Chords + Lyrics | I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor
Intro
||: F#5 N.C E5 :|| x8
||: F# Minor Pentatonic climb (E5) :|| x8
||: C#5 B5 | A5 F#5 :|| x4
Verse 1
||: C#5 B5 | A5 F#5 :||
Stop making the eyes at me, I’ll stop making the eyes at you.
What it is that surprises me, is that I don’t really want you to.
And your shoulders are frozen (cold as the night). Oh, but you’re an explosion (you’re dynamite).
Your name isn’t Rio, but I don’t care for sand. And lighting the fuse might result in a bang, b-b-bang-oh.
Chorus 1
| F#5 | F#5 | A5 |
I bet that you look good on the dance floor,
| A5 | E5 | E5 | F#5 | F#5 |
I don’t know if you’re looking for romance or, I don’t know what you’re looking for.
| F#5 | F#5 | A5 |
I said, I bet that you look good on the dance floor,
| A5 | E5 | E5 | C#5 | C#5 |
dancing to electro-pop like a robot from 1984. Well, from 1984.
Instrumental 1
||: C#m Bm | A F#m :|| x4
Verse 2
I wish you’d stop ignoring me, because you’re sending me to despair.
Without a sound, yeah, you’re calling me and I don’t think it’s very fair.
That your shoulders are frozen (cold as the night). Oh, but you’re an explosion (you’re dynamite).
Your name isn’t Rio, but I don’t care for sand. And lighting the fuse might result in a bang, b-b-bang-oh.
Chorus 2
I bet that you look good on the dance floor,
I don’t know if you’re looking for romance or, I don’t know what you’re looking for.
I said, I bet that you look good on the dance floor,
dancing to electro-pop like a robot from 1984. Well, from 1984.
Middle 8
| A5 | A5 | E5 | E5 | F#5 | F#5 |
Oh, there ain’t no love, no Montagues or Capulets.
| F#5 | F#5 | A5 | A5 | E5 | E5 |
Just banging tunes and DJ sets and, dirty dance floors and dreams of naughtiness.
Instrumental 2
||: F#5 N.C E5 :|| x8
||: F#5 (E5) :|| x8
Chorus 3
| N.C | N.C | A5 |
Well, I bet that you look good on the dance floor,
| A5 | E5 | E5 | F#5 | F#5 |
I don’t know if you’re looking for romance or. I don’t know what you’re looking for.
| F#5 | F#5 | A5 |
I said, I bet that you look good on the dance floor,
| A5 | E5 | E5 | C#5 | C#5 | F#5 |
Dancing to electro-pop like a robot from 1984. I said, from 1984.
I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor Chords: Dissecting the Rock Progressions
The intro features a climbing F# minor pentatonic scale, foreshadowing what’s to come, as all of I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor’s chords are rooted in this scale: 1 – m3 – 4 – 5 – b7 (F# – A – B – C# – E).
With this in mind, let’s break down each section.
Verse
The verse follows a descending chord progression: III – II – I – VI. By using power chords (5 chords)—which omit the 3rd—the song achieves an indie/punk/garage-rock feel, like this:
||: C#5 B5 | A5 F#5 :||
Chorus
The chorus moves in the opposite direction at first, starting with a VI – I progression—essentially a reversed minor fall.
It then dips below the key centre, creating this movement: F#5 – A5 – E5. The sequence repeats, adding a C#5 at the end:
| F#5 (VI) | F#5 | A5 (I) |
| A5 | E5 (V) | E5 | F#5 | F#5 |
| F#5 | F#5 | A5 |
| A5 | E5 | E5 | C#5 | C#5 |
Instrumental
The instrumental section mirrors the verse progression but introduces triads instead of power chords:
||: C#m (III) Bm (II) | A (I) F#m (VI) :||
This subtle shift opens the arrangement up, making the return to tight power chords with vocals feel even more impactful. A clever songwriting and production trick from the Sheffield-born lads!
In the course, there’s TAB for how to play all sections, including the small subtleties between the intro solo, the verse and this instrumental section. Here’s a link: I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor – Guitar Lesson with TAB.
Middle 8
The last section has a new progression as it moves I – V – VI – I – V, but stays on each chord for a long time, like this:
| A5 | A5 | E5 | E5 | F#5 | F#5 |
| F#5 | F#5 | A5 | A5 | E5 | E5 |
Here’s a chord chart.
I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor Chord Chart | PDF + iReal Pro Download
Download my chord chart as a PDF or in the iReal Pro format:
- I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor chord chart PDF
- I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor iReal Pro
I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor TAB | Course Preview
In the course, I’ve designed TAB that will work for your Saturday night party band gig as the sole guitarist in the band.
As there are more than one guitar on the recording, I’ve had to take both parts into account and come up with something that will work.
As a preview, below is the intro, there are several things to point out here!
First, we change the length of the rest in the opening riff. Next, we finish on an E5, on the original recording, one guitar does this, the other stays on F#5.
Also notice how the fingering is manipulated in the final bars, this is done so the bend feels good, but then we have to find our way back into the Am shape again.
Arctic Monkeys’ breakthrough single
“Don’t believe the hype!”—a phrase as legendary as the album it introduced—was uttered by Alex Turner in 2005, just before the band performed what would become their biggest song.
This live recording, played in front of a small TV-style set audience, became the official music video for their debut single. Off the back of its success, Arctic Monkeys released their highly anticipated debut album, Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not, in 2006.
More than just their first single, I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor catapulted the band to fame overnight. Released in 2005, it debuted at #1—a feat made even more remarkable considering it arrived before the album.
On NME’s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, it ranked #7!
Like so many bands before them, Arctic Monkeys have had other hits, but they’ve never quite topped their debut.
I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor Chords: Continue Learning
Want to master this song? Check out the full TAB lesson here: I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor (Arctic Monkeys) Guitar Lesson with TAB.
Alternatively, here are five similar tunes you might enjoy:
