Thriller | Chords + Lyrics
Intro
| C#5 | C#5 | C#sus2 | C#sus2 |
| C#m | C#m | C#sus4 | C#sus4 |
| C#dim | C#dim | C#m C#m7 | C#m7 F# E |
||: C#m bass riff :|| x8
Verse 1
||: C#m bass riff | C#m bass riff :||
It’s close to midnight and something evil’s lurking in the dark.
Under the moonlight, you see a sight that almost stops your heart.
||: C#m guitar riff | C#m guitar riff :||
You try to scream, but terror takes the sound before you make it.
You start to freeze, as horror looks you right between the eyes, you’re paralyzed.
Chorus 1
| C#m C#m7 | C#m7 F# E |
‘Cause this is thriller, thriller night.
| F# | F#m |
And no one’s gonna save you from the beast about to strike.
| C#m C#m7 | C#m7 F# E |
You know it’s thriller, thriller night.
| F# | A F# B |
You’re fighting for your life inside a killer, thriller tonight, yeah
Instrumental
||: C#m guitar riff | C#m guitar riff :||
Ooh, ooh.
Verse 2
||: C#m guitar riff | C#m guitar riff :||
You hear the door slam, and realize there’s nowhere left to run.
You feel the cold hand, and wonder if you’ll ever see the sun.
You close your eyes, and hope that this is just imagination.
Girl, but all the while, you hear a creature creepin’ up behind, you’re out of time.
Chorus 2
| C#m C#m7 | C#m7 F# E |
‘Cause this is thriller, thriller night.
| F# | F#m |
There ain’t no second chance against the thing with forty eyes, girl.
| C#m C#m7 | C#m7 F# E |
(Thriller) Woo-hoo (thriller night).
| F# | A F# B | C#m F#7 |
You’re fighting for your life inside a killer, thriller tonight.
Middle 8
| F#7 | F#7 | Amaj7 | Amaj7 A B |
Night creatures call and the dead start to walk in their masquerade.
| C#m | C#m/B | A#m7b5 | Amaj7 |
There’s no escaping the jaws of the alien this time (they’re open wide)
| G#sus4 | G# |
This is the end of your life, ooh.
Verse 3
||: C#m guitar riff | C#m guitar riff :||
They’re out to get you, there’s demons closin’ in on every side.
They will possess you, unless you change that number on your dial.
Now is the time, for you and I to cuddle close together, yeah.
All through the night, I’ll save you from the terror on the screen, I’ll make you see.
Chorus 3
| C#m C#m7 | C#m7 F# E |
That this is thriller, thriller night.
| F# | F#m |
‘Cause I can thrill you more than any ghoul would ever dare try.
| C#m C#m7 | C#m7 F# E |
Thriller, thriller night.
| F# | A F# B | D#m7b5 Dmaj7 B11 | B11 |
So let me hold you tight and share a killer, thriller, chiller, thriller here tonight.
Chorus 4
| C#m C#m7 | C#m7 F# E |
‘Cause this is thriller, thriller night.
| F# | F#m |
Girl, I can thrill you more than any ghoul would ever dare try.
| C#m C#m7 | C#m7 F# E |
Thriller, thriller night.
| F# | A F# B |
So let me hold you tight and share a killer, thriller, ow!
Breakdown
||: C#m guitar riff | C#m guitar riff :||
(I’m gonna thrill you tonight)
Outro
||: C#m guitar riff | C#m guitar riff :||
Darkness falls across the land, the midnight hour is close at hand
Creatures crawl in search of blood, to terrorize y’all’s neighborhood (I’m gonna thrill you tonight).
And whosoever shall be found, without the soul for getting down.
Must stand and face the hounds of hell, and rot inside a corpse’s shell.
||: C#m guitar riff | C#m guitar riff :||
I’m gonna thrill you tonight. Thriller, ooh baby (thriller).
I’m gonna thrill you tonight (thriller night). Thriller, all night, oh baby.
I’m gonna thrill you tonight. Thriller, thriller night (oh baby).
I’m gonna thrill you tonight. Thriller, all night (oh baby).
Thriller night, babe (thriller night, babe), ooh.
||: C#m guitar riff | C#m guitar riff :||
The foulest stench is in the air, the funk of forty thousand years.
And grizzly ghouls from every tomb, are closing in to seal your doom.
And though you fight to stay alive, your body starts to shiver.
For no mere mortal can resist, the evil of the thriller.
Thriller’s chords, progressions, riff, and TAB
Michael Jackson and Quincy Jones’s masterpiece Thriller does have some serious chords lurking in the arrangement.
The intro, which is played by the keyboard player is based around a C#m chord which has one note moving up from the Root – 2nd – m3rd – 4 – b5.
This is then followed by the two-bar chorus chords that outline the melody.
Members get TAB for how to play this on the guitar, meaning you could play Thriller in a band without keyboards.
After understanding it in this much depth, it’ll be easy for you to design a guitar part no matter the size of the band.
Here’s a link to the complete lesson (members only): Thriller chord analysis and TAB.
Become a member today and get unlimited access to all my guitar courses, the SEPR practice route, and the eBook Spytunes Method – You can learn guitar!
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