Is It a Crime by Sade

Overview

Key: C minor · Chords used: 10 · Sections: 15

Form: Intro → A Section → A Section → B Section → C Section → A Section → B Section → C Section → D Section → A Section → B Section → C Section → C Section → C Section → C 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

• A♭maj7 – Gm7 – Cm7 – D♭maj7 – A♭maj7 – Gm7 – Cm7 – F/C – Cm7
  bVImaj7 – v7 – i7 – bIImaj7 – bVImaj7 – v7 – i7 – IV⁶₄ – i7

A Section 1

• Fm9 – Cm9 (×2)
  iv9 – i9

A Section 2

Same chords as A Section 1.

B Section 1

• A♭maj7 – Gm7 – Cm7 – D♭maj7 – A♭maj7 – Gm7 – Cm7 – F/C – Cm7
  bVImaj7 – v7 – i7 – bIImaj7 – bVImaj7 – v7 – i7 – IV⁶₄ – i7

C Section 1

• Cm9 – Fm9 – G (×2)
  i9 – iv9 – V

A Section 3

Same chords as A Section 1.

B Section 2

Same chords as B Section 1.

C Section 2

Same chords as C Section 1.

D Section

• B♭9sus4 – Cm9 (×2)
  bVII9sus4 – i9

A Section 4

• Fm9 – Cm9 – Fm9 – D♭maj7
  iv9 – i9 – iv9 – bIImaj7

B Section 3

• A♭maj7 – Gm7 – Gaug7 – Cm7 – F/C – D♭maj7 – A♭maj7 – Gaug7 – Cm7 – F/C – Cm7
  bVImaj7 – v7 – V+7 – i7 – IV⁶₄ – bIImaj7 – bVImaj7 – V+7 – i7 – IV⁶₄ – i7

C Section 3

• Cm9 – Fm9 – Gaug7 (×2)
  i9 – iv9 – V+7

C Section 4

• Cm9 – F/C (×2)
  i9 – IV⁶₄
• Fm9 – G
  iv9 – V
• Cm9 – F/C (×2)
  i9 – IV⁶₄
• Fm9 – Gaug7
  iv9 – V+7

C Section 5

• Cm9 – Fm9 – G
  i9 – iv9 – V

C Section 6

• Cm9 – Fm9 – Gaug7 – Cm9 – Fm9 – G
  i9 – iv9 – V+7 – i9 – iv9 – V
• Cm9 – F/C (×2)
  i9 – IV⁶₄
• Fm9 – Gaug7 – D♭maj7 – Cm9
  iv9 – V+7 – bIImaj7 – i9

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
A♭maj7	bVImaj7	In the key	Intro, B Section
Gm7	v7	In the key	Intro, B Section
Cm7	i7	Home chord (tonic)	Intro, B Section
D♭maj7	bIImaj7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Intro, B Section, A Section, C Section
F/C	IV⁶₄	Borrowed from C major	Intro, B Section, C Section
Fm9	iv9	In the key	A Section, C Section
Cm9	i9	Home chord (tonic)	A Section, C Section, D Section
G	V	In the key	C Section
B♭9sus4	bVII9sus4	In the key	D Section
Gaug7	V+7	In the key	B Section, C Section

Harmonic highlights

• F/C (IV⁶₄) is borrowed from the parallel key, C major.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Is It A Crime” (credited “Sade Adu, Andrew Hale, Stuart Matthewman”, style Pop Shuffle) 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 “Is It A Crime” (credited “Sade Adu, Andrew Hale, Stuart Matthewman”, style Pop Shuffle) 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 100%).
• 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.
• 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.