Rescue Me | Chords + Lyrics
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
| A | D |
Rescue me, come on and take my heart,
| G | Em |
take your love and conquer every part,
| A | D |
’cause I’m a lonely and I’m blue,
| G | Em |
I need you and your love too.
Chorus 2
||: A | D :||
Come on and rescue me,
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?
Instrumental
||: A | D :|| D C#m Bm A | E |
Verse 3
| A | D |
Rescue me, oh take me in your arms.
| G | Em |
Rescue me, I want your tender charm,
| A | D |
’cause I’m lonely and I’m blue,
| G | Em |
I need you and your love too.
Chorus 3
||: A | D :||
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,
| D C#m Bm A | E |
can’t you see that I’m lonely.
Chorus 4
||: A | D :||
Rescue me, come on and take my hand,
c’mon baby and be my man,
’cause I love you, ’cause I want you,
| D C#m Bm A | E |
can’t you see that I’m lonely.
Outro
||: A | D :||
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,
| D C#m Bm A | E |
Can’t you see that I’m lonely.
End
||: A | D :||
Rescue me, rescue me.
Mmm-hmm, mmm-hmm.
Mmm-hmm, mmm-hmm.
| D C#m Bm A | E | A |
Can’t you see that I’m lonely.
Rescue Me’s chords and progressions
The chords for Rescue Me are great as an introduction to playing improvised rhythm guitar parts all over the neck.
By being able to move freely, you can adjust your part to what the band is doing, changing at a moment’s notice if needed.
The chorus of Rescue Me mainly moves between the two chords A and D. To develop a good guitar part for it, you must first ensure you can play these two chords anywhere on the neck.
The best way to achieve this is to use the so-called CAGED system. By connecting the chord shapes to an actual song, we can create musical exercises, this is what we do in the course, we play with the band, not to a metronome or on our own.
After working your way through all CAGED shapes we do the same with the verse.
By playing in a context like this, you’ll learn how to play, not just what chord. For example, we play the chords using a staccato approach. Cut the chord off early so it doesn’t ring into the next strum. Do this by letting go of the strings on the fretboard, effectively muting with your fretting hand.
The strumming hands’ pendulum movement should be at 16th note pace and must never be interrupted. This way, adding the extra 16th note strum you hear if listening carefully is easy.
You must ensure all rhythms are played ‘snappy’. The length of the rest after the chord is as important for the groove as the placement of the actual rhythm.
In the video above, I play through a bunch of examples before I start moving freely around the fretboard, adding slides and extra rhythms. You can do this too if you can play in all five positions.
Here’s a link to the complete lesson series (members only): Rescue Me 8 step-by-step guitar lessons with TAB.
Become a member today and get unlimited access to all step-by-step guitar courses, TAB for the songbook, the Self-Eliminating Practice Routine, and the eBook Spytunes Method.
Rescue Me was 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 | Related pages
Intermediate Electric
The intermediate electric tunes will help you with learning the CAGED system all over the fretboard, both for chords and pentatonic scales.
Learn these Motown/Soul classics, and you’ll not just improve dramatically but also gain yourself a repertoire.
Five similar tunes with chords and lyrics
Fontella Bass
Fontella Bass spent a large amount of her life chasing a royalty check she never received for her million-selling smash hit Rescue Me.
It took her 28 years until she got paid, but it wasn’t in royalties for writing the song but for having it played on an ad.
Fontella Bass on the web
Motown & Soul
You can learn how to play these Motown & Soul tunes, and in doing so, gain yourself a repertoire so you can jam with, or even join a working band.
Study these tunes in-depth and you will map out the fretboard, master the CAGED system, and learn how to design a rhythm guitar part that works in a band.
