Chords + Lyrics | Spooky
Intro
| Am7 | D6/9 | Am7 | D6/9 |
Verse 1
| Am7 | D6/9 | Am7 | D6/9 |
In the cool of the evening when everything is getting kind of groovy.
| Am7 | D6/9 | Am7 | D6/9 |
You call me up and ask me would I like to go with you and see a movie.
| Am7 | Am7 | D6/9 N.C | D#dim7 |
First I say “no”, I’ve got some plans for the night and then I stop, and say, “all right”.
| Am7 | D6/9 | Am7 | E7#9 |
Love is kinda crazy with a spooky little boy like you.
Verse 2
| Am7 | D6/9 | Am7 | D6/9 |
You always keep me guessing, I never seem to know what you are thinking.
| Am7 | D6/9 | Am7 | D6/9 |
And if a girl looks at you, it’s for sure your little eye would be a-winkin’.
| Am7 | Am7 | D13 N.C | D#dim7 |
I get confused, ’cause I don’t know where I stand and then you smile, and hold my hand.
| Am7 | D13 | Am7 | E7#9 |
Love is kinda crazy with a spooky little boy like you. Spooky yeah.
Solo
| Am7 | D6/9 | Am7 | D6/9 |
| Am7 | D6/9 | Am7 | E7#9 |
Verse 3 (as verse 1)
If you decide someday to stop this little game that you are playing.
I’m gonna tell you all that my heart’s been a-dyin’ to be sayin’.
Just like a ghost, you’ve been a-hauntin’ my dreams but now I know, you’re not what you seem.
Love is kinda crazy with a spooky little boy like you. Spooky, hey.
Outro
||: Am7 | D6/9 | Am7 | D6/9 :||
Ha, ah, ha. Spooky, mm, hm.
Spooky, ah, ah, ah, ah. Spooky, oh, oh.
Spooky, ah, ah, ah. Spooky.
Spooky Backing Tracks | Chord Analysis
Above, you’ll find backing tracks to use when learning Spooky. I’ve used stem separation to extract the guitar while keeping the drums, bass, keys, horns, and vocals intact.
After studying the chords and TAB, use my backing tracks to prepare for playing this tune with a band.
Should you want to play along with the original recording instead, you need to tune your guitar down to 437Hz. In the backing tracks, I’ve done this job for you by tuning it to 440Hz.
Chord Progressions – What’s Going On?
The intro of Spooky sets the tone with a simple loop of Am7 – D6/9.
For the guitar, it sounds best when you use Em and C shapes to play these chords. A 6/9 chord is essentially a 9 chord, but with the b7 replaced by a 6.
This concept is best explained in TAB, and it becomes easier to remember once you get familiar with the chord extensions. You can check this out further down this guitar lesson.
Verse
The verse continues with the same loop until bar 11, when it halts and transitions to a D#dim7. This can be a tricky moment for the band if the chords haven’t been discussed beforehand.
The final chord of the verse is E7#9. Many musicians make the mistake of playing either Em7 or E7, which is ironic because combining both chords results in the correct E7#9. In this case, two wrong chords come together to make the right one—Spooky!
Solo
Now, let’s look at the solo. Instead of following the verse structure, it follows an 8-bar minor blues progression. The Am7 – D6/9 progression suggests that we should treat this as a II – V and solo in A Dorian. End it with an E7#9, like this:
| Am7 | D6/9 | Am7 | D6/9 |
| Am7 | D6/9 | Am7 | E7#9 |
Verse 2
Finally, in verse 2, we replace the D6/9 with a 13 chord in the second half. Here’s a chord chart to summarise everything:
Spooky Chord Chart | PDF + iReal Pro Download
Should you want to download this chart, here’s a PDF: Spooky chord chart PDF.
This chord chart was created using iReal Pro, here’s a link to that file: Spooky iReal Pro.
Using this and the iRealPro app, you can change the key which may be a great idea if you want to practice Spooky‘s chords in 12 keys and become better at soloing.
Spooky | TAB
I really wanted to create a one-acoustic guitar arrangement of Dusty Springfields version of Spooky, but in the end, I gave up.
For a soul band, however, this is a great tune, so I moved on and wrote a couple of parts that I know from experience work well in that context.
Here’s the first idea, which you can use with or without a keys player:
I’m varying the first loop. The first D6/9 is held longer than the second, and the slides are different. I like this kind of part writing—looping the same two bars gets boring, and if you vary them every time, it becomes too much.
The D#dim7, played without its root, looks like a D7 shape. The final E7#9 is like the record.
Now let’s switch it up with idea two:
That Am7 is actually a Dm shape with the m3rd in the bass. I alternate between Am and Am7 to create movement. The D6/9 evolves into D7, D13, and D9, which are essentially the same chords with a b7.
Since this part is more complex than idea 1, I felt it could be played on a loop without sounding repetitive.
We maintain the same thinking with the D#dim7 in the E shape—it’s still like a D7 without the root.
The final E7#9 is a fun ending part I came up with.
Finally, here’s the rhythm part for the solo section. I’ve scrapped the slides here to make space for the soloist.
Spooky Chords: Continue Learning
Step-by-step Guitar Courses
Master guitar by studying real tunes. Build your skills with video lessons, eBooks and practice routines that connect theory with the music you love!
Explore SpyTunes step-by-step Guitar Courses.
Five similar tunes | Chords + Lyrics
