I Want You Back by The Jacksons

Overview

Key: A♭ major · Chords used: 12 · Sections: 15

Form: Intro → Instrumental → Verse → Chorus → Transition → Verse → Chorus → Bridge → Instrumental → Transition → Chorus → Transition → Chorus → Transition → Chorus

Where these chords come from: an expert transcription of the original recording made for the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). 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

• A♭ – D♭ – Fm7 – A♭/C – D♭ – A♭ – B♭m7 – E♭7 (×2)
  I – IV – vi7 – I⁶ – IV – I – ii7 – V7
• A♭
  I

Instrumental 1

• A♭ – E♭/G – Fm7 – E♭6 – D♭ – D♭/C – B♭m7 – E♭7 – Fm7 – A♭/C – D♭ – A♭ – B♭m7 – E♭7 – A♭
  I – V⁶ – vi7 – V6 – IV – IV (bass C) – ii7 – V7 – vi7 – I⁶ – IV – I – ii7 – V7 – I

Verse 1

• A♭ – D♭ – Fm7 – A♭/C – D♭ – A♭ – B♭m7 – E♭7 (×2)
  I – IV – vi7 – I⁶ – IV – I – ii7 – V7
• A♭
  I

Chorus 1

• A♭ – E♭/G – Fm7 – E♭6 – D♭ – D♭/C – B♭m7 – E♭7 – Fm7 – A♭/C – D♭ – A♭ – B♭m7 – E♭7 – A♭ – E♭/G – Fm7 – E♭6 – D♭ – D♭/C – B♭m7 – E♭7 – Fm7 – A♭/C – D♭ – A♭ – B♭m7 – E♭7
  I – V⁶ – vi7 – V6 – IV – IV (bass C) – ii7 – V7 – vi7 – I⁶ – IV – I – ii7 – V7 – I – V⁶ – vi7 – V6 – IV – IV (bass C) – ii7 – V7 – vi7 – I⁶ – IV – I – ii7 – V7

Transition 1

• A♭ – D♭/A♭ (×4)
  I – IV⁶₄

Verse 2

Same chords as Verse 1.

Chorus 2

• A♭ – E♭/G – Fm7 – E♭6 – D♭ – D♭/C – B♭m7 – E♭7 – Fm7 – A♭/C – D♭ – A♭ – B♭m7 – E♭7 – A♭ – E♭/G – Fm7 – E♭6 – D♭ – D♭/C – B♭m7 – E♭7 – Fm7 – A♭/C – D♭ – A♭
  I – V⁶ – vi7 – V6 – IV – IV (bass C) – ii7 – V7 – vi7 – I⁶ – IV – I – ii7 – V7 – I – V⁶ – vi7 – V6 – IV – IV (bass C) – ii7 – V7 – vi7 – I⁶ – IV – I

Bridge

• Fm7 – Cm – D♭6 – A♭ (×8)
  vi7 – iii – IV6 – I

Instrumental 2

• A♭ – E♭/G – Fm7 – E♭6 – D♭ – D♭/C – B♭m7 – E♭7 – Fm7 – A♭/C – D♭ – A♭ – B♭m7 – E♭7
  I – V⁶ – vi7 – V6 – IV – IV (bass C) – ii7 – V7 – vi7 – I⁶ – IV – I – ii7 – V7

Transition 2

• A♭ – D♭/A♭ (×2)
  I – IV⁶₄

Chorus 3

• A♭ – E♭/G – Fm7 – E♭6 – D♭ – D♭/C – B♭m7 – E♭7 – Fm7 – A♭/C – D♭ – A♭ – B♭m7 – E♭7
  I – V⁶ – vi7 – V6 – IV – IV (bass C) – ii7 – V7 – vi7 – I⁶ – IV – I – ii7 – V7

Transition 3

Same chords as Transition 2.

Chorus 4

Same chords as Chorus 3.

Transition 4

Same chords as Transition 2.

Chorus 5

• A♭ – E♭/G – Fm7 – E♭6 – D♭ – D♭/C – B♭m7 – E♭7
  I – V⁶ – vi7 – V6 – IV – IV (bass C) – ii7 – V7

Chord vocabulary

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). Expert transcription by trained musicians (song 1178, CC0), via ChoCo.
• Not verified: only one expert transcription of this song is available so far.
• Rhythm and chord durations aren't shown; each step is one chord change.