Chords + Lyrics | Rock With You
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.
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
Out on the floor, there ain’t nobody there but us.
Girl, when you dance, there’s a magic that must be love.
Bridge 2
Just take it slow, ’cause we got so far to go.
When you feel that heat and we’re gonna ride the boogie.
Share that beat of love.
Chorus 2
I wanna rock with you (all night).
Dance you into day (sunlight).
I wanna rock with you (all night).
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 | 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 | 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 (as chorus 3)
I wanna rock with you, yeah (all night).
Rock you into day (sunlight).
I wanna rock with you (all night).
Rock the night away (rock, right)
Outro (as chorus 3)
Feel the heat, feel the beat (all night). Woo.
Rock you into day (sunlight).
I wanna rock (all night).
Rock the night away (rock, right).
Rock With You Backing Tracks | Chord Analysis
Above, you’ll find two backing tracks for Rock With You. I made these using AI to remove the chords from the original recording so you can play them instead.
The second backing track has no vocals. In some countries, the backing track with vocals is blocked due to copyright restrictions.
Play along with both of these to prepare yourself for playing this awesome tune with a band.
Chord Progressions – What’s Going On?
I’d like to compare Rock With You with I Heard It Through the Grapevine—not because they share style, but because their chord movements are strikingly similar. Both feature two major chords a tone apart (Ab and Bb), resolving to an Ebm.
The key difference is in the order: Rock With You moves IV – V, whereas Grapevine moves V – IV. Either way, it’s no surprise this progression earned the #2 spot on my top 10 list.
The Ab11 breaks traditional harmonic rules—normally, the IV chord carries a #11. But who are we to argue with Quincy Jones, Rod Temperton, and Michael Jackson?
Chorus
In the chorus variation, the shift to a B chord instead of Bb makes Ebm feel like chord VI (Aeolian). However, when moving from Ebm to Ab, it feels like chord II (Dorian). This is a modal interchange—balancing between VI and II—and it’s a classic songwriting trick, also found in Master Blaster and Never Too Much.
Bridge
Now, let’s look at the bridge:
| Gbmaj7 | Fm7 | Bmaj7 | Ab11 |
From a Db major perspective, Gbmaj7 is IV, Fm7 is III, and Ab11 is V—but where does Bmaj7 fit? It’s the wildcard, much like the Fm7 in Sir Duke. Sometimes, you just have to step back and appreciate the genius of it.
To get TAB for all the sections discussed above and below, check out the TAB lesson here: Rock With You – Guitar Lesson with TAB.
Middle 8 + Solo
The middle 8 then shifts again, introducing Bbm7, which reinforces Ebm9 as a solid centre—until, unexpectedly, we get Eb9 instead! Just when it all seems to make sense, they flip the script again.
From here, the bridge progression repeats, followed by a solo over the chorus changes. The section eventually ends on a Db instead of Ab11.
There’s a completely genius arrangement detail here: the Db chord starts on beat 4, then gets two bars, effectively having 9 beats before we repeat.
After the repeat, the final bar has two beats of D, meaning that Db is appearing for 7 beats. Talk about building momentum—the listener is now gagging for what is about to happen next!
To cap it all off, the final chorus modulates up a semitone, moving from Ebm to Em. And that brings us back to the big question: is Ebm Dorian or Aeolian? The answer is—both.
Here’s a chord chart for Rock With You. You can download this in two different formats below.
When you can play as my TAB, try the backing tracks with this chord chart.
Rock With You Backing Track Chord Chart |
PDF + iReal Pro Download
You can download my chord chart for Rock With You as a PDF, as well as in iReal Pro format. It took me forever to get this one right—feel free to share it with your band members so you can all play the correct chords.
Rock With You TAB | Course Preview
In the course, we go through all sections of this fantastic tune. It’s all about minimalistic changes and how, for example, an Ebm9 and Gbmaj7 can share the same notes.
As a preview, here’s the intro.
Rock With You was Disco
By 1979, Michael Jackson had reached a turning point in his extraordinary career. Having grown up with The Jackson 5, he launched his solo career under the guidance of Quincy Jones.
His first album, Off the Wall, produced two major singles: Don’t Stop ’Til You Get Enough and the track we’re focusing on here—Rock With You.
At the time, disco was still at its peak, and Rock With You firmly belongs in that genre. The song reached #1 in the U.S. and charted highly in Australia, Canada, Ireland, and the U.K. Decades later, it remains a radio staple, a favourite among DJs, and—most importantly for you—a go-to cover for live bands.
The song’s chords are deceptively intricate, and playing them correctly makes a huge difference. As you study the chords, lyrics, and chord chart above, take the time to get them just right!
Rock With You Chords: Continue Learning
Want to master this song? Check out the full TAB lesson here: Rock With You (Michael Jackson) Guitar Lesson with TAB.
Alternatively, here are five similar tunes you might enjoy:
