Hooked On A Feeling | Chords + Lyrics (no capo)
Intro
|| N.C | N.C :||
||: Ooga-Chaka Ooga-Ooga:|| x4
Verse 1 (N.C)
| (Ab) | (Eb) | (Ab) | (Db) |
I can’t stop this feeling, deep inside of me (Ooga-Chaka, Ooga-Ooga x4).
| (Dbm) | (Ab) | (Eb7) | (Eb7) |
Girl, you just don’t realize, what you do to me (Ooga-Chaka, Ooga-Ooga x4).
Bridge 1 (N.C)
| (Ab) | (C7) |
When you hold me, in your arms so tight (Ooga-Chaka, Ooga-Ooga x4).
| (Fm) | (Ab7) |
You let me know, everything’s alright (Ooga-Chaka, Ooga-Ooga x4).
Chorus 1 (N.C)
| (Db) | Eb7 N.C |
I, I, I. I’m hooked on a feeling,
| Ab | Eb | Db | Eb7 |
I’m high on believing.
| Ab Cm | Db Eb7 |2/4 Eb7 |
That you’re in love with me.
Verse 2
|4/4 Ab | Eb | Ab | Db |
Lips as sweet as candy, its taste is on my mind.
| Dbm | Ab | Eb7 | Eb7 |
Girl, you got me thirsty, for another cup of wine.
Verse 3 (as verse 2)
Got a bug from you girl, but I don’t need no cure.
I just stay a victim, if I can for sure.
Bridge 2
| Ab | C7 |
All the good love, when we’re all alone.
| Fm | Ab7 |
Keep it up girl, yeah, you turn me on.
Chorus 2
| Db | Eb7 N.C |
I, I, I. I’m hooked on a feeling,
| Ab | Eb | Db | Eb7 |
I’m high on believing.
| Ab Cm | Db Eb7 |2/4 Eb7 |
That you’re in love with me.
Solo
| Ab | Eb | Ab | Db | Dbm | N.C |
Bridge 3 (N.C as bridge 1)
All the good love, when we’re all alone (Ooga-Chaka, Ooga-Ooga x4).
Keep it up, girl, Yeah, you turn me on (Ooga-Chaka, Ooga-Ooga x4).
Chorus 3 (outro)
| Db | Eb7 N.C |
I, I, I. I’m hooked on a feeling,
| Ab | Eb | Db | Eb7 |
I’m high on believing.
| Ab Cm | Db Eb7 |
That you’re in love with me.
| Ab | Eb | Db | Eb7 |
I’m hooked on a feeling, and I’m high on believing.
| Ab Cm | Db Eb7 |
That you’re in love with me.
| Ab | Eb | Db | Eb7 |
I said I’m hooked on a feeling, and I’m high on believing.
| Ab Cm | Db Eb7 |
That you’re in love with me.
| Ab | Eb |
I’m hooked on a feeling.
Hooked On A Feeling | Chords + Lyrics (capo 1)
Intro
|| N.C | N.C :||
||: Ooga-Chaka Ooga-Ooga:|| x4
Verse 1
| (G) | (D) | (G) | (C) |
I can’t stop this feeling, deep inside of me (Ooga-Chaka, Ooga-Ooga x4).
| (Cm) | (G) | (D7) | (D7) |
Girl, you just don’t realize, what you do to me (Ooga-Chaka, Ooga-Ooga x4).
Bridge 1
| (G) | (B7) |
When you hold me, in your arms so tight (Ooga-Chaka, Ooga-Ooga x4).
| (Em) | (G7) |
You let me know, everything’s alright (Ooga-Chaka, Ooga-Ooga x4).
Chorus 1
| (C) | D7 N.C |
I, I, I. I’m hooked on a feeling,
| G | D | C | D7 |
I’m high on believing.
| G Bm | C D7 |2/4 D7 |
That you’re in love with me.
Verse 2
|4/4 G | D | G | C |
Lips as sweet as candy, its taste is on my mind.
| Cm | G | D7 | D7 |
Girl, you got me thirsty, for another cup of wine.
Verse 3
Got a bug from you girl, but I don’t need no cure.
I just stay a victim, if I can for sure.
Bridge 2
| G | B7 |
All the good love, when we’re all alone.
| Em | G7 |
Keep it up girl, yeah, you turn me on.
Chorus 2
| C | D7 N.C |
I, I, I. I’m hooked on a feeling,
| G | D | C | D7 |
I’m high on believing.
| G Bm | C D7 |2/4 D7 |
That you’re in love with me.
Solo
| G | D | G | C | Cm | N.C |
Bridge 3 (N.C as bridge 1)
All the good love, when we’re all alone (Ooga-Chaka, Ooga-Ooga x4).
Keep it up, girl, Yeah, you turn me on (Ooga-Chaka, Ooga-Ooga x4).
Chorus 3 (outro)
| C | D7 N.C |
I, I, I. I’m hooked on a feeling,
| G | D | C | D7 |
I’m high on believing.
| G Bm | C D7 |
That you’re in love with me.
| G | D | C | D7 |
I’m hooked on a feeling, and I’m high on believing.
| G Bm | C D7 |
That you’re in love with me.
| G | D | C | D7 |
I said I’m hooked on a feeling, and I’m high on believing.
| G Bm | C D7 |
That you’re in love with me.
| G | D |
I’m hooked on a feeling.
Hooked On A Feeling Chords: Understanding the Harmonic Structure
Before you start playing along with the original recording, you need to get on the same frequency as the band, that’s 436Hz (use my free online guitar tuner).
To get a feel for the chords of the song, you could now place a capo on fret 1 and think in the key of G.
Finding an acoustic guitar arrangement here was easier said than done, so let’s not worry about that. Instead, let’s make sure we can hear and feel all the chord progressions of Hooked On A Feeling.
What we have here is mainly I, IV, and V chords. But it also features the I – IIIx, I – III, and the super sad IV – IVm. All very important movements to get familiar with.
The verse moves like this:
| G (I) | D (V) | G (I) | C (IV) |
| Cm (IVm) | G (I) | D7 (V) | D7 |
The bridge manipulates chord III by making it major and dom7 (IIIx), the final I chord is also dom7 to point towards chord IV, which starts the chorus, like this:
| G (I) | B7 (IIIx) | Em (VI) | G7 (I) |
Hooked On A Feeling Chords: The Chorus and Ascending Movements Explained
The chorus goes back to the I, IV, and V chords before we get an ascending movement using the normal III chord, like this:
| C (IV) | D7 (V) N.C |
| G (I) | D (V) | C (IV) | D7 (V) |
| G (I) Bm (III) | C (IV) D7 (V) |
Strum along with the Blue Swede recording using a capo and ensure you can hear all chord movements.
I don’t think you can make an acoustic version of this song without radically changing it (check out Hey Ya! by Obadiah Parker for a good example of such an adventure).
I feel that what happens here is similar to Harry Nilsson’s Everybody’s Talkin’, you may find a nice part, but without the counter rhythms, it just doesn’t work in isolation.
With all this in mind, I still think it’s worth studying Hooked On A Feeling for the classic chord movements, and in a band setting, this would be a great, unexpected cover.
I’ve designed some TAB for playing Hooked On A Feeling without a capo, on the electric guitar, thinking in the key of Ab. Here’s a link to that part of the lesson: Hooked On A Feeling – Guitar Lesson with TAB.
There are two ideas for each section of the tune, designed to work for you as the only guitarist in the band. Learn these and you’ll quickly develop parts that work for your band.
Here’s a chord chart you can use when strumming using a capo. With the iReal Pro app, you can change the key to Ab (more on this below).
Hooked On A Feeling Chord Chart | PDF + iReal Pro
Should you want to download this chart, here’s a PDF: Hooked On A Feeling chord chart PDF.
This chord chart was created using iReal Pro, here’s a link to that file: Hooked On A Feeling chord chart iReal Pro.
Using this and the iRealPro app, you can change the key, which you must do to play it in a band (up to the key of Ab, check the TAB lesson).
Hooked On A Feeling was written by Elvis’s songwriter!
Hooked On A Feeling was written by Mark James, an American songwriter who also wrote Suspicious Minds and Always On My Mind for Elvis.
First released by B.J. Thomas in 1968, the song reached #5 the following year. In 1971, Jonathan King covered it, adding the Ooga-Chaka jungle chants, and that version got to #23 in the U.K.
In 1974, Blue Swede (Björn Skifs) released their version. They kept the Ooga-Chakas, and had an international, worldwide hit, reaching #1 in the U.S.
Since then, the Blue Swede version has popped up in popular culture three times: 1992, in Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs, 1998 in the TV series Ally McBeal, and as late as 2014, for Guardians Of The Galaxy.
Hooked On A Feeling Chords: Continue Learning
Want to master this song? Check out the full TAB lesson here: Hooked On A Feeling (Blue Swede) Guitar Lesson with TAB.
Alternatively, here are five similar tunes you might enjoy: