That Old Black Magic

Words & Music by Harold Arlen & Johnny Mercer
Recorded by Glenn Miller*, 1943 (#1)


E7    A   E7/6  A    D9     A  E7/6  A 
That old black magic has me in its spell,

E7    A   E7/6  A    D9        E7  Fdim E7
That old black magic that you weave so well.

     E7  Fdim E7         D9      E7 Fdim E7
Those i - cy  fin - gers up and down my spine,

     A6  Cdim E7/9          Cdim      A6   Cdim E7/9
The same old  witch - craft when your eyes meet mine.


E7    A  E7/6  A    D9     A   E7/6   A
The same old tingle that I feel in - side,

E7    A  E7/6  A      D9          E7  Fdim  E7
And then that el - e - va - tor starts its ride.

     D9 Bm7-5 E7    Bm7-5  A9   Fdim F#m   F#m7/E
And down and down I   go; round and round I  go

D9     Dm6  BbM7         Fdim          A    D9   A
Like a leaf      that's caught in the tide.


Bridge:

AM7       F#m      F#m7/E                G#7
I should stay away,       but what can I do?

            C#7              F#7/6   
I hear your name and I'm a - flame.

     D9                         Dm6
A - flame with such a burning desire
 
              Bm7-5    Fdim          E7
That only your kiss can put out the fire.


(E7)  A    E7/6 A   D9  E7   A   E7/6  A
For you're the lover I have wait - ed for,

     A7  Em7   A7      Em7     Gdim D6   A7
The mate that Fate had me cre - a - ted for.

    D9         D6               Dm6
And ev'ry time   your lips meet mine,
 
         D9  Bm7-5 E7   Bm7-5  A9  Fdim F#m    F#m7/E
Darling, down and down I  go; round and round I  go

D         D6             Dm6       Bm7-5      
In a spin,   loving the spin I'm in

           D9  Bm7-5 Dm6    E7     A
Under that old black magic called love.

*Fair's fair, so I'm crediting Glenn Miller here because he had a number one hit with it -- even though it's practically impossible for anyone who was alive in the middle third of the 20th century not to associate this song with the furiously up-tempo version by Louis Prima and Keely Smith (which, good as it was, just doesn't lend itself to duplication by a finger-style rhythm guitarist...nor indeed by any musician who hasn't ingested about 20 cups of coffee first.)

The lyric and guitar chord transcriptions on this site are the work of The Guitarguy and are intended for private study, research, or educational purposes only. Individual transcriptions are inspired by and and based upon the recorded versions cited, but are not necessarily exact replications of those recorded versions.