Chords + Lyrics | Play That Funky Music
Intro
||: E7 (riff) :|| x4
Hey, do it now.
||: E9 Eb9 E6 E9 | E9 Eb9 E9 Eb6 E6 Eb6 :||
Yeah, hey.
Verse 1
||: E9 Eb9 E6 E9 | E9 Eb9 E9 Eb6 E6 Eb6 :||
Hey, once I was a boogie singer, playin’ in a rock n roll band.
I never had no problems, yeah, burnin’ down the one-night stands.
And everything around me, yeah, got to start to feelin’ so low.
And I decided quickly. Yes, I did, heh. To disco down and check out the show.
Bridge 1
||: E9 | E9 :||
Yeah, they were dancin’ and singin’ and movin’ to the groovin’.
And just when it hit me, somebody turned around and shouted:
Chorus 1
||: G9 G6 Gb6 | G9 G6 Gb6 :||
Play that funky music, white boy. Play that funky music right.
| G9 G6 Gb6 | Bb7sus2 |
Play that funky music, white boy.
| E7 (min pent riff) | E7 (min pent riff) |
Lay down the boogie and play that funky music ‘til you die.
Instrumental 1
||: E9 Eb9 E6 E9 | E9 Eb9 E9 Eb6 E6 Eb6 :||
He he. ‘Til you die? Yeah, yeah.
Verse 2
I tried to understand this. I thought that they were out of their minds.
How could I be so foolish, how could I? To not see I was the one behind.
So still I kept on fighting. Well, losing every step of the way (what did you do?).
I said I must go back there, I got to go back. And check to see if things still the same.
Bridge 2
Yeah they were dancin’ and singin’ and movin’ to the groovin’.
And just when it hit me, somebody turned around and shouted:
Chorus 2
Play that funky music, white boy. Play that funky music, right.
Play that funky music, white boy.
Lay down the boogie and play that funky music ’til you die.
Instrumental 2
‘Til you die? Yeah. Oh, ’til you die. Gonna play some electrified funky music.
Solo
||: E9 Eb9 E6 E9 | E9 Eb9 E9 Eb6 E6 Eb6 :|| x4
Hey, wait a minute,
Verse 3
Now first it wasn’t easy, changing rock-and-rolling minds.
And things were gettin’ shaky, I thought I’d have to leave it behind.
Oh, but now it’s so much better, it’s so much better. I’m funking out in every way.
But I’ll never lose that feelin’, you know, I won’t. Of how I learned my lesson that day.
Bridge 3
When they were dancin’ and singin’ and movin’ to the groovin’.
And just when it hit me, somebody turned around and shouted:
Chorus 3
Play that funky music, white boy. Play that funky music, right.
Play that funky music, white boy.
Lay down the boogie and play that funky music ’til you die.
Instrumental 3
‘Til you die? Yeah. Oh, ’til you die. Come on let’s go! They shouted:
Chorus 4
||: G7 (riff) | G7 (riff) :||
Play that funky music. Play that funky music.
Play that funky music. You got to keep on play that funky music.
Play that funky music. Play that funky music.
Play that funky music, gonna take you higher now.
Chorus 5 (key change)
||: A9 Ab9 A6 A9 | A9 Ab9 A9 Ab6 A6 Ab6 :|| to fade
Play that funky music, white boy. Play that funky music right, yeah.
Play that funky music, white boy. Play that funky music, right.
Play that funky music, white boy. Play that funky music, right, yeah.
Play that funky music, oh yeah. Play that funky music, right.
Play That Funky Music Backing Tracks | Chord Analysis
I made two backing tracks for Play That Funky Music using AI by extracting the chords form the original recording.
Above, you find this paired with the chord chart. The second video has no vocals. The first video is blocked in some countries due to copyright restrictions.
Chord Progressions – What’s Going On?
The chords hint at what the riff is and describe the general feeling of Play That Funky Music.
Verse
I’d like to describe the verse chords like this:
||: E9 Eb9 E6 E9 | E9 Eb9 E9 Eb6 E6 Eb6 :||
Bridge
For the bridge, we just play an E9, or perhaps more appropriately, a single note-picked line.
I’ve designed some TAB showing you how to play both the verse and bridge, here’s a link: Play That Funky Music – Guitar Lesson with TAB.
Chorus
The chorus starts the same as the verse, just up a m3rd, like this:
||: G9 (G6 Gb6) | G9 (G6 Gb6) :||
| G9 (G6) | Bb9 |
| E7 (min pent riff) | E7 (min pent riff) |
We then go to Bb9 before the iconic minor pentatonic riff (there’s TAB for all this too!).
The actual guitar parts are more intricate than I first suspected when I sat down to transcribe it. I had to design the TAB to work on one guitar (the original recording has two) in a band.
Having studied my TAB, use this chord chart (same as in backing tracks) to remind you of Play That Funky Music‘s chords and structure.
Play That Funky Music Chord Chart | PDF + iReal Pro Download
Should you want to download my chord chart, here’s a PDF: Play That Funky Music chord chart PDF.
This chord chart was created using iReal Pro, here’s a link to that file: Play That Funky Music iReal Pro. Using this and the iRealPro app, you can change the key although I’ve never seen that happen!
Speaking of key changes, the one you hear at the end of the original recording is hardly ever included by working bands, don’t expect it to happen, but be prepared it might.
Play That Funky Music TAB | Course Preview
In the course, you get TAB for all sections, here’s a preview of what that looks like using the main riff. Notice the similarity between this and Superstition, a tune this was clearly influenced by!
Pay extra attention to when it’s a slide or a hammer-on, details liek this do matter!
Wild Cherry’s only hit
One-hit-wonders Wild Cherry wrote and released Play That Funky Music because they wanted to be successful. They chose to adjust to what was happening around them, rather than dig their heels in and remain what they were (a white rock band).
The lyrics for Play That Funky Music are simply a reflection of what Rob Parassi (lead singer, guitarist, and songwriter of the band) saw happening around his rock band in 1976.
As they showed up for gigs, the crowd would ask them: Are you white boys going to play any funky music? In the end, the answer was yes!
The tune was so huge, that Rob retired on the back of it to pursue a musical life of instrumental jazz and general leisure.
Since its release, Play That Funky Music has been a standard on the party band’s setlist.
Play That Funky Music Chords: Continue Learning
Want to master this song? Check out the full TAB lesson here: Play That Funky Music (Wild Cherry) Guitar Lesson with TAB.
Alternatively, here are five similar tunes you might enjoy: