Fever | Chords + Lyrics
Intro
||: Am (C6) | Am (C6) | E E/D | Am :||
Verse 1
||: Am (C6) | Am (C6) :||
Never know how much I love you, never know how much I care.
When you put your arms around me,
| E E/D | Am |
I get a fever that’s so hard to bear, you give me fever.
Chorus 1
||: Am (C6) | Am (C6) :||
When you kiss me, fever when you hold me tight.
| Am (C6) | Am (C6) | E E/D | Am |
Fever, in the morning, a fever all through the night.
Verse 2
Sun lights up the day time, moon lights up the night.
I light up when you call my name
and you know I’m gonna treat you right, you give me fever.
Chorus 2
When you kiss me, fever when you hold me tight
Fever, in the mornin’, a fever all through the night.
Verse 3
||: Am (C6) | Am (C6) :||
Everybody’s got the fever, that is something you all know.
| Am (C6) | Am (C6) | E E/D | Am |
Fever isn’t such a new thing, fever started a long ago.
Key change instrumental 1
| Bbm (Db6) | Bbm (Db6) | F F/Eb | Bbm |
Verse 4
||: Bbm (Db6) | Bbm (Db6) :||
Romeo loved Juliet, Juliet she felt the same.
When he put his arms around her, he said,
| F F/Eb | Bbm |
“Julie baby you’re my flame”, thou givest fever.
Chorus 3
||: Bbm (Db6) | Bbm (Db6) :||
When we kisseth, fever with thy flaming youth.
| Bbm (Db6) | Bbm (Db6) | F F/Eb | Bbm |
Fever, I’m on fire, fever yeah I burn forsooth.
Key change instrumental 2
| Bm (D6) | Bm (D6) | F# F#/E | Bm |
Verse 5
||: Bm (D6) | Bm (D6) :||
Captain Smith and Pocahontas had a very mad affair.
| Bm (D6) | Bm (D6) | F# F#/E | Bm |
When her daddy tried to kill him she said, “Daddy oh don’t you dare”, he give me fever.
Chorus 4
||: Bm (D6) | Bm (D6) :||
With his kisses, fever when he holds me tight.
| Bm (D6) | Bm (D6) | F# F#/E | Bm |
Fever, I’m his missus and daddy won’t you treat him right?
Verse 6 (as verse 5)
Now you’ve listened to my story, here’s the point that I have made.
Chicks were born to give you fever, be it Fahrenheit or Centigrade, they give you fever.
Chorus 5
||: Bm (D6) | Bm (D6) :||
When we kiss them, fever if you live you learn.
| Bm (D6) | Bm (D6) | F# F#/E | Bm |
Fever, till you sizzle, oh what a lovely way to burn.
| F# F#/E | Bm | F# F#/E | Bm |
What a lovely way to burn. What a lovely way to burn.
| F# F#/E | Bm | F# F#/E | Bm |
And what a lovely way to burn.
Fever Chords: Exploring the Bass Line and Chord Progression of the Iconic Song
As Fever relies solely on a bass line rather than chords, I’ve constructed the progression you see above.
When the bass moves from chord VI (Am) to its minor 3rd, I found that C6 worked well here. Since C6 and Am/C are essentially the same, this adds a subtle harmonic variation without disrupting the feel of the song.
For the turnaround, the IIIx chord (E) is introduced. The bass then shifts to what might suggest a V chord (G/D), but I felt that E/D created a smoother transition.
Of course, with Fever being built around a bass groove, there’s plenty of room for interpretation. Experiment with the chords yourself—you might discover a different approach that suits your playing style!
Here’s a chord chart with my findings.
Fever Chord Chart | PDF + iReal Pro
You can download my chord chart as a PDF, or in the format it was made, iReal Pro. Using the app you can then mess around with how you display this arrangement.
Peggy Lee’s signature song was released just a year before her version!
Peggy Lee’s Fever became her signature song after its 1958 release, achieving immense success and inspiring countless covers by artists like Elvis, Christina Aguilera, Michael Bublé, Madonna, and Boney M.
However, Fever was originally recorded just two years earlier by Little Willie John, who had a major hit with it on his debut album. Some cover versions are so iconic that they eclipse the original almost entirely.
Other notable examples include The Best, where Tina Turner’s version overshadowed Bonnie Tyler’s, and Blame It on the Boogie. In an unusual twist, Blame It on the Boogie was released in the same month by both The Jacksons and an English singer-songwriter named Mick Jackson—an amusing coincidence that led to what’s now known as the “Battle of the Boogie.”
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