Rock With You | Chords + Lyrics
Intro
| Ebm9 | Ab Bb | Ebm9 | Ab B |
| Ebm9 | Ab Bb | Ab11 Ab | Ab11 Ab |
Verse 1
| Ebm9 | Ab | Bb11 | Bb11 |
Girl, close your eyes, let that rhythm get into you.
| Ebm9 | Ab | Bb11 | Bb11 |
Don’t try to fight it, there ain’t nothing that you can do.
Bridge 1
| Gbmaj7 | Fm7 | Bmaj7 | Ab11 |
Relax your mind, lay back and groove with mine.
| Ebm7 Fm7 Gbmaj7 | N.C |
You gotta feel that heat and we can ride the boogie.
| Ebm7 Fm7 Gbmaj7 G | Ab |
Share that beat of love.
Chorus 1
| Ebm9 | Ab Bb |
I wanna rock with you (all night).
| Ebm9 | Ab B |
Dance you into day (sunlight).
| Ebm9 | Ab Bb |
I wanna rock with you (all night).
| Ab11 Ab | Ab11 Ab |
We’re gonna rock the night away.
Verse 2
| Ebm9 | Ab | Bb11 | Bb11 |
Out on the floor, there ain’t nobody there but us.
| Ebm9 | Ab | Bb11 | Bb11 |
Girl, when you dance, there’s a magic that must be love.
| Gbmaj7 | Fm7 | Bmaj7 | Ab11 |
Just take it slow, ’cause we got so far to go.
Bridge 2
| Ebm7 Fm7 Gbmaj7 | N.C |
When you feel that heat and we’re gonna ride the boogie.
| Ebm7 Fm7 Gbmaj7 G | Ab |
Share that beat of love.
Chorus 2
| Ebm9 | Ab Bb |
I wanna rock with you (all night).
| Ebm9 | Ab Bb |
Dance you into day (sunlight).
| Ebm9 | Ab Bb |
I wanna rock with you (all night).
| Ab11 Ab | Ab11 Ab |
We gon’ rock the night away.
Middle 8
| Bbm7 | Bbm7 | Eb9 | Eb9 |
And when the groove is dead and gone (yeah).
| Gbmaj7 | Fm7 | Bmaj7 | Ab11 |
You know that love survives, so we can rock forever, on.
Solo
| Ebm9 | Ab Bb | Ebm9 | Ab B |
| Ebm9 | Ab Bb | Ab Bb | Db | Db |
I wanna rock with you, I wanna groove with you.
Solo 2nd half
| Ebm9 | Ab Bb | Ebm9 | Ab B |
| Ebm9 | Ab Bb | Db | Db D |
I wanna rock with you, I wanna groove with you.
Chorus 3 (key change)
| Em9 | A B |
I Wanna rock (all night),
| Em9 | A C |
With you, girl (sunlight).
| Em9 | A B |
Rock with you, rock with you, yeah (all night).
| A11 A | A11 A |
Dance the night away (rock, right).
Chorus 4
| Em9 | A B |
I wanna rock with you, yeah (all night).
| Em9 | A C |
Rock you into day (sunlight).
| Em9 | A B |
I wanna rock with you (all night).
| A11 A | A11 A |
Rock the night away (rock, right)
Outro
| Em9 | A B |
Feel the heat, feel the beat (all night). Woo.
| Em9 | A C |
Rock you into day (sunlight).
| Em9 | A B |
I wanna rock (all night).
| A11 A | A11 A |
Rock the night away (rock, right).
Rock With You Chords: Learn the progressions
I’d like to compare Rock With You with I Heard It Through The Grapevine, not because they’re in the same key or style, but because the chord movements are similar. With two major chords a tone apart in Ab and Bb, leading back to an Ebm.
They’ve just switched it around, moving IV – V, instead of V – IV. Either way, they claimed the #2 spot on my top 10 chord progression list.
Interestingly enough, the Ab11 is breaking harmonic rules, usually, the IV chord has a #11. But who are we to argue with Quincy, Rod Temperton, and Michael?!?
As the variation of the chorus goes to a B chord, instead of a Bb, we feel as if Ebm is chord VI (Aeolian), whereas when it goes from Ebm to Ab, it feels like chord II (Dorian).
This balance between: Is it chord VI or II, is something Master Blaster and Never Too Much play with as well. It’s a great songwriting trick for sure!
Let’s move on to the bridge.
| Gbmaj7 | Fm7 | Bmaj7 | Ab11 |
I can only see this as from the key of Db, Gbmaj7 is IV, Fm7 is III, Bmaj7 is who knows what, and Ab11 is chord V.
That Bmaj7 is the curveball, kind of like Sir Duke used an Fm7. Sometimes, you just have to go: And that’s why these guys are so amazing…
Finally, the M8 changes again as it goes to a Bbm7, making it seem as if Ebm9 was all right after all. But just when you think it all makes sense, we get an Eb9 instead! Again, this is why these guys are geniuses…
Following this, we just get the bridge progression again, a solo over the chorus progression, ending on a Db, instead of Ab11.
Following this section, we modulate up a semitone and play the chorus in Em, not Ebm.
Is that Ebm as in Dorian or as in Aeolian I hear you cry? It’s both.
Rock With You was Disco!
The extraordinary career of Michael Jackson in 1979 reached a crossroads. After growing up (literally) with his siblings in The Jackson 5, Michael embarked on a solo career produced by Quincy Jones.
His first album, Off The Wall, featured two main singles, Don’t Stop ’Til You Get Enough, and what we’re looking at here today, Rock With You.
In 1979, Disco was still considered cool so that’s the genre this amazing composition has been filed under.
Reaching #1 in the U.S., the song also did well in Australia, Canada, Ireland, and the U.K. Since then, Rock With You has maintained radio play, is still spun by DJs, and as you’re probably mainly focusing on, covered by bands at events.
The chords for Rock With You are relatively complex, getting them perfect definitely makes a big difference so make sure you get them right as you study the chords and lyrics for Rock With You above.
Rock With You Chords | Related Pages
Five similar tunes | Chords + Lyrics
Michael Jackson tunes
The King of Pop became world-famous before he was even a teenager as he signed to Motown with his brothers as The Jackson 5.
After many hits, Michael Jackson embarked on a crazy solo career that would see him become as big as Elvis and The Beatles.
Michael Jackson on the web
Dance, Disco & Funk
Motown & Soul
Motown & Soul is the best place to start if you want to get better at playing the electric guitar. The harmony is simple and there is room for improvisation.
Learn tunes by The Supremes, Stevie Wonder, Jackson 5, Marvin Gaye, Dusty Springfield, Aretha Franklin, and many more.
About me | Dan Lundholm
This was a guitar lesson about Rock With You 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.
