I Can't Stop Loving You by Ray Charles

Overview

Key: F major · Chords used: 5 · Sections: 11

Form: Intro → Chorus → Chorus → Verse → Verse → Chorus → Chorus → Verse → Verse → Chorus → Chorus

Where these chords come from: an expert transcription of the original recording made for the Rock Corpus RS 200 (de Clercq & Temperley, 2011), analysis by Trevor de Clercq. 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

• F7
  I7

Chorus 1

• B♭ – F – C – F – F7
  IV – I – V – I – I7

Chorus 2

• B♭ – F – C – F – B♭ – F
  IV – I – V – I – IV – I

Verse 1

• F – F7 – B♭ – F – C – C7
  I – I7 – IV – I – V – V7

Verse 2

• F – F7 – B♭ – F – C – F – B♭ – F7
  I – I7 – IV – I – V – I – IV – I7

Chorus 3

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Chorus 4

Same chords as Chorus 2.

Verse 3

Same chords as Verse 1.

Verse 4

Same chords as Verse 2.

Chorus 5

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Chorus 6

Same chords as Chorus 2.

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
F7	I7	Secondary dominant (V/IV)	Verse, Chorus
B♭	IV	In the key	Chorus, Verse
F	I	Home chord (tonic)	Chorus, Verse
C	V	In the key	Chorus, Verse
C7	V7	In the key	Verse

Harmonic highlights

• F7 acts as V/IV: it resolves to B♭.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the Rock Corpus RS 200 (de Clercq & Temperley, 2011), analysis by Trevor de Clercq. Expert by-ear harmonic analysis of the original recording, shown on this page.
• Cross-check: the Rock Corpus RS 200 (de Clercq & Temperley, 2011), analysis by David Temperley. Independent by-ear analysis of the same recording. The two analysts agree on the chord (root and major/minor) for 100% of the song.
• Verified: two independent expert transcriptions agree on this song's harmony.
• Rhythm and chord durations aren't shown; each step is one chord change.