.
Dancing In The Moonlight | TAB
Let’s start with the bass line and then build a bunch of acoustic guitar parts from it to understand this tune.
Here’s the bass line for the intro/chorus. Later, this is simplified.
I’ve added chords above just for reference—perhaps try adding them yourself before you look below.
Make sure you can play along with the backing track. As mentioned, the bass line is simplified for the verse. For the chorus, it’s the same, it just stops on the last G.
Here’s what I reckon you should play for the verse or chorus if you want to play a lot. Notice how I’m including the notes and rhythm of the bass line.
Here’s a simplified version—perhaps use this for the verse and the previous one for the chorus.
Finally, here’s an idea for the breakdown verse.
When you can play all three examples with the backing tracks, stop staring at this and see if you can blend the parts naturally, eventually turning elements of this into an electric guitar part.
This is not the Toploader or King Harvest song
Thin Lizzy’s Dancing in the Moonlight (It’s Caught Me in Its Spotlight) is completely different from Toploader’s cover of the old King Harvest hit.
Released a few months before the album Bad Reputation (1977), Dancing in the Moonlight (It’s Caught Me in Its Spotlight) came out as a single. It performed reasonably well in the U.K. and Canadian charts and has only grown in popularity over the years. Still played on the radio today, it has also featured in several adverts.
A guest artist appears on this track—Supertramp’s John Helliwell plays the saxophone.
For the working guitarist, there’s one challenge—which song does the singer mean when they call out: “Let’s play Dancing in the Moonlight!”
The best advice? Learn both—and be ready for half the band to start playing the wrong one!
Dancing In The Moonlight (It’s Caught Me In Its Spotlight) Chords: Continue Learning
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