Love Train by The O'Jays

Overview

Key: C major · Chords used: 15 · Sections: 8

Form: Intro → Chorus → Verse → Chorus → Verse → Chorus → Bridge → 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

• C – D – F – Gsus4
  I – II – IV – Vsus4

Chorus 1

• C – D – F – Gsus4 (×2)
  I – II – IV – Vsus4

Verse 1

• Gsus4 – F (×2)
  Vsus4 – IV
• Gsus4 – Am – Dm – G – G/F – G/E – G/D
  Vsus4 – vi – ii – V – V (bass F) – V (bass E) – V⁶₄

Chorus 2

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Verse 2

Same chords as Verse 1.

Chorus 3

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Bridge

• E♭ – E♭maj7 – E♭6 – E♭ – C – E♭ – E♭maj7 – E♭6 – E♭ – G7(no3) – G7
  bIII – bIIImaj7 – bIII6 – bIII – I – bIII – bIIImaj7 – bIII6 – bIII – V7(no3) – V7

Chorus 4

• C – D – F – Gsus4 (×5)
  I – II – IV – Vsus4
• C – D – F
  I – II – IV

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

• E♭ (bIII) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.
• E♭maj7 (bIIImaj7) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.
• E♭6 (bIII6) 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 0202, CC0), via ChoCo.
• Not verified: only one expert transcription of this song is available so far.
• 1 chord was simplified to the closest symbol our player supports (for example, an unusual added tone dropped).
• Rhythm and chord durations aren't shown; each step is one chord change.