Lady Marmalade | Chords + Lyrics
Intro
| Gm7 | C9 | Gm7 | C9 | Gm7 | C9 |
Hey Sister, go sister, soul sister, go sister.
| Gm7 | C9 N.C |
Hey Sister, go sister, soul sister, go sister.
Verse 1
| Gm7 | C9 |
He met Marmalade down in old New Orleans.
| Gm7 | C9 |
Struttin’ her stuff on the street.
| Cm7 | Dm7 |
She said: ‘Hello, hey Joe, you wanna give it a go? Mmm, mmm.
Bridge 1
| Gm7 | C9 | Gm7 | C9 |
Itchi Gitchi Ya Ya Da Da. Itchi Gitchi Ya Ya here.
| Gm7 | C9 | C9 N.C | Gm (pent riff) | Gm (pent riff) |
Mocha-choca-lata Ya Ya. Creole Lady Marmalade.
Chorus 1
| Gm7 | C9 |
Voulez-vous coucher avec moi, ce soir?
| Gm7 | C9 |
Voulez-vous coucher avec moi?
Verse 2
(Hey Sister, go sister, soul sister, go sister) He sat in her boudoir while she freshened up.
(Hey Sister, go sister, soul sister, go sister) The boy drank all her magnolia wine.
On the black satin sheets where he started to freak.
Bridge 2
Itchi Gitchi Ya Ya Da Da. Itchi Gitchi Ya Ya here.
Mocha-choca-lata Ya Ya. Creole Lady Marmalade.
Chorus 2
Voulez-vous coucher avec moi, ce soir?
Voulez-vous coucher avec moi?
Instrumental
| Gm F/A Ebmaj7 Dm7 | Gm7 | Ebmaj7 | Ebmaj7 |
| Gm7 | Gm7 | Ebmaj7 | Ebmaj7 | D7 | D7 |
Hey, hey, hey.
Verse 3
Touching her skin feelin’ silky smooth.
The color of cafe au lait.
Made the savage beast inside roar until it cried, more, more, more.
Verse 4
Now he’s back home doing 9 to 5.
Living his grey flannel life.
But when he turns off to sleep, old memories creep. More, more, more.
Bridge 3
Itchi Gitchi Ya Ya Da Da. Itchi Gitchi Ya Ya here.
Mocha-choca-lata Ya Ya. Creole Lady Marmalade.
Chorus 3
| Gm7 | C9 |
Voulez-vous coucher avec moi, ce soir?
| Gm7 | C9 |
Voulez-vous coucher avec moi?
| Gm7 | C9 |
Voulez-vous couchez avec moi, ce soir?
| C9 N.C | Gm (pent riff) | Gm (pent riff) |
Creole Lady Marmalade
Breakdown chorus
||: Gm7 N.C C9 | N.C :|| x4
||: Voulez-vous coucher avec moi, ce soir?
Voulez-vous coucher avec moi? :|| x4
Outro
||: Gm7 | C9 :|| to fade
Itchi Gitchi Ya Ya Da Da. Itchi Gitchi Ya Ya here.
Mocha-choca-lata Ya Ya. Itchi Gitchi Ya Ya here.
Itchi Gitchi Ya Ya Da Da.
Lady Marmalade Chords: Learn the progressions
The chords in Lady Marmalade are best described as a modal interchange between a II – V progression and a minor blues (VI – II – III), both in the key of Gm.
The II – V is Gm7 – C9, and this is the majority of the song. It’s the classic dance chord progression found in Good Times, I Wish, Le Freak, and many, many more similar tunes, I’ve listed it as #4 on my Top 10 chord progression list.
The second movement is Cm7 – Dm7, which appears at the end of the verse. These two chords can only be II – III from the Aeolian key of Gm. We’ve gone from the Gm being Dorian to being Aeolian, and in doing so, creating tension.
The instrumental section is also Aeolian as Gm is again chord VI, like this:
| Gm (VI) F/A (I/3) Ebmaj7 (IV) Dm7 (III) | Gm7 | Ebmaj7 | Ebmaj7 |
| Gm7 | Gm7 | Ebmaj7 | Ebmaj7 | D7 (IIIx) | D7 |
I’ve designed some TAB for you to play this classic in a band. In the TAB lesson, we play along with the bass, find chords in different inversions, and incorporate licks into our rhythm part.
For the instrumental section, we play the horn line as well as the chords. Here’s a link to the TAB lesson: Lady Marmalade – Guitar Lesson with TAB.
Coming back from there with many ideas, you can use this chord chart to implement them at the gig.
Lady Marmalade Chord Chart | PDF + iReal Pro
Should you want to download this chart, here’s a PDF: Lady Marmalade Chord Chart PDF.
This chord chart was created using iReal Pro, here’s a link to that file: Lady Marmalade iReal Pro. Using this and the iRealPro app, you can change the key.
Lady Marmalade – A female anthem!
LaBelle was a female vocal group that started out already in 1962. After several name and genre changes, they found their formula with the smash hit Lady Marmalade.
Since its release in 1974, this classic tune has sold a million copies in the U.S. alone but more importantly, it has been covered by every working band that wanted to get people dancing.
Helping to keep Lady Marmalade in the public consciousness, Sabrina covered it in 1987, making it known as Voulez-vous coucher avec moi? (Lady Marmalade) and in 1998, the U.K. girl band All Saints covered it as well.
But the most famous cover is that of Christina Aguilera, ‘Lil Kim, Mya, and Pink, who sang it for the film Moulin Rouge! in 2001.
As a female anthem, Lady Marmalade stands up well next to Respect and I Will Survive and, I’m sure, will keep being played by DJs and working bands for many decades to come.
Lady Marmalade Chords | Related Pages
Lady Marmalade | Guitar Lesson + TAB
With this guitar lesson, you can learn to play Lady Marmalade by LaBelle using TAB and chord analysis.
| Gm7 | C9 | Gm7 | C9 | Gm7 | C9 |
Hey Sister, go sister, soul sister, go sister.
Five similar tunes | Chords + Lyrics
Christina Aguilera tunes
Starting alongside Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake on the legendary TV show The Mickey Mouse Club, Christina Aguilera has reached worldwide fame.
Her biggest tunes include Beautiful, Genie In A Bottle, Candyman, What A Girl Wants, Moves Like Jagger, At Last, Car Wash, and Fever.
Christina Aguilera on the web
LaBelle tunes
Starting out as The Bluebelles in 1962, LaBelle changed their name after one of the members left to join The Supremes.
Their best tunes include Lady Marmalade and covers of Wild Horses and Over The Rainbow.
Labelle on the web
About me | Dan Lundholm
This was a guitar lesson about Lady Marmalade chords, by Dan Lundholm. Discover more about him and how you can learn guitar with Spytunes.
Most importantly, find out why you should learn guitar through playing tunes, not practising scales, and studying theory in isolation.
