If I Can't Have You by Yvonne Elliman

Overview

Key: C major · Chords used: 13 · Sections: 10

Form: Intro → Verse → Pre-Chorus → Chorus → Transition → Verse → Pre-Chorus → Chorus → Interlude → Outro

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

• Gm – Am – Dm – Am – G – Am – B♭ – F
  v – vi – ii – vi – V – vi – bVII – IV

Verse 1

• C – Fm/C – C – G/C – F/C
  I – iv⁶₄ – I – V (bass C) – IV⁶₄
• Fm/C – C (×2)
  iv⁶₄ – I
• G/C – F/C – G/C
  V (bass C) – IV⁶₄ – V (bass C)

Pre-Chorus 1

• F – Dm (×2)
  IV – ii
• Gsus4
  Vsus4

Chorus 1

• Am – G – Em (×2)
  vi – V – iii
• Am
  vi

Transition

• Gm – Am – Dm – Am – G – Am – B♭ – F
  v – vi – ii – vi – V – vi – bVII – IV

Verse 2

• C – Fm/C – C – G/C – F/C – Fm/C – C
  I – iv⁶₄ – I – V (bass C) – IV⁶₄ – iv⁶₄ – I

Pre-Chorus 2

• F – Dm – F – D – F – Dm – Gsus4
  IV – ii – IV – II – IV – ii – Vsus4

Chorus 2

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Interlude

• Dm – Am – G – Am – B♭ – F
  ii – vi – V – vi – bVII – IV

Outro

• Am – G – Em (×4)
  vi – V – iii
• Am
  vi

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

• Gm (v) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.
• B♭ (bVII) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.
• Fm/C (iv⁶₄) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). Expert transcription by trained musicians (song 0034, 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.