Love Is In The Air | Chords + Lyrics
Intro
||: C | C :||
Verse 1
| C | C F/C | Fmaj7 | Fmaj7 |
Love is in the air, everywhere I look around.
| C | C F/C | Fmaj7 | Fmaj7 C/E |
Love is in the air, every sight and every sound.
| G | Fmaj7 C/E | G | Am |
And I don’t know if I’m being foolish. Don’t know if I’m being wise.
| Ab7 | C |
But it’s something that I must believe in.
| A7/G | Dm7 G7 |
And it’s there when I look in your eyes.
Verse 2
| C C6 | Cmaj7 C6 | F F6 | Fmaj7 F6 Fmaj7 |
Love is in the air, in the whisper of the tree.
| C C6 | Cmaj7 C6 | F F6 | Fmaj7 F6 C/E |
Love is in the air, in the thunder of the sea.
| G | Fmaj7 C/E | G | Am |
And I don’t know if I’m just dreaming. Don’t know if I feel safe.
| Ab7 | C |
But it’s something that I must believe in.
| A7/G | Dm7 Ab7 |
And it’s there when you call out my name.
Instrumental 1
| G G6 | G7 G | Gsus2 G | Gsus4 G5 |
Chorus 1
| C | Fmaj7 F6 F Fmaj7 F6 F |
Love is in the air.
| C | Fmaj7 F6 F Fmaj7 F6 F |
Love is in the air.
| Em Emb6 | Am Ab7 | G | G | G | G |
Oh, oh, oh, oh.
Verse 3
| C C6 | C C6 | Fmaj7 Fmaj9 | Fmaj7 Fmaj9 |
Love is in the air, in the rising of the sun.
| C C6 | C C6 | Fmaj7 Fmaj9 | Fmaj7 Fmaj9 |
Love is in the air, when the day is nearly done.
| G | Fmaj7 C/E | G | Am |
And I don’t know if you’re illusion. Don’t know if I see truth.
| Ab7 | C |
But you’re something that I must believe in.
| A7/G | Dm7 G7 |
And you’re there when I reach out for you.
Verse 4
| C C6 | Cmaj7 C6 | F F6 | Fmaj7 F6 Fmaj7 |
Love is in the air, everywhere I look around.
| C C6 | Cmaj7 C6 | F F6 | Fmaj7 F/A C/E |
Love is in the air, every sight and every sound.
| G | F Fmaj7 | G | Am |
And I don’t know if I’m being foolish. Don’t know if I’m being wise.
| Ab7 | C |
But it’s something that I must believe in.
| A7 | Dm7 Ab7 |
And it’s there when I look in your eyes.
Instrumental 2
| G G6 | G7 G | Gsus2 G | Gsus4 G5 |
Chorus 2
| C | Fmaj7 F6 F Fmaj7 F6 F |
Love is in the air.
| C | Fmaj7 F6 F Fmaj7 F6 F |
Love is in the air.
| Em Emb6 | Am Ab7 |
Oh, oh, oh, oh.
Instrumental 3
| G G6 | G7 G | Gsus2 G | Gsus4 G5 |
Chorus 3
| C | Fmaj7 F6 F Fmaj7 F6 F |
Oh, love is in the air.
| C | Fmaj7 F6 F Fmaj7 F6 F |
Love is in the air.
| Em Emb6 | Am Ab7 |
Oh, oh, oh, oh.
Outro
| G G6 | G7 G | Gsus2 G | Gsus4 G5 |
Love Is In The Air Chords: Learn the progressions
What a fantastic example of how to develop a chord progression we have in Love Is In the Air!
One of the best ways to produce a hit is to take a couple of simple ideas and develop them, rather than add more ideas.
Let’s look at how John Paul Young has done this to Love Is In The Air’s verse chords.
| C (I) | C F/C | Fmaj7 (IV) | Fmaj7 |
| C | C F/C | Fmaj7 | Fmaj7 C/E |
Essentially the I – IV movement (#1 on my chord progression list!). The F/C is a quick hint of the Fmaj7 coming up, the Fmaj7 – C/E leads to the next line, which is this.
| G (V) | Fmaj7 (IV) C/E (I/3) | G | Am (VI) |
Chord V – IV, then V – VI, couldn’t be more simple! Just the C/E to take us back to G. Now that we’ve done these extremely simple movements, we need some tension, here’s the turnaround of the verse:
| Ab7 (bVIx) | C (I) | A7/G (IIx/b7) | Dm7 (II) G7 (V) |
The Ab7 is a tritone substitution which resolves to chord I (C). We then go to chord VIx with its b7 in the bass (A7/G) bringing extreme tension, maybe even more than the Ab7. After a quick II – V we’re back at the verse again.
Here’s what I would play for verse 1 in TAB, try it along with the original recording.
As verse 2 starts we get a string line that indicates these chords.
| C (I) C6 | Cmaj7 C6 | F (IV) F6 | Fmaj7 F6 Fmaj7 |
Compare this with Can’t Take My Eyes Off You and Kiss Me. It’s a very clever way to vary the first idea.
Members get TAB for how to include this string line/new chord extensions in a rhythm part.
This is followed by a chorus, which I’ll get to in a bit, then back to a verse, and now it changes again!
| C (I) C6 | C C6 | Fmaj7 (IV) Fmaj9 | Fmaj7 Fmaj9 |
The complicated chord names are named so after a keyboard lick that stays the same as the bass moves from C to F. Members get TAB for this too.
Finally, in verse 4, we play both the last two ideas on top of each other. This is all a great example of developing a chord progression and how to arrange a hit song!
Imagine if the chord progression for all four verses would have just been this instead:
| C (I) | C | F (IV) | F |
| C (I) | C | F (IV) | F |
| G (V) | F (IV) | G (V) | Am (VI) |
| D7 (IIx) | C (I) | A7 (VIx) | Dm (II) G (V) |
No extensions, no chords setting the new bar up, and no tritone substitution, a pretty big difference, right?
Before the chorus, we get these chords during the instrumental section:
| G (V) G6 | G7 G5 | Gsus2 G | Gsus4 G5 |
This works really well as an open G, try it and you’ll see how it’s essentially the notes D – E – F – G – A – B – C – D, running through an open position G chord. Members get TAB.
As Love Is In The Air’s chorus chords finally arrive, we use these chords twice:
||: C (I) | Fmaj7 (IV) F6 F Fmaj7 F6 F :||
The extensions over F are played using quarter note triplets. The turnaround for the chorus is this:
| Em (III) Emb6 | Am (VI) Ab7 (bVIx) |
That Emb6 sets up the Am nicely. The Ab7 is the same tritone sub we had earlier and because we’ve had it, we’re used to it.
Love Is In The Air’s chords are a masterclass in developing an idea, which is what arranging is all about – and I love it!
Members get TAB for all sections which you can use to play Love Is In The Air with a band, here’s a link to the complete lesson: Love Is In The Air – Guitar Lesson with TAB.
Love Is In The Air was John Paul Young’s signature song
Released in 1978 by Scottish-born, but Australian-raised John Paul Young, Love Is In The Air was a worldwide hit, charting high in more than 15 countries.
In Canada, Martin Stevens released his version and halted the success of the “original” which was released later.
Only a few months later, The Jacksons did the same but perhaps with a more carefully executed marketing plan produced the battle of the boogie, which helped spread the song, not halt it.
Love Is In The Air would become John Paul Young’s signature song and earn him a knighthood.
Love Is In The Air Chords | Related Pages
Five similar tunes with chords and lyrics
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- The Best chords by Tina Turner
- For Once In My Life chords by Stevie Wonder
- Love Train chords by The O’Jays
- Marry You chords by Bruno Mars
John Paul Young tunes
One-hit wonder John Paul Young released three albums between 1975-77 but despite plenty of help from the media, he had little success outside his homeland.
This all changed when he dropped Love Is In the Air in 1978, all of a sudden the Australian media was proved right, John Paul was destined for success.
John Paul Young on the web
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About me | Dan Lundholm
This was a guitar lesson about Love Is In The Air chords, by Dan Lundholm. Discover more about him and learn guitar with Spytunes.
Most importantly, find out why you should learn guitar through playing tunes, not practising scales, and studying theory in isolation.
