I Just Called to Say I Love You by Stevie Wonder

Overview

Key: D♭ major · Chords used: 26 · Sections: 8

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

• D♭ – Fm/A♭ – D♭
  I – iii⁶ – I

A Section 1

• D♭ – Fm/A♭ (×2)
  I – iii⁶
• D♭
  I
• E♭m – E♭mmaj7 (×2)
  ii – iimaj7
• E♭m7 – E♭mmaj7 – E♭m – A♭7sus4 – A♭7 – D♭
  ii7 – iimaj7 – ii – V7sus4 – V7 – I

A Section 2

Same chords as A Section 1.

B Section 1

• E♭m7 – A♭ – D♭ – E♭m7 – A♭ – B♭m – E♭m7 – A♭ – B♭m11 – B♭m – E♭m7 – A♭7sus4 – A♭7 – D♭
  ii7 – V – I – ii7 – V – vi – ii7 – V – vi11 – vi – ii7 – V7sus4 – V7 – I

A Section 3

Same chords as A Section 1.

A Section 4

• D♭ – Fm/A♭ (×2)
  I – iii⁶
• D♭
  I
• E♭m – E♭mmaj7 (×2)
  ii – iimaj7
• E♭m7 – E♭mmaj7 – E♭m – A♭7sus4 – A♭7 – D♭ – D
  ii7 – iimaj7 – ii – V7sus4 – V7 – I – #I

B Section 2

• Em7 – A – D – Em7 – A – Bm – Em7 – A – Bm11 – Bm – Em7 – A7sus4 – A7 – D – E♭
  #ii7 – #V – #I – #ii7 – #V – #vi – #ii7 – #V – #vi11 – #vi – #ii7 – #V7sus4 – #V7 – #I – II

B Section 3

• Fm7 – B♭ – E♭ – Fm7 – B♭ – Cm – Fm7 – B♭ – Cm11 – Cm – Fm7 – B♭7sus4 – B♭7 – E♭ – Badd9 – D♭add9 – E♭
  iii7 – VI – II – iii7 – VI – vii – iii7 – VI – vii11 – vii – iii7 – VI7sus4 – VI7 – II – #VIadd9 – Iadd9 – II

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
D♭	I	Home chord (tonic)	Intro, A Section, B Section
Fm/A♭	iii⁶	In the key	Intro, A Section
E♭m	ii	In the key	A Section
E♭mmaj7	iimaj7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
E♭m7	ii7	In the key	A Section, B Section
A♭7sus4	V7sus4	In the key	A Section, B Section
A♭7	V7	In the key	A Section, B Section
A♭	V	In the key	B Section
B♭m	vi	In the key	B Section
B♭m11	vi11	In the key	B Section
D	#I	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section, B Section
Em7	#ii7	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
A	#V	Borrowed from D♭ minor	B Section
Bm	#vi	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
Bm11	#vi11	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
A7sus4	#V7sus4	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
A7	#V7	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
E♭	II	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
Fm7	iii7	In the key	B Section
B♭	VI	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
Cm	vii	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
Cm11	vii11	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
B♭7sus4	VI7sus4	In the key	B Section
B♭7	VI7	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
Badd9	#VIadd9	Borrowed from D♭ minor	B Section
D♭add9	Iadd9	Home chord (tonic)	B Section

Harmonic highlights

• A (#V) is borrowed from the parallel key, D♭ minor.
• Badd9 (#VIadd9) is borrowed from the parallel key, D♭ minor.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “I Just Called To Say I Love You” (credited “Wonder Stevie”, style Pop) 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).
• Cross-check: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “I Just Called To Say I Love You” (credited “Wonder Stevie”, style Medium Pop) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Performer confirmed from the Billboard year-end charts. A separately posted chart of the same song; its chords match this page's closely when both are read in the same key (similarity 91%).
• 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.