Hard to Say I'm Sorry by Chicago

Overview

Key: E major · Chords used: 30 · Sections: 14

Form: Intro → A Section → A Section → B Section → C Section → A Section ×2 → B Section → C Section → Interlude → D Section → D Section → Interlude → Break

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

• E – A/C♯ – B/D♯ – B/C♯ – G♯/C – C♯m – C♯m/B – F♯/A♯ – Bsus4 – B – E
  I – IV⁶ – V⁶ – V (bass C♯) – III⁶ – vi – vi (bass B) – II⁶ – Vsus4 – V – I

A Section 1

• E – G♯m7 – A – B – C♯m – B
  I – iii7 – IV – V – vi – V

A Section 2

Same chords as A Section 1.

B Section 1

• C♯m – F♯m7 – Bsus4 – B – E – C♯m – F♯m7 – B7sus4 – B7
  vi – ii7 – Vsus4 – V – I – vi – ii7 – V7sus4 – V7

C Section 1

• E – A/C♯ – B/D♯ – B/C♯ – G♯/C – C♯m – C♯m/B – F♯/A♯ – Bsus4 – B – C♯m7 – B/D♯ – E – A/C♯ – B/D♯ – B/C♯ – G♯/C – C♯m – C♯m/B – F♯/A♯
  I – IV⁶ – V⁶ – V (bass C♯) – III⁶ – vi – vi (bass B) – II⁶ – Vsus4 – V – vi7 – V⁶ – I – IV⁶ – V⁶ – V (bass C♯) – III⁶ – vi – vi (bass B) – II⁶
• Bsus4 – B (×2)
  Vsus4 – V

A Section 3

Same chords as A Section 1.

A Section 4

Same chords as A Section 1.

B Section 2

• C♯m – F♯m7 – Bsus4 – B – E – E/D♯ – C♯m – F♯m7
  vi – ii7 – Vsus4 – V – I – I (bass D♯) – vi – ii7

C Section 2

• E – A/C♯ – B/D♯ – B/C♯ – G♯/C – C♯m – C♯m/B – F♯/A♯ – Bsus4 – B – C♯m7 – B/D♯ – E – A/C♯ – B/D♯ – B/C♯ – G♯/C – C♯m – C♯m/B – F♯/A♯
  I – IV⁶ – V⁶ – V (bass C♯) – III⁶ – vi – vi (bass B) – II⁶ – Vsus4 – V – vi7 – V⁶ – I – IV⁶ – V⁶ – V (bass C♯) – III⁶ – vi – vi (bass B) – II⁶

Interlude 1

• B – B/A
  V – V (bass A)

D Section 1

• G – C/E – D/F♯ – D/E – B/D♯ – Em – Em/D – A/C♯ – Dsus4 – D – D7sus4/E – D/F♯
  bIII – bVI⁶ – bVII⁶ – bVII (bass E) – V⁶ – i – i (bass D) – IV⁶ – bVIIsus4 – bVII – bVII7sus4 (bass E) – bVII⁶

D Section 2

• G – C/E – D/F♯ – D/E – B/D♯ – Em – Em/D – A/C♯ – Dsus4 – D – D7sus4/E – D/F♯ – G – C/E – D/F♯ – D/E – B/D♯ – Em – Em/D – A/C♯ – Cm6 – Bsus4
  bIII – bVI⁶ – bVII⁶ – bVII (bass E) – V⁶ – i – i (bass D) – IV⁶ – bVIIsus4 – bVII – bVII7sus4 (bass E) – bVII⁶ – bIII – bVI⁶ – bVII⁶ – bVII (bass E) – V⁶ – i – i (bass D) – IV⁶ – bvi6 – Vsus4

Interlude 2

• B
  V

Break

• Eadd9 – Aadd9 – C♯m7 – F♯m7
  Iadd9 – IVadd9 – vi7 – ii7

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

• G (bIII) is borrowed from the parallel key, E minor.
• C/E (bVI⁶) is borrowed from the parallel key, E minor.
• D/F♯ (bVII⁶) is borrowed from the parallel key, E minor.
• D/E (bVII (bass E)) is borrowed from the parallel key, E minor.
• Em (i) is borrowed from the parallel key, E minor.
• Em/D (i (bass D)) is borrowed from the parallel key, E minor.
• Dsus4 (bVIIsus4) is borrowed from the parallel key, E minor.
• D (bVII) is borrowed from the parallel key, E minor.
• D7sus4/E (bVII7sus4 (bass E)) is borrowed from the parallel key, E minor.
• G♯/C acts as V/vi: it resolves to C♯m.
• F♯/A♯ acts as V/V: it resolves to Bsus4.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Hard To Say I'm Sorry” (credited “(Chicago) Cetera-Foster”, style Pop Ballad) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Performer confirmed from the Billboard year-end charts.
• 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).
• 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.
• About the song: Wikipedia.
• Not verified: only one chart of this song is available, so it hasn't been cross-checked.
• Rhythm and chord durations aren't shown; each step is one chord change.