A Very Special Love Song by Charlie Rich

Overview

Key: C major · Chords used: 23 · Sections: 8

Form: Intro → Verse → Interlude → Verse → Interlude → Bridge → Verse → Outro

Where these chords come from: an expert transcription of the original recording made for the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). This page shows that transcription as-is: the analysis below is generated directly from it by code, not written by AI. Consecutive repeats of a chord are shown once, and the piano voicings are our playable arrangement of each chord symbol, not a note-for-note transcription.

Section by section

Intro

• C/E – G/D – Am/C – G/B – F/A – C/G – G7
  I⁶ – V⁶₄ – vi⁶ – V⁶ – IV⁶ – I⁶₄ – V7

Verse 1

• C – Fm/C – C – D7 – Dm – G – Em – Am – D7 – C/G – G – F/G – Em – Dm/G – C/G – G7
  I – iv⁶₄ – I – II7 – ii – V – iii – vi – II7 – I⁶₄ – V – IV (bass G) – iii – ii (bass G) – I⁶₄ – V7

Interlude 1

• C – Fm/C
  I – iv⁶₄

Verse 2

Same chords as Verse 1.

Interlude 2

• C – C7 – C
  I – I7 – I

Bridge

• E♭ – F – B♭ (×2)
  bIII – IV – bVII
• D – Gm – E♭ – Cm/G – G7 – C/G – G
  II – v – bIII – i⁶₄ – V7 – I⁶₄ – V

Verse 3

Same chords as Verse 1.

Outro

• C – Fm/C – C – D7 – Dm – G – Em – Am – D7 – C/G – G – F/G – Em – Dm/G – C/G – G7 – C – Fm/C
  I – iv⁶₄ – I – II7 – ii – V – iii – vi – II7 – I⁶₄ – V – IV (bass G) – iii – ii (bass G) – I⁶₄ – V7 – I – iv⁶₄

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

• Fm/C (iv⁶₄) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.
• E♭ (bIII) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.
• B♭ (bVII) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.
• Gm (v) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.
• Cm/G (i⁶₄) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). Expert transcription by trained musicians (song 0779, CC0), via ChoCo.
• Not verified: only one expert transcription of this song is available so far.
• Rhythm and chord durations aren't shown; each step is one chord change.