I Want You by Marvin Gaye

Overview

Key: C♯ minor · Chords used: 11 · Sections: 8

Form: Intro → Chorus → Verse → Chorus → Verse → Chorus → Chorus ×2

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

• C♯m9
  i9

Chorus 1

• C♯m9 – F♯m7 – G♯m7 – Amaj7 – G♯m7 – C♯m7 – F♯m7 – E/B – Emaj7 – G♯7sus4 – G♯7
  i9 – iv7 – v7 – bVImaj7 – v7 – i7 – iv7 – bIII⁶₄ – bIIImaj7 – V7sus4 – V7

Verse 1

• C♯m9 – F♯m7 – E/B – G♯7♯9 – G♯7♭9 – G♯7 (×2)
  i9 – iv7 – bIII⁶₄ – V7#9 – V7b9 – V7

Chorus 2

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Verse 2

• C♯m9 – F♯m7 – E/B – G♯7♯9 – G♯7♭9 – G♯7 – C♯m9 – F♯m7 – E/B – G♯7♯9 – G♯7♭9
  i9 – iv7 – bIII⁶₄ – V7#9 – V7b9 – V7 – i9 – iv7 – bIII⁶₄ – V7#9 – V7b9

Chorus 3

• C♯m9 – F♯m7 – G♯m7 – Amaj7 – G♯m7 – C♯m7 – F♯m7 – E/B – Emaj7 – G♯7♯9
  i9 – iv7 – v7 – bVImaj7 – v7 – i7 – iv7 – bIII⁶₄ – bIIImaj7 – V7#9

Chorus 4

Same chords as Chorus 3.

Chorus 5

Same chords as Chorus 3.

Chord vocabulary

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). Expert transcription by trained musicians (song 0319, 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.