I Can't Help It by Michael Jackson

Overview

Key: A♭ major · Chords used: 11 · Sections: 6

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

• A7♯11 – A♭maj9 (×2)
  #I7#11 – Imaj9

Intro 2

Same chords as Intro 1.

A Section 1

• A7♯11 – A♭maj9 (×2)
  #I7#11 – Imaj9
• Fm9 – B♭9 – D♭m9 – E♭m7 – Emaj7 – F♯m7 – G♯m7 – Amaj7
  vi9 – II9 – iv9 – v7 – #Vmaj7 – #vi7 – #vii7 – #Imaj7

A Section 2

• A7♯11 – A♭maj9 (×2)
  #I7#11 – Imaj9
• Fm9 – B♭9 – D♭m9 – E♭7♯9 – A♭maj9
  vi9 – II9 – iv9 – V7#9 – Imaj9

B Section 1

• Fm9 – D♭m9 – E♭m7 (×2)
  vi9 – iv9 – v7

B Section 2

Same chords as B Section 1.

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
A7♯11	#I7#11	Outside the key (chromatic)	Intro, A Section
A♭maj9	Imaj9	Home chord (tonic)	Intro, A Section
Fm9	vi9	In the key	A Section, B Section
B♭9	II9	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
D♭m9	iv9	Borrowed from A♭ minor	A Section, B Section
E♭m7	v7	Borrowed from A♭ minor	A Section, B Section
Emaj7	#Vmaj7	Borrowed from A♭ minor	A Section
F♯m7	#vi7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
G♯m7	#vii7	Borrowed from A♭ minor	A Section
Amaj7	#Imaj7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
E♭7♯9	V7#9	Borrowed from A♭ minor	A Section

Harmonic highlights

• D♭m9 (iv9) is borrowed from the parallel key, A♭ minor.
• E♭m7 (v7) is borrowed from the parallel key, A♭ minor.
• Emaj7 (#Vmaj7) is borrowed from the parallel key, A♭ minor.
• G♯m7 (#vii7) is borrowed from the parallel key, A♭ minor.
• E♭7♯9 (V7#9) is borrowed from the parallel key, A♭ minor.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “I Can't Help It” (credited “Michael Jackson (Stevie Wonder)”, 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 “I Can't Help It” (credited “Stevie Wonder (Michael Jackson)”, style R'n'B) 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.
• 4 chords were simplified to the closest symbol our player supports (for example, an unusual added tone dropped).
• Rhythm and chord durations aren't shown; each step is one chord change.