Chords + Lyrics | Fever
Intro
||: Am7 (C6) | Am7 (C6) | E7 E7/G# | Am7 :||
Verse 1
||: Am7 (C6) | Am7 (C6) :|| x3
Never know how much I love you, never know how much I care.
When you put your arms around me,
| E7 E7/D | Am7 |
I get a fever that’s so hard to bear, you give me fever.
Chorus 1
||: Am7 (C6) | Am7 (C6) :||
When you kiss me, fever when you hold me tight.
| Am7 (C6) | Am7 (C6) | E7 E7/D | Am7 |
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
Everybody’s got the fever, that is something you all know.
Fever isn’t such a new thing,
fever started a long ago.
Key change instrumental 1
| Bbm7 (Db6) | Bbm7 (Db6) | F7 F7/A | Bbm7 |
Verse 4
||: Bbm7 (Db6) | Bbm7 (Db6) :|| x3
Romeo loved Juliet, Juliet she felt the same.
When he put his arms around her, he said,
| F7 F7/Eb | Bbm7 |
“Julie baby you’re my flame”, thou givest fever.
Chorus 3
||: Bbm7 (Db6) | Bbm7 (Db6) :||
When we kisseth, fever with thy flaming youth.
| Bbm7 (Db6) | Bbm7 (Db6) | F7 F7/Eb | Bbm7 |
Fever, I’m on fire, fever yeah I burn forsooth.
Key change instrumental 2
| Bm7 (D6) | Bm7 (D6) | F#7 F#7/A# | Bm7 |
Verse 5
||: Bm7 (D6) | Bm7 (D6) :|| x3
Captain Smith and Pocahontas had a very mad affair.
When her daddy tried to kill him she said,
| F#7 F#7/E | Bm7 |
“Daddy oh don’t you dare”, he give me fever.
Chorus 4
||: Bm7 (D6) | Bm7 (D6) :||
With his kisses, fever when he holds me tight.
| Bm7 (D6) | Bm7 (D6) | F#7 F#7/E | Bm7 |
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 (outro)
||: Bm7 (D6) | Bm7 (D6) :||
When we kiss them, fever if you live you learn.
| Bm7 (D6) | Bm7 (D6) | F#7 F#7/E | Bm7 |
Fever, till you sizzle, oh what a lovely way to burn.
| F#7 F#7/E | Bm7 | F#7 F#7/E | Bm7 |
What a lovely way to burn. What a lovely way to burn.
| F#7 F#7/E | Bm7 | F#7 F#7/E | Bm7 |
And what a lovely way to burn.
Fever Backing Tracks | Chord Analysis
Above, you’ll find backing tracks to use when learning Fever. Rather than using stem separation to extract the guitar as I usually do, this backing track with and without piano was created using iReal Pro.
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?
As Fever relies almost entirely on a bass line rather than full chords, I’ve constructed the progression you see above.
When the bass moves from chord VI (Am) to its minor third, C6 works beautifully here. Since C6 and Am/C are essentially the same, this adds subtle harmonic variation without disrupting the song’s feel.
To introduce more movement, I turned Am into Am7. This works well because when moving from Am7 to C6, only two notes change—the A–C and A–G.
For the turnaround, the IIIx chord (E) is added. The bass then shifts to the 3rd during the intro and instrumental sections, but moves to the b7 in the verse and chorus.
Because Fever is built around a bass groove, there’s plenty of room for interpretation. Experiment with these chords yourself—you may find a different approach that suits your style!
Further down this guitar lesson, you find some TAB I made for a solo arrangement, intended to back a singer on your own.
Here’s a chord chart with my findings. Use it once the TAB feels natural.
Fever Chord Chart | PDF + iReal Pro Download
You can download my chord chart as a PDF or in the more flexible iReal Pro format. With iReal Pro, you can experiment with the arrangement and how it’s displayed, making it easier to practise and adapt for your playing style.
Fever | TAB
First, let’s work out the bass line of Fever, then build the arrangement in all keys. Here’s the intro:
Play along with the original recording and notice the repetitive, hypnotic quality of the part. Next, here’s the verse bass line—pay attention to the subtle changes and play along with the recording:
Now, let’s begin constructing the guitar arrangement. Here’s one way to play the verse using open-position chords:
Next, we move up to the key of Bbm for a re-intro, labelled Instrumental 1. Here, it’s appropriate to return to just the bass line:
Then, we play a verse and chorus in this key:
This section is kept sparse, as barre chords make it more complex to include all the details. Next, we move up again to Bm. This time, the instrumental section is harmonised, and the bass line lick at the end has been modified:
Finally, here’s the TAB for the last verse and chorus. Returning to open positions allows you to add more detail:
For the ending, simply loop the last four bars and continue creating new bass-line licks. Once comfortable, stop staring at this TAB and start improvising!
Using the backing tracks further up this guitar lesson, you can also try some electric parts, with and without piano, more in line with what it would be like playing this classic on a gig with a band.
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 such as 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.
Sometimes cover versions have become so iconic that they almost entirely eclipse the original, this is the case with Peggy Lee’s version.
Other notable examples include The Best, where Tina Turner’s version overshadowed Bonnie Tyler’s, and Blame It on the Boogie. which in an unusual twist was released the same month by both The Jacksons and English singer-songwriter Mick Jackson—an amusing coincidence that sparked what’s now known as the “Battle of the Boogie”.
Fever Chords: Continue Learning
Step-by-step Guitar Courses
Master guitar by studying real tunes. Build your skills with video lessons, eBooks and practice routines that connect theory with the music you love!
Explore SpyTunes step-by-step Guitar Courses.
Five similar tunes | Chords + Lyrics
