I've Been Loving You Too Long (To Stop Now) by Otis Redding

Overview

Key: A major · Chords used: 7 · Sections: 8

Form: Chorus → Verse → Chorus → Verse → Verse → Chorus → Chorus → 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.

Key changes

• Chorus 4 moves to B♭ major.

Section by section

Chorus 1

• A – E (×2)
  I – V

Verse 1

• A – C♯ – D – F
  I – III – IV – bVI

Chorus 2

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Verse 2

• A – E (×2)
  I – V

Verse 3

Same chords as Verse 1.

Chorus 3

• A – E – A – F
  I – V – I – bVI

Chorus 4

• B♭ – F – B♭ – G♭
  I – V – I – bVI

Outro

• B♭ – G♭ (×5)
  I – bVI

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

• F (bVI) is borrowed from the parallel key, A minor.
• G♭ (bVI) is borrowed from the parallel key, B♭ minor.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). Expert transcription by trained musicians (song 0502, 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.