I Love My Wife by Cy Coleman

Overview

Key: E♭ major · Chords used: 27 · Sections: 6

Form: A Section → A Section → B Section → A Section → B Section → Tag

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

A Section 1

• E♭maj9 – Fm9/B♭ (×2)
  Imaj9 – ii9 (bass B♭)
• E♭maj9 – E♭maj9/D – Cm7 – B♭7sus4 – B♭7sus4/A♭ – Gm7 – C7♭9 – Fm9 – Fm9/G – A♭m7 – D♭7 – Gm7 – Cm7 – F7♯11 – Fm9 – B♭13 – E♭maj7 – Fm9/B♭
  Imaj9 – Imaj9 (bass D) – vi7 – V7sus4 – V7sus4 (bass A♭) – iii7 – VI7b9 – ii9 – ii9 (bass G) – iv7 – bVII7 – iii7 – vi7 – II7#11 – ii9 – V13 – Imaj7 – ii9 (bass B♭)

A Section 2

• E♭maj9 – Fm9/B♭ (×2)
  Imaj9 – ii9 (bass B♭)
• E♭maj9 – E♭maj9/D – Cm7 – B♭7sus4 – B♭7sus4/A♭ – Gm7 – C7♭9 – Fm9 – Fm9/G – A♭m7 – D♭7 – Gm7 – Cm7 – F7♯11 – Fm9 – B♭13 – E♭maj7 – B♭m7 – E♭7
  Imaj9 – Imaj9 (bass D) – vi7 – V7sus4 – V7sus4 (bass A♭) – iii7 – VI7b9 – ii9 – ii9 (bass G) – iv7 – bVII7 – iii7 – vi7 – II7#11 – ii9 – V13 – Imaj7 – v7 – I7

B Section 1

• A♭maj7♯11 – A♭13 – Gm7 – Am7♭5 – B♭m7 – E♭7 (×2)
  IVmaj7#11 – IV13 – iii7 – #ivø7 – v7 – I7
• A♭maj7♯11 – A♭13 – Gm7 – C7♯9 – F7♯11 – B♭7sus4
  IVmaj7#11 – IV13 – iii7 – VI7#9 – II7#11 – V7sus4

A Section 3

Same chords as A Section 2.

B Section 2

• A♭maj7♯11 – A♭13 – Gm7 – Am7♭5 – B♭m7 – E♭7 (×2)
  IVmaj7#11 – IV13 – iii7 – #ivø7 – v7 – I7
• A♭maj7♯11 – A♭13 – Gm7 – C7♯9 – F7♯11 – B♭7sus4 – B♭7♭9
  IVmaj7#11 – IV13 – iii7 – VI7#9 – II7#11 – V7sus4 – V7b9

Tag

• B♭7 – B♭7/A♭ – Gm7 – C7♯11 – F7♯11 – B♭7sus4 – B♭13 – B♭7♯9 – E♭m6
  V7 – V⁴₂ – iii7 – VI7#11 – II7#11 – V7sus4 – V13 – V7#9 – i6

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
E♭maj9	Imaj9	Home chord (tonic)	A Section
Fm9/B♭	ii9 (bass B♭)	In the key	A Section
E♭maj9/D	Imaj9 (bass D)	Home chord (tonic)	A Section
Cm7	vi7	In the key	A Section
B♭7sus4	V7sus4	In the key	A Section, B Section, Tag
B♭7sus4/A♭	V7sus4 (bass A♭)	In the key	A Section
Gm7	iii7	In the key	A Section, B Section, Tag
C7♭9	VI7b9	Secondary dominant (V/ii)	A Section
Fm9	ii9	In the key	A Section
Fm9/G	ii9 (bass G)	In the key	A Section
A♭m7	iv7	Borrowed from E♭ minor	A Section
D♭7	bVII7	Borrowed from E♭ minor	A Section
F7♯11	II7#11	Secondary dominant (V/V)	B Section, A Section, Tag
B♭13	V13	In the key	A Section, Tag
E♭maj7	Imaj7	Home chord (tonic)	A Section
B♭m7	v7	Borrowed from E♭ minor	A Section, B Section
E♭7	I7	Secondary dominant (V/IV)	B Section, A Section
A♭maj7♯11	IVmaj7#11	In the key	B Section
A♭13	IV13	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
Am7♭5	#ivø7	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
C7♯9	VI7#9	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
B♭7♭9	V7b9	Borrowed from E♭ minor	B Section
B♭7	V7	In the key	Tag
B♭7/A♭	V⁴₂	In the key	Tag
C7♯11	VI7#11	Outside the key (chromatic)	Tag
B♭7♯9	V7#9	Borrowed from E♭ minor	Tag
E♭m6	i6	Outside the key (chromatic)	Tag

Harmonic highlights

• A♭m7 (iv7) is borrowed from the parallel key, E♭ minor.
• D♭7 (bVII7) is borrowed from the parallel key, E♭ minor.
• B♭m7 (v7) is borrowed from the parallel key, E♭ minor.
• B♭7♭9 (V7b9) is borrowed from the parallel key, E♭ minor.
• B♭7♯9 (V7#9) is borrowed from the parallel key, E♭ minor.
• C7♭9 acts as V/ii: it resolves to Fm9.
• F7♯11 acts as V/V: it resolves to B♭7sus4.
• E♭7 acts as V/IV: it resolves to A♭maj7♯11.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “I Love My Wife-Rev JE 1” (credited “Coleman Cy”, style Ballad) 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 Love My Wife-Rev JE” (credited “Coleman Cy”, style Ballad) 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 86%).
• 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 key setting didn't fit its chords (it was probably left at a default), so the key shown here was worked out from the chords.
• The chart's D.S./D.C./coda jumps have been written out in playing order.
• 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.
• 11 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.