Chords + Lyrics | Footloose
Intro
||: drums :|| x4
||: bass :|| x4
||: A (riff)| A7 (riff) :|| x8
||: A7 (riff) :|| x6
Verse 1
| A N.C | N.C D/F# | A N.C | N.C D/F# |
Been working so hard, I’m punching my card.
| A N.C | N.C D/F# | A N.C | A (C) |
Eight hours, for what? Oh, tell me what I got.
Bridge 1
| D5 | D5 | D5 | D5 | A5 A6 | A7 A6 A5 | A (lick) | A (lick) |
I gotten this feeling, that time’s just holding me down.
| D5 | D5 | B7/D# | B7/D# | E | F#m11 | G6 | G#5 N.C |
I’ll hit the ceiling, or else I’ll tear up this town.
Chorus 1
||: A5 A7 A6 | A5 A7 A6 | D5 (D6) | A5 A7 A6 :||
Tonight I gotta cut loose, footloose. Kick off your Sunday shoes.
Please, Louise, pull me up off my knees.
Jack, get back, c’mon, before we crack.
| A5 A7 A6 | A5 A7 A6 | D5 G5 |
Lose your blues, everybody cut footloose.
Instrumental 1
||: A (riff) :|| x3
| A riff (D/F#) |
Verse 2
You’re playing so cool, obeying every rule.
Dig way down in your heart, you’re burning, yearning for some.
Bridge 2
| D5 | D5 | D5 | D5 | A5 A6 | A7 A6 A5 |
Somebody to tell you, that life ain’t passing you by.
| D5 | D5 | B7/D# | B7/D# | E | F#m11 | G6 | G#5 N.C |
I’m trying to tell you, it will if you don’t even try.
Chorus 2
You can fly if you’d only cut loose, footloose. Kick off your Sunday shoes.
Ooh-wee, Marie, shake it, shake it for me.
Whoa, Milo, c’mon, c’mon let’s go.
Lose your blues, everybody cut footloose.
Breakdown
||: N.C | N.C :||
(Oh-oh-oh-oh) cut footloose (oh-oh-oh-oh)
| N.C | N.C | N.C | N.C (G) |
Cut footloose (oh-oh-oh-oh) cut footloose (aah)
| A5 N.C | N.C (G) |
(First) we got to turn you around.
| A5 N.C | N.C (G) |
(Second) you put your feet on the ground.
| A5 N.C | N.C |
(Third) now take a hold of your soul.
||: E :|| x7
(Aah)
| A5 N.C | A5 N.C D5 |
I’m turning it loose.
Outro
||: A5 A7 A6 | A5 A7 A6 | D5 (D6) | A5 A7 A6 :|| x7
Footloose, kick off your Sunday shoes
Please, Louise, pull me up off my knees
Jack, get back, c’mon, before we crack
Lose your blues, everybody cut footloose
Footloose (footloose), footloose, kick off your Sunday shoes.
Please, Louise, pull me up off my knees.
Jack, get back, c’mon, before we crack.
| A5 A7 A6 | A5 | N.C | N.C G D/F# |
Lose your blues, everybody cut, everybody cut.
| N.C | N.C G D/F# |
Everybody cut, everybody cut.
| N.C | G N.C | N.C | A (riff) | A (riff) |
Everybody cut, everybody cut (everybody) everybody cut footloose.
Footloose Backing Tracks | Chord Analysis
Above, you’ll find backing tracks to use when learning Footloose. I’ve used stem-seperation to extract the guitar while keeping the drums, bass, 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 sharp to 452Hz. In the backing tracks, I’ve done this job for you by tuning it to 440Hz.
Chord Progressions – What’s Going On?
At first glance, the chords in Footloose seem straightforward, but the song is far from simple. This isn’t a soul tune you can jam on, throw in some licks, and play differently each time.
You need a precise, well-rehearsed part played with total confidence—something that isn’t easy, as the original recording features multiple guitar layers.
As the only guitarist in a live band, your challenge is to identify the most essential parts and combine them into a single playable arrangement that works in a live setting.
It may seem like just A and D chords, but they form tightly crafted chord riffs that can’t be explained without TAB.
Fortunately, I’ve done the hard work for you. Now, all you need to do is practise the parts—they’re available further down this guitar lesson.
Once you’ve memorised them, ironically, the song will feel easy! That’s the great paradox of rock guitar.
Looking at the Footloose chords in context, the song flirts with the blues, using notes that theoretically shouldn’t work together.
In blues, this is the contrast between the minor and major 3rd. In Footloose, it’s the maj7 and b7. Let’s break it down.
Verse
During the verse, we play A and D/F#, both diatonic chords that give the song a country feel:
||: A (I) N.C | N.C D/F# (IV/3) |
Bridge
For the bridge, we introduce a bVIIx (backdoor dominant), adding a bluesy edge:
| D5 (IV) | D5 | D5 | D5 | A5 (I) A6 | A7 A6 A5 | A (lick) | A (lick) |
| D5 (IV) | D5 | B7/D# (IIx/3) | B7/D# | E (V) | F#m11 (VI) | G6 (bVIIx) | G#5 (VII) N.C |
Chorus
The chorus shifts into a rock ‘n’ roll/country honky-tonk feel:
||: A5 (I) A7 A6 | A5 A7 A6 | D5 (IV) (D6) | A5 A7 A6 :||
| A5 A7 A6 | A5 A7 A6 | D5 G5 (bVIIx) |
Again, you’ll need the TAB to fully grasp these chord extensions. Once you’ve got this down, a two-page chord chart will help with the structure—there was simply too much to fit on one page!
Footloose Chord Chart | PDF + iReal Pro Download
Should you want to download this chart, here’s a PDF: Footloose chord chart PDF page 1 and Footloose chord chart PDF page 2.
This chord chart was created using iReal Pro, here’s a link to that file: Footloose iReal Pro page 1 and Footloose iReal Pro page 2. Using this and the iRealPro app, you can change the key although I would advise against that!
Footloose | TAB
Let’s go through all the chords and riffs from Footloose so you can play this classic with a band. We’ll be using TAB for this, and we’ll need to modify the parts slightly so they work when you’re the only guitarist.
Below is the intro TAB. I’ve simplified it a bit to make it easier to learn and to help the band hear where you are rhythmically.
The original part is a bit more chaotic and overlaps itself. Play along with the backing tracks and it’ll all make sense.
This intro returns later as an instrumental section, though we only play the hammer-on lick at that point.
The verse centres around an A chord, followed by a long rest, then a D/F# chord, like this:
The bridge starts on the IV chord and leads back into some A riffing. The first time through, we play the A riff for four bars; the second time, just two.
To finish the bridge, we climb: D – B7/D# – E – F#m11 – G6 – G# – N.C. When we hit that G# and stop, we land right in the chorus. Here’s the TAB for the bridge:
The chorus is more A and D riff-based playing. On the original recording, there are several layered guitars, so the goal is to find one part that holds everything together. Here’s an idea:
The rest of Footloose is a mix of everything we’ve just gone over. Use the chords, lyrics, and chart as a reference, as you play along with the backing tracks.
Was Footloose the best musical movie of the ’80s?
Released in 1984 as a single from the movie of the same name, Footloose became Kenny Loggins‘ signature song.
The film follows a town that bans dancing, fearing it will corrupt the youth. With a star-studded cast including Kevin Bacon, Lori Singer, Sarah Jessica Parker, John Lithgow, and Dianne Wiest, it became one of the most iconic music films of the decade.
According to movieweb.com, it even surpasses Flashdance, The Blues Brothers, Little Shop of Horrors, Fame, Dirty Dancing, and Purple Rain!
Kenny Loggins continued his success with movie soundtracks, later writing Danger Zone for Top Gun (1986).
A fun fact about Footloose—one of the guitarists was Buzz Feiten, who later patented a groundbreaking tuning system for the guitar.
Speaking of tuning, if you’re playing along with the original recording, you’ll want to tune slightly sharp. Use my online guitar tuner and set it to 448Hz to match Kenny and Buzz!
Footloose Chords: Continue Learning
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