Venus chords

by Shocking Blue
  • Venus was written by Robbie van Leeuwen from the band Shocking Blue.
  • The song was recorded in 1969 and released October 2nd, 1969
  • Album: At Home.
  • Music: Key of E Minor in 4/4 time at 130 bpm (♩)
  • Chords: Em, A, Am, D, C, B, B7sus4
Chord Chart Legend
Em A Major Am D Major D Major A Major Am B Major B7sus4 C Major
Em A Major Am D Major D Major A Major Am B Major B7sus4 C Major

Venus

Intro: 4/4
   |  B7sus4  |  B7sus4   | Em  -  A  |  Em  -  A  |
   |  B7sus4  |  B7sus4   | Em  -  A  |  Em  -  A  | Em  -  A  |  Em  -  A  |

     Em      -       A         Em  - A     Em      -       A       Em  -  A
1. A God-dess on the moun-tain top     Was burn-ing like a sil-ver flame
       Em    -    A           Em  - A      Em      -      A   |   Em   |
   The sum-mit of beau-ty and love     And Ve-nus was her name

              Am  -   D    Am  -  D           Em  -  A   | Em  - A  |
Chorus: She's got it   _     Yeah ba-by she's got it   _
             C                B7sus4                    Em   -  A  | Em  -  A  |
        Well  I'm your Ve-nus       I'm your fire    At your de-sire
             C                B7sus4                    Em   -  A  | Em  -  A  |
        Well  I'm your Ve-nus       I'm your fire    At your de-sire

Instr: ||:    Em  -  A   |   Em  -  A   |   Em  -  A   |   Em  -  A   :||  (8)

       Em       -        A        Em  - A    Em      -      A    Em  -  A
2. Her wea-pons were her crys-tal eyes       Ma-king ev’-ry man  mad
   Em    -      A          Em  -   A           Em    -     A      Em  
   Black as the dark night she was    Got what no-one else had    Wow!

              Am  -   D    Am  -  D           Em  -  A   | Em  - A  |
Chorus: She's got it   _     Yeah ba-by she's got it   _
             C                B7sus4                    Em   -  A  | Em  -  A  |
        Well  I'm your Ve-nus       I'm your fire    At your de-sire
             C                B7sus4                    Em   -  A  | Em  -  A  |
        Well  I'm your Ve-nus       I'm your fire    At your de-sire

                                                                            
Bridge: |  A  /  B    -    A  /  B   |  A  /  B   -    A  /  B  | 

        ||:  Em  -  A  | Em  -  A  | Em  -  A  | Em  -  A  :|| (8)
             Ah     ah   Ah      ah  Ah  ah  ah  Ah...


              Am  -   D    Am  -  D           Em  -  A   | Em  - A  |
Chorus: She's got it   _     Yeah ba-by she's got it   _
             C                B7sus4                    Em   -  A  | Em  -  A  |
        Well  I'm your Ve-nus       I'm your fire    At your de-sire
             C                B7sus4                    Em   -  A  | Em  -  A  |
        Well  I'm your Ve-nus       I'm your fire    At your de-sire

Outro: 
        |  A  /  B    -    A  /  B   |  A  /  B   -    A  /  B  |

        |  B7sus4  |  B7sus4  |  Em  -  A  |  Em  -  A  |
        
        |  B7sus4  |  B7sus4  |   Em  -  A  |  Em  -  A  | Em  -  A  | Em  -  A  |

        |  Em  -  A  |  Em  -  A  |  Em  -  A  | ... (fade out)

Notes:

  • Level Of Ease: Easy once you get used to it.
  • Song Key: Em (1 sharps - F#) - relative minor to G major (share the same notes)
  • The intro starts with a B7sus4. Listen to the intro a few times till you get used to the strumming pattern. Play along with the guitarist... after a while it becomes very natural.
  • The intro to this song is like a great guitar riff except it takes the form of a strum pattern. It is a very famous intro, and many of you will have heard it with this version, or Bananarama's version of the song.
  • The | A/B A/B | means you slide from A to B (2x) in the bar
  • If you are counting each bar as |1& 2& 3& 4&|: beat 1 - strum A and slide on the & so that on beat 2 you are on B (2&); beat 3 - strum A and slide on the && so that on beat 4 you are on B (4&)... you will hear this as you play along.
  • The slide from A to B happens 2x in each bar... with 2 bars there are 4 slides in total. This occurs in the Bridge, and again in the Outro.
  • The hyphen between 2 chords means the bar count is split in half, therefore in this song, | Em - A | means 2 beats on Em and 2 beats on A.
  • As you play the | Em - A | throughout the song, you will have to dampen each chord after you play it, so again if you are counting each bar as |1& 2& 3& 4&| try the following.
1 - down stroke on the Em
& - up stroke on the Em
2& - dampen (as you strum down, place your hand on the strings to stop the sound
3 - down stroke on the A
& - up stroke on the A
4& - dampen
  • At the start of each chorus with the lyrics "She's Got it" and chords | Am - D | Am - D | - they can be played as barre chords starting on the 5th fret ... see charts above.
  • The dynamics work very well, with slides, guitar riffs, strum riffs... it's all happening!
  • This song is pretty straight forward once you get the hang of the strum pattern, slides and string dampening... enjoy.
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