Blame It On The Sun by Stevie Wonder

Overview

Key: A♭ major · Chords used: 16 · Sections: 8

Form: Intro → A Section → A Section → B Section → A Section → B Section → Outro → Outro

Where these chords come from: a chord chart of this song written by a musician and shared on the iReal Pro forums, archived in the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). It's one musician's reading of the song, not a transcription checked against the recording. This page shows that chart 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

• A♭ – A♭sus4 (×4)
  I – Isus4

A Section 1

• A♭ – E♭/G – F – Cm – G/B – Cm7 – Fm7 – B♭m7 – E♭7sus4
  I – V⁶ – VI – iii – VII⁶ – iii7 – vi7 – ii7 – V7sus4

A Section 2

Same chords as A Section 1.

B Section 1

• B♭m7 – Fm7 (×2)
  ii7 – vi7
• Dm7♭5 – G7♯9 – Cm7
  #ivø7 – VII7#9 – iii7
• B♭m7 – Fm7 (×2)
  ii7 – vi7
• Fm7/E♭ – Dm7♭5 – G7♯9 – Cm7 – D♭maj7 – Cm7 – B♭m7 – E♭7sus4 – A♭ – A♭sus4
  vi⁴₂ – #ivø7 – VII7#9 – iii7 – IVmaj7 – iii7 – ii7 – V7sus4 – I – Isus4

A Section 3

Same chords as A Section 1.

B Section 2

• B♭m7 – Fm7 (×2)
  ii7 – vi7
• Dm7♭5 – G7♯9 – Cm7
  #ivø7 – VII7#9 – iii7
• B♭m7 – Fm7 (×2)
  ii7 – vi7
• Fm7/E♭ – Dm7♭5 – G7♯9 – Cm7
  vi⁴₂ – #ivø7 – VII7#9 – iii7

Outro 1

• D♭maj7 – Cm7 – B♭m7
  IVmaj7 – iii7 – ii7

Outro 2

• E♭7sus4 – A♭ – B♭/A♭ – D♭m/A♭ – A♭
  V7sus4 – I – II (bass A♭) – iv⁶₄ – I

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
A♭	I	Home chord (tonic)	Intro, A Section, B Section, Outro
A♭sus4	Isus4	Home chord (tonic)	Intro, B Section
E♭/G	V⁶	In the key	A Section
F	VI	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
Cm	iii	In the key	A Section
G/B	VII⁶	Secondary dominant (V/iii)	A Section
Cm7	iii7	In the key	A Section, B Section, Outro
Fm7	vi7	In the key	A Section, B Section
B♭m7	ii7	In the key	A Section, B Section, Outro
E♭7sus4	V7sus4	In the key	A Section, B Section, Outro
Dm7♭5	#ivø7	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
G7♯9	VII7#9	Secondary dominant (V/iii)	B Section
Fm7/E♭	vi⁴₂	In the key	B Section
D♭maj7	IVmaj7	In the key	B Section, Outro
B♭/A♭	II (bass A♭)	Outside the key (chromatic)	Outro
D♭m/A♭	iv⁶₄	Borrowed from A♭ minor	Outro

Harmonic highlights

• D♭m/A♭ (iv⁶₄) is borrowed from the parallel key, A♭ minor.
• G/B acts as V/iii: it resolves to Cm7.
• G7♯9 acts as V/iii: it resolves to Cm7.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Blame It On The Sun” (credited “Wonder-Wright (Stevie Wonder)”, style Pop) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Artist as credited on the chart.
• Section names: from the chart's own markings: section names written on the chart (Intro, Verse, Chorus…) are kept, and rehearsal letters are shown as “A Section”, “B Section” and so on (the B of an AABA song is called the Bridge).
• Cross-check: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Blame It On The Sun” (credited “Stevie Wonder (Wonder-Wright)”, style Pop) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Artist as credited on the chart. A separately posted chart of the same song; its chords match this page's closely when both are read in the same key (similarity 100%).
• Chord charts are often written in a key that suits a particular singer or band, so this may not be the key of the original recording.
• The chart's D.S./D.C./coda jumps have been written out in playing order.
• Verified: two community charts of this song, posted in different forum threads, agree on its harmony. They're still charts, not transcriptions checked against the recording.
• Rhythm and chord durations aren't shown; each step is one chord change.