Chords + Lyrics | Shake Your Body (Down To The Ground)
Intro
||: G7omit3 G7sus4 F/G G7 | G7omit3 G7sus4 F/G G7 :|| (keyboard chords)
Oh!
||: G7omit3 G7sus4 G7 | G7omit3 G7sus4 G7 :||
Verse 1
||: G7omit3 G7sus4 G7 | G7omit3 G7sus4 G7 :||
I don’t know what’s gonna happen to you, baby.
But I do know that I love you.
You walk around this town with your head all up in the sky.
And I do know that I want you.
Chorus 1
||: G7omit3 G7sus4 G7 | G7omit3 G7sus4 G7 :||
||: Let’s dance, let’s shout (shout), shake your body down to the ground :|| x4
Instrumental 1
||: G7omit3 G7sus4 G7 | G7omit3 G7sus4 G7 :||
Oh!
Verse 2
You tease me with your loving to play hard to get.
Cause you do know that I want you.
You walk around this town with your head all up in the sky.
And you do know that I want you.
Chorus 2
||: Let’s dance, let’s shout (shout), shake your body down to the ground :|| x4
Instrumental 2
Shake it all down.
Verse 3
You’re the spark that lit the fire inside of me.
And you do know that I love it.
I need to do just something to get closer to your soul.
And you do know that I want you.
Chorus 3
||: Let’s dance, let’s shout (shout), shake your body down to the ground :|| x4
Instrumental 3
||: G7 G6 | G7 G9 :|| x4
Ow!
Verse 4
||: G7 G6 | G7 :||
You tease me with your loving to play hard to get.
Cause you do know that I want you.
I need to do just something to get closer to your soul.
And you do know that I want you.
Chorus 4
||: G7 G6 | G7 (G9) :||
Let’s dance (dance), let’s shout (shout), shake your body down to the ground.
Let’s dance (dance), let’s shout (come on, shout), shake your body down to the ground (are you aroused?).
Let’s dance (dance), let’s shout (come on, shout), shake your body down to the ground.
Let’s dance (dance), let’s shout (and shout), shake it over.
Instrumental 4
||: G7 G6 | G7 (G9) :||
Ow! Down, down, down, down, down, yeah down.
||: G7 G6 | G7 G9 :||
Shake it over. Oh! You know I will move for you.
Chorus 5 (as chorus 4)
Let’s dance (dance), let’s shout (dance, shout), shake your body down to the ground.
Dance, dance shout.
Dance, dance shout.Dance, dance shout.
Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground) Backing Tracks | Chord Analysis
Above, you’ll find backing tracks to use when learning Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground). I’ve used stem separation to extract the guitar while keeping the drums, bass, keys, strings, horns, and vocals intact.
There is also a version without keys available.
After studying the chords and TAB, use my backing tracks to prepare for playing this tune with a band.
Chord Progressions – What’s Going On?
Defining the chords for The Jacksons Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground) isn’t as straightforward as it might seem—you’ll get a different answer depending on which band member you ask.
The keyboard player, guitarist 1, and guitarist 2 each interpret the progression differently.
Keyboard chords
The keyboardist might describe it like this:
||: G7omit3 G7sus4 F/G G7 | G7omit3 G7sus4 F/G G7 :||
Or perhaps with different extensions, but once translated into guitar terms, this is what you’d likely play.
Guitar 1 chords
Guitar 1 doesn’t follow the keys exactly. Instead, they play:
||: G7omit3 G7sus4 G7 | G7omit3 G7sus4 G7 :||
When the keyboard plays F/G, Guitar 1 sticks to G7—creating a clashy but funky interaction between the C in the keyboard and the B in the guitar.
Guitar 2 chords
Meanwhile, Guitar 2 offers yet another interpretation:
||: G7 G6 | G7 G9 :||
Sometimes, they loop just the first bar, and occasionally, the 6th isn’t played at all, adding further variation to the groove.
The chords above represent a “best of” version—once you’ve got the TAB under your fingers, it will all make sense. Without it, these extensions might seem overwhelming. You’ll find said TAB further down this guitar lesson.
If you’re the only guitarist in the band, you’ll likely need to shift between guitar 1 and guitar 2, or even blend their parts. And if there’s no keyboard player, you’ll have to cover the keys’ role—especially in the intro!
With the TAB absorbed, all you need now is this chord chart and an open mind.
Shake Your Body Down Chord Chart | PDF + iReal Pro Download
Should you want to download this chart, here’s a PDF: Shake Your Body Down chord chart PDF.
This chord chart was created using iReal Pro, here’s a link to that file: Shake Your Body Down iReal Pro. Using this and the iRealPro app, you can change the key.
Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground) | TAB
Since the chords are so complex, let’s just look at the three parts in TAB first and aim to understand the chords after we can play them.
Learn these and you’ll probably be able to develop some kind of hybrid version afetr playng along with the various backing tracks above.
There are more subtle variations on the original recording, but these three parts will get you started.
It’s important to understand that your part may vary depending on how many other musicians are in the band.
Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground) Chords: Continue Learning
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