Golden Lady by Stevie Wonder

Overview

Key: E♭ major · Chords used: 38 · Sections: 7

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

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 1

• E♭maj7 – Fm9 – Gm7 – Am7 – D7sus4
  Imaj7 – ii9 – iii7 – #iv7 – VII7sus4

Intro 2

Same chords as Intro 1.

A Section 1

• E♭maj7 – Fm9 – Gm7 – Am7 – D7 (×2)
  Imaj7 – ii9 – iii7 – #iv7 – VII7
• E♭maj7 – B♭maj7 – A♭m7 – D♭7 – G♭maj7 – F♯m7 – B9 – Am9 – D7sus4
  Imaj7 – Vmaj7 – iv7 – bVII7 – bIIImaj7 – #ii7 – #V9 – #iv9 – VII7sus4

B Section 1

• Gm – Gmmaj7 – Gm7 – Gm6 – A♭maj7 (×2)
  iii – iiimaj7 – iii7 – iii6 – IVmaj7
• Gmaj7 – Fm7 – B♭7sus4
  IIImaj7 – ii7 – V7sus4

A Section 2

Same chords as A Section 1.

B Section 2

Same chords as B Section 1.

A Section 3

• E♭maj7 – Fm9 – Gm7 – Am7 – D7 (×2)
  Imaj7 – ii9 – iii7 – #iv7 – VII7
• E♭maj7 – B♭maj7 – A♭m7 – D♭7 – G♭maj7 – F♯m7 – B9 – Am9 – D7 – E♭7
  Imaj7 – Vmaj7 – iv7 – bVII7 – bIIImaj7 – #ii7 – #V9 – #iv9 – VII7 – I7
• A♭m – A♭mmaj7 – A♭m7 – A♭m6 – Amaj7 (×2)
  iv – ivmaj7 – iv7 – iv6 – #IVmaj7
• Am – Ammaj7 – Am7 – Am6 – B♭maj7 (×2)
  #iv – #ivmaj7 – #iv7 – #iv6 – Vmaj7
• B♭m – B♭mmaj7 – B♭m7 – B♭m6 – Bmaj7 (×2)
  v – vmaj7 – v7 – v6 – #Vmaj7
• Bm – Bmmaj7 – Bm7 – Bm6 – Cmaj7 (×2)
  #v – #vmaj7 – #v7 – #v6 – VImaj7

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
E♭maj7	Imaj7	Home chord (tonic)	Intro, A Section
Fm9	ii9	In the key	Intro, A Section
Gm7	iii7	In the key	Intro, A Section, B Section
Am7	#iv7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Intro, A Section
D7sus4	VII7sus4	Outside the key (chromatic)	Intro, A Section
D7	VII7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
B♭maj7	Vmaj7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
A♭m7	iv7	Borrowed from E♭ minor	A Section
D♭7	bVII7	Borrowed from E♭ minor	A Section
G♭maj7	bIIImaj7	Borrowed from E♭ minor	A Section
F♯m7	#ii7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
B9	#V9	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
Am9	#iv9	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
Gm	iii	In the key	B Section
Gmmaj7	iiimaj7	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
Gm6	iii6	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
A♭maj7	IVmaj7	In the key	B Section
Gmaj7	IIImaj7	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
Fm7	ii7	In the key	B Section
B♭7sus4	V7sus4	In the key	B Section
E♭7	I7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
A♭m	iv	Borrowed from E♭ minor	A Section
A♭mmaj7	ivmaj7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
A♭m6	iv6	Borrowed from E♭ minor	A Section
Amaj7	#IVmaj7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
Am	#iv	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
Ammaj7	#ivmaj7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
Am6	#iv6	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
B♭m	v	Borrowed from E♭ minor	A Section
B♭mmaj7	vmaj7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
B♭m7	v7	Borrowed from E♭ minor	A Section
B♭m6	v6	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
Bmaj7	#Vmaj7	Borrowed from E♭ minor	A Section
Bm	#v	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
Bmmaj7	#vmaj7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
Bm7	#v7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
Bm6	#v6	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
Cmaj7	VImaj7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section

Harmonic highlights

• A♭m7 (iv7) is borrowed from the parallel key, E♭ minor.
• D♭7 (bVII7) is borrowed from the parallel key, E♭ minor.
• G♭maj7 (bIIImaj7) is borrowed from the parallel key, E♭ minor.
• A♭m (iv) is borrowed from the parallel key, E♭ minor.
• A♭m6 (iv6) is borrowed from the parallel key, E♭ minor.
• B♭m (v) is borrowed from the parallel key, E♭ minor.
• B♭m7 (v7) is borrowed from the parallel key, E♭ minor.
• Bmaj7 (#Vmaj7) is borrowed from the parallel key, E♭ minor.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Golden Lady” (credited “Wonder Stevie”, style Pop) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Performer/songwriter confirmed from Wikidata.
• 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 “Golden Lady” (credited “Wonder Stevie”, style Pop) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Performer/songwriter confirmed from Wikidata. A separately posted chart of the same song; its chords match this page's closely when both are read in the same key (similarity 77%).
• 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.
• About the song: Wikipedia.
• 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.