Chords + Lyrics | Rescue Me
Intro
||: A | D :|| D C#m Bm A | E |
Verse 1
| A | D |
Rescue me, take me in your arms.
| G | Em |
Rescue me, I want your tender charm,
| A | D |
’cause I’m a lonely and I’m blue,
| G | Em |
I need you and your love too, come on and rescue me.
Chorus 1
||: A | D :||
Come on baby and rescue me.
Come on baby and rescue me.
’Cause I need you, by my side,
| D C#m Bm A | E |
can’t you see that I’m lonely?
Verse 2
Rescue me, come on and take my heart,
take your love and conquer every part,
’cause I’m a lonely and I’m blue,
I need you and your love too.
Chorus 2
Come on and rescue me,
come on baby and rescue me.
Come on baby and rescue me,
’cause I need you, by my side,
Can’t you see that I’m lonely?
Instrumental
||: A | D :|| D C#m Bm A | E |
Verse 3
Rescue me, oh take me in your arms.
Rescue me, I want your tender charm,
’cause I’m lonely and I’m blue,
I need you and your love too.
Chorus 3
Come on and rescue me, come on baby.
Take me baby (take me baby).
Hold me baby (hold me baby).
Love me baby (love me baby).
Can’t you see that I need you baby,
can’t you see that I’m lonely.
Chorus 4
Rescue me, come on and take my hand,
c’mon baby and be my man,
’cause I love you, ’cause I want you,
can’t you see that I’m lonely.
Outro (as chorus)
Mmm-hmm (mmm-hmm),
mmm-hmm (mmm-hmm).
Take me baby (take me baby).
Love me baby (love me baby).
Need me baby (need me baby).
Mmm-hmm (mmm-hmm), mmm-hmm,
Can’t you see that I’m lonely.
End (as chorus)
Rescue me, rescue me.
Mmm-hmm, mmm-hmm.
Mmm-hmm, mmm-hmm.
Can’t you see that I’m lonely.
Rescue Me Backing Track | Chord Analysis
Above is a backing track recorded with a live band in the studio.
You’ll use it throughout the course—not just for the full performance, but also as looped sections for developing rhythm parts across the neck. Pair it with the chord chart below to practise effectively and prepare for playing Rescue Me live with a band.
Chord Progressions – What’s Going On?
Rescue Me has two core sections: the intro/chorus and the verse.
Chorus
The intro and chorus revolve around a classic I–IV progression before descending diatonically from IV to I, then landing on the V chord:
||: A (I) | D (IV) :||
| D (IV) C#m (III) Bm (II) A (I) | E (V) |
Verse
The verse brings a harmonic shift. You could argue we temporarily modulate from the key of A to the key of G—or, if analysing from A throughout, we’d interpret Em as a Vm and G as a bVIIx.
I prefer to treat this as a key-blending progression, moving from I–IV in A to I–VI in G:
| A (I) | D (IV) | G (I or bVIIx) | Em (VI or Vm) |
Since the keys of A and G are closely related, this kind of modulation feels natural—and it’s a clever songwriting technique to borrow chords from neighbouring keys.
Here’s a chord chart:
Rescue Me Chord Chart | PDF + iReal Pro Download
The chord chart lays out the full structure clearly, with smart spacing and section markers:
- Intro
- A Section (Verse)
- B Section (Chorus)
- D.S. (Back to Segno – Verse)
- C Section (Re-intro with more A chords)
- D.S. al Coda (Verse → Coda)
- Final B Section (Descending chords, repeated to fade)
Here’s the download link: Rescue Me chord chart PDF.
Or the iReal Pro version: Rescue Me iReal Pro
With the app, you can quickly transpose the key and even linearise the chart for easy reading. It’s built not just for accuracy, but for real-world performance clarity.
Below is a preview of how we learn Rescue Me in the course.
Rescue Me TAB | Course Preview
Rescue Me is an excellent introduction to playing rhythm guitar parts all over the neck. You’ll learn how to adapt your playing on the fly—matching what the band is doing and switching shapes effortlessly.
The chorus mainly uses A and D chords, and to fully explore them, we employ the CAGED system. This allows you to practise all five positions for each chord within a musical context—not with a metronome, but with the full band.
Here’s TAB Example 1, using open A and D shapes—without actually playing the open strings:
In Example 2, we shift to higher positions, using G and C shapes. This continues until all five CAGED shapes are covered. We then apply the same process to the verse chords, including Em.
By the end of the lesson, you’ll have covered the entire fretboard using real music—not dry drills.
Here’s a link to the 8 step-by-step guitar lessons: Rescue Me – Guitar Lessons with TAB.
Chess Records’ attempt to rival Motown
Rescue Me is a single by Fontella Bass. Released on the traditional blues label Chess in 1965, it was a clear attempt from the record label to cross over from blues to “white radio” and rival what Berry Gordy was doing.
The tune was conceived during a writing session where Fontella wrote the lyrics but during recording, forgot some of them. Rather than stopping, she sang: Mmm-hmm, mmm-hmm.
This would prove to be Fontella’s biggest hit, going all the way to #1. She does claim she wrote the lyrics, although the record label disagreed and refused to pay her.
It would take her many years before she finally got a check worth cashing.
Rescue Me Chords: Continue Learning
In this first series of lessons for the intermediate electric course, we learn how to play Rescue Me by Fontella Bass, while also mastering the CAGED system.
Practice along with the band as we work step-by-step to play the complete song with a live band.
Start learning with the full lesson series: Rescue Me – Guitar Lessons with TAB.
Alternatively, here are five similar tunes you might enjoy:
