Disco Inferno | Chords + Lyrics
Intro
| (Eb Db B Ab) | (F-Gb Eb Db B C) |
||: Cm7 | Cm7 C7sus4 :||
Chorus 1
||: F | Bb | C | C :||
Burn baby burn. Burn baby burn.
Burn baby burn. Burn baby burn, burning!
Verse 1
||: Cm7 | Cm7 C7sus4 :||
To my surprise, listen, one hundred stories high.
People getting loose y’all, getting down on the roof. You hear.
Folks are screaming, out of control.
It was so entertaining when the boogie started to explode. I heard somebody say.
Chorus 2
(Burn baby burn) Disco Inferno. (Burn baby burn) Burn the mother down.
(Burn baby burn) Disco Inferno. (Burn baby burn) Burn the mother down, burning!
Verse 2
Satisfaction (woo, oh, how!), came in a chain reaction (burnin’).
I couldn’t get enough, ’til I had to self-destruct (woo, oh, how!).
The heat was on (burnin’), rising to the top, hm.
Everybody going strong (woo, oh, how!), and that is when my spark got hot. I heard somebody say.
Chorus 3
(Burn baby burn) Disco Inferno. (Burn baby burn) burn that mother down y’all.
(Burn baby burn) Disco Inferno. (Burn baby burn) burn that mother down, burnin’.
Middle 8
| Bb | Bb | C | C |
Up above my head, I hear music in the air
| Bbmaj7 | Bbmaj7 | C N.C | Cm | Cm |
That makes me know, there’s a party somewhere.
Verse 3
Satisfaction came in a chain reaction. You hear?
I couldn’t get enough, so I had to self-destruct, hm.
The heat was on, rising to the top, hm.
Everybody going strong, and that is when my spark got hot. I heard somebody say.
Chorus 4
(Burn baby burn) Disco Inferno. (Burn baby burn) Burn that mother down.
(Burn baby burn) Disco Inferno. (Burn baby burn) Burn that mother down.
(Burn baby burn) Ah hey! (Burn baby burn) Burn that mother down.
(Burn baby burn) Disco Inferno. (Burn baby burn) Burn that mother down.
Disco Inferno Backing Tracks | Chord Analysis
Above, you’ll find backing tracks to use when learning Disco Inferno. 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 to 437Hz. In the backing tracks, I’ve done this job for you by tuning it to 440Hz.
Chord Progressions – What’s Going On?
Kicking off with one of the wildest bass lines ever, complete with what sounds like a “mistake” sliding from F to Gb, Disco Inferno is all about the bass.
The intro notes are: Eb – Db – B – Ab – (F) Gb – Eb – Db – B – C. As a keen student of scales, I finally realised this runs over a IVm chord (Abm6) in bar one, followed by the IV chord, Abmaj7.
Strings also play a very fast line over these two bars. I’ve transcribed all the keyboard chords and bass lines, and designed parts that will work in a band setting. You find this TAB further down this guitar lesson.
When the band joins in, they play a Cm7 (with a brief C7sus4) over a four-bar bass line. This reveals that the notes come from the C Dorian mode—the 6th isn’t explicitly there, but in this style, it’s never Aeolian, so Cm functions as chord II.
This is fascinating chord work; the intro with its IVm and IV chords shows that Cm is VI. This is the first modal interchange in Disco Inferno.
The next section shifts to F, moving through F – Bb – C (I – IV – V). This briefly makes Cm feel like a Vm, a rare occurrence in music—(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman is one of the few examples. Comparing the two songs, you’ll hear this isn’t a true Vm, but rather a modal interchange from Mixolydian (V) to Dorian (II). The difference is subtle—the 3rd is the defining factor.
The only other notable section is the “Up above my head, I hear music in the air…” part, which functions as a middle eight. Here, we move through Bb – C (IV – V). After a stop, the bass leads back to Cm with another descending line that sounds almost chaotic.
To truly understand the chords, modal interchanges, and overall theory, it’s crucial to connect what you see with what you hear. For example, compare Disco Inferno’s chords to Gnarls Barkley’s Crazy—it also moves between C and Cm, though in a different way.
Here’s a chord chart I made for you. Once you’ve learned the TAB, it’ll be easy to follow and apply as you practise using the backing tracks above.
Disco Inferno Chord Chart | PDF + iReal Pro Download
You can download my chord chart for Disco Inferno as a PDF, or in the industry-standard iReal Pro format.
Disco Inferno | TAB
Let’s start with the bass line. I’ve indicated the actual chords above the notes.
Intro
The Am6 functions as IVm, Abmaj7 as IV, and when we move to VI (Cm7), we get a satisfying release.
Play along with the original recording. One effective way to play the guitar part is to double the bass.
The intro strings may seem intimidating at first. Look closely: the ascending line outlines a minor pentatonic with a 6 (Dorian), then shifts to a major pentatonic with a maj7 (Lydian or Ionian).
Practising this for hours might not be necessary—you can play chords instead:
Loops from the intro chords can also be used in the verse.
Verse
Here, I’ve combined the idea of doubling the bass and playing the keyboard chords. On the recording, the guitar is minimal until later, when it plays licks against the keys and strings.
Chorus
Here’s the first idea, designed to create energy and drive:
If your band doesn’t have a string section, you could play the string parts from the recording instead:
Middle 8
Finally, here’s the middle eight section, complete with that final bass line lick:
Once you can play all of this TAB, try it with the backing tracks – The ultimate goal is to use these ideas as the foundation for an improvised guitar part.
Disco Inferno Needed Saturday Night Fever to Break Through
Disco Inferno by The Trammps has an unusual history. Originally released as a single from the album of the same name in 1976, it saw little success.
However, when the extended, nearly 11-minute version appeared on the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, the song re-entered the charts and became a worldwide hit. Ironically, the shorter, edited version remains the most well-known.
Since the late ’70s, Disco Inferno has been covered by Tina Turner, Cyndi Lauper, and just about every disco band performing live.
The Trammps never had another major hit, but Disco Inferno kept them in the spotlight. As recently as 2016, Bernie Sanders used it in his campaign with the slightly altered lyrics: “Bern, Baby, Bern.”
Disco Inferno Chords: Continue Learning
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