December, 1963 (Oh What A Night!) | Chords + Lyrics
Intro
| N.C | N.C |
||: Db Ebm7 Db/F Gb | Gb Db/Ab Ab7sus2 Ab11 Ab7sus2 :||
Verse 1
||: Db Ebm7 Db/F Gb | Gb Db/Ab Ab7sus2 Ab11 Ab7sus2 :||
Oh, what a night. Late December back in ’63.
What a very special time for me, as I remember, what a night.
Oh, what a night, you know I didn’t even know her name.
But I was never gonna be the same, what a lady, what a night.
Bridge 1
| Ebm7 | Gb | Bbm7 | Ab6 |
Oh, I, I got a funny feeling when she walked in the room.
| Ebm7 | Gb | Ab6 Ab Ab6 Ab | Ab6 Ab |
And my, as I recall it ended much too soon.
Chorus 1
||: Db Ebm7 Db/F Gb | Gb Db/Ab Ab7sus2 Ab11 Ab7sus2 :||
Oh what a night, hypnotizing’, mesmerizing me.
She was everything I dreamed she’d be. Sweet surrender, what a night.
Instrumental 1
||: Bbm7 | Bbm7 Eb :||
Bridge 2
| Ebm7 | Db/F |
I felt a rush like a rollin’ ball of thunder.
| Gbmaj7 | Ab (Ab6) |
Spinning my head around and taking my body under. Oh, what a night.
Instrumental 2
||: Db Ebm7 Db/F Gb | Gb Db/Ab Ab7sus2 Ab11 Ab7sus2 :|| x4
Bridge 2
| Ebm7 | Gb | Bbm7 | Ab6 |
Oh, I, got a funny feelin’ when she walked in the room.
| Ebm7 | Gb | Ab6 Ab Ab6 Ab | Ab6 Ab |
And my, as I recall it ended much too soon. Oh, what a night.
Chorus 2
||: Db Ebm7 Db/F Gb | Gb Db/Ab Ab7sus2 Ab11 Ab7sus2 :||
Why’d it take so long to see the light?
Seemed so wrong, but now it seems so right. What a lady, what a night.
Instrumental 3
||: Bbm7 | Bbm7 Eb :||
Bridge 3
| Ebm7 | Db/F |
Oh I, felt a rush like a rollin’ ball of thunder.
| Gbmaj7 | Ab6 |
Spinnin’ my head around and takin’ my body under. Oh, what a night.
Outro
||: Db Ebm7 Db/F Gb | Gb Db/Ab Ab7sus2 Ab11 Ab7sus2 :||
Do-do-do, do-do-do. Do-do-do-do, oh what a night.
Do-do-do, do-do-do. Do-do-do-do-do-do, oh what a night.
Do-do-do, do-do-do. Do-do-do-do-do-do, oh what a night.
Do-do-do, do-do-do. Do-do-do-do-do-do, oh what a night.
December 1963’s chords, progressions, and TAB
Franki Valli got removed from lead vocal duties when The Four Seasons recorded their smash hit December, 1963 (Oh What A Night!).
Instead, the group’s drummer, Gerry Polci, took over and did a remarkably great job.
The high falsetto part for “And I felt a rush…” is not Franki either, that’s the bass player, Don Ciccone. But Franki wasn’t completely left out, he sang BV’s, and the bridge section.
You should study this remarkable song, only comparable to the band’s other monster hit Can’t Take My Eyes Off You, in great detail. The chords are pretty complex in both tunes, to say the least!
So complex, you may be looking at the chords for the intro/verse and think “Those look like piano chords to me, you can’t play that on the guitar!” And you’d be right, it would be (almost) impossible.
The guitar only plays a Db Major Pentatonic lick as the piano plays seemingly all the chords in the world.
However, if you play all those chords on just strings 2-4, ignoring the bass notes, it’s actually pretty easy.
Members get TAB for the main riff and once you’ve learned that, you’ll be able to work out the rest of the song, playing the chords, witht hat major pentatonic lick incorporated.
Here’s a link to the complete lesson (members only): December, 1963 (Oh What A Night!) chord analysis and TAB.
Become a member today and get unlimited access to all my guitar courses, the SEPR practice route, and the eBook Spytunes Method – You can learn guitar!
December 1963 chords | Related pages
Advanced Acoustic
The advanced acoustic tunes use big chord extensions and sometimes, unique and complex chords that incorporate open strings.
Study these in-depth and you will gain a complete understanding of the guitar fretboard, including how to build any scale, arpeggio, or chord.
Five similar tunes
- Build Me Up Buttercup chords
- Can’t Take My Eyes Off You chords
- I Can’t Help Myself chords
- Love Train chords
- Young Hearts chords
Franki Valli and the Four Seasons
The hugely successful musical Jersey Boys is based on the tunes by Franki Valli and the Four Seasons.
Hits include Sherry, Big Girls Don’t Cry, Silence Is Golden, Working My Way Back, December, 63 (Oh What a Night!), and Can’t Take My Eyes Off You.
Franki Valli and the Four Seasons on the web
Motown & Soul
You can learn how to play these Motown & Soul tunes, and in doing so, gain yourself a repertoire so you can jam with, or even join a working band.
Study these tunes in-depth and you will map out the fretboard, master the CAGED system, and learn how to design a rhythm guitar part that works in a band.
