Chords + Lyrics | Heat Wave
Intro
||: Bb Bb6 Bb Bb6 Bb :|| x3
| Bb N.C (Bb C Bb G) |
||: Fm (Gbm) | Gm (Bm) | Cm (Bm) | Cm (Em) :||
| Fm (Gbm) | Gm (G) | Ab (A) | Bb |
||: Eb Ab/C Eb Ab/C Eb :|| x3
| Eb N.C (Bb C Bb G)|
Verse 1
||: Fm (Gbm) | Gm (Bm) | Cm (Bm) | Cm (Em) :||
Whenever I’m with him, (oh, oh, oh, oh) something inside (inside).
Starts to burning (oh, oh, oh, oh), and I’m filled with desire.
Bridge 1
| Fm (Gbm) | Gm (G) | Ab (A) | Bb |
Could it be a devil in me or is this the way love’s supposed to be (ah, ah, ah, ah).
Chorus 1
||: Eb Ab/C Eb Ab/C Eb :|| x3
It’s like a heatwave, burning in my heart (like heat wave).
||: Eb Ab/C Eb Ab/C Eb :|| x4 | Eb N.C (Bb C Bb G) |
I can’t keep from cryin’ (heat wave), it’s tearing me apart.
Verse 2
Whenever he calls my name. Soft, slow, sweet and plain,
right then, right there, I feel that burning flame.
Bridge 2
Has high blood pressure got a hold on me or is this the way love’s supposed to be? (Ah, ah, ah, ah).
Chorus 2
It’s like a heat wave, burning in my heart (like a heat wave).
I can’t keep from crying (heat wave), It’s tearing me apart.
Chorus tag 1
||: Fm (Gbm) | Gm (Bm) | Cm (Bm) | Cm (Em) :||
Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh. Ooh, heat wave.
Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh. Ooh, heat wave.
Instrumental 1
| Fm (Gbm) | Gm (G) | Ab (A) | Bb |
||: Eb Ab/C Eb Ab/C Eb :|| x7
| Eb N.C (Bb C Bb G) |
Verse 3
Sometimes I stare in space, tears all over my face.
I can’t explain it, don’t understand it, I ain’t never felt like this before.
Bridge 3
Now that funny feeling has me amazed, don’t know what to do, my head’s in a haze. (Ah, ah, ah, ah).
Chorus 3
It’s like a heatwave (heat wave), burning in my heart (like heat wave).
I can’t keep from cryin’ (heat wave), it’s tearing me apart.
Chorus tag 2
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah (but it’s all right, girl). Oh, oh. (Go ahead, girl).
Yeah, yeah. (Well, it’s all right, girl). Oh (Can’t miss it, that’s love, girl).
Bridge 4
I feel it, burning (don’t pass up this chance), right here in my heart (it sounds like a true romance)
Chorus 4
||: Eb Ab/C Eb Ab/C Eb :|| to fade
Don’t you know it’s like a heat wave?
Heat Wave Backing Tracks | Chord Analysis
Above, you’ll find backing tracks to use when learning Heat Wave. 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.
Chord Progressions – What’s Going On?
The intro is Bb – Bb6 (V) for three bars, played in the same way we’ll hear during the chorus later—though using different chords!
Verse
The intro then becomes the same as a verse which features sliding chords a semitone below, indicated here in brackets:
||: Fm (Gbm) | Gm (Bm) | Cm (Bm) | Cm (Em) :||
The Roman numerals are II – III – VI—we know this because two minor chords a tone apart always follow this pattern.
Bridge
Next, the bridge follows a similar progression but finishes with a IV – V:
| Fm (Gbm) | Gm (G) | Ab (A) | Bb |
Chorus
The chorus then plays for three bars, though later in the song, it extends to seven bars before a stop and a bass line leading into the next section:
||: Eb Ab/C Eb Ab/C Eb :|| x3 or x7
| Eb N.C (Bb C Bb G) |
When you think of Motown’s Martha and the Vandellas, you perhaps don’t imidiately make this connection, but these slash chords bring to mind Keith Richards, similar to what we hear when he play Brown Sugar’s chords.
In a nutshell, Heat Wave follows this pattern five times:
||: Fm (Gbm) | Gm (Bm) | Cm (Bm) | Cm :||
| Fm (Gbm) | Gm (G) | Ab (A) | Bb |
||: Eb Ab/C Eb Ab/C Eb :|| x7
| Eb N.C (Bb C Bb G) |
To get TAB for how to play all these chords, keep scrolling down this guitar lesson.
Armed with the ability to play all over the neck having absorbed my TAB, this chord chart is all you need.
Heat Wave Chord Chart | PDF + iReal Pro Download
You can download my chart, give it to your band mates and avoid a clash of chords. There’s both a PDF and the iRel Pro file format it was created in available here:
Heat Wave | TAB
Let’s go through all sections one by one using TAB. Practice this until it feels natural, then start to wander around the neck in an improvised way.
Intro
This is the section most bands get wrong — it never happens again.
Verse
The verse is tricky. It seems simple, but you need to practise this to get it right on the night. The Em → Fm move is especially difficult as there is no sliding.
Here’s another way to play it, which is easier:
And here’s a third option:
Bridge + Chorus
The bridge and chorus start in the same way but then use the relative major chords of Fm and Gm (Ab and Bb) instead. This resolves to what many confuse with the intro!
You could call this Ab/C, but the bass plays a riff, so I prefer thinking of it as a fraction of that Ab instead.
Here’s another way to play it:
The goal is to be able to play these chords all over the neck — this will keep the song fun to play for years and also gives you a free exercise every time you gig it. Try it now with the backing tracks and chord chart.
Heat Wave Chords: Continue Learning
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