Lovely Day by Bill Withers

Overview

Key: E major · Chords used: 9 · Sections: 10

Form: Intro → Verse → Pre-Chorus → Chorus → Verse → Pre-Chorus → Chorus → Verse → Pre-Chorus → 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

• E – C♯m7 – Amaj9 – Cmaj7 – B7sus4
  I – vi7 – IVmaj9 – bVImaj7 – V7sus4

Verse 1

• E – C♯m7 – Amaj9 – Cmaj7 – B7sus4 – E – C♯m7 – Amaj9 – Cmaj7
  I – vi7 – IVmaj9 – bVImaj7 – V7sus4 – I – vi7 – IVmaj9 – bVImaj7

Pre-Chorus 1

• D9sus4 – E9sus4 – Am7 – Bm7 (×2)
  bVII9sus4 – I9sus4 – iv7 – v7

Chorus 1

• E – C♯m7 – Amaj9 – Cmaj7 – B7sus4 (×2)
  I – vi7 – IVmaj9 – bVImaj7 – V7sus4

Verse 2

Same chords as Verse 1.

Pre-Chorus 2

Same chords as Pre-Chorus 1.

Chorus 2

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Verse 3

Same chords as Verse 1.

Pre-Chorus 3

Same chords as Pre-Chorus 1.

Chorus 3

• E – C♯m7 – Amaj9 – Cmaj7 – B7sus4 (×7)
  I – vi7 – IVmaj9 – bVImaj7 – V7sus4

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

• Cmaj7 (bVImaj7) is borrowed from the parallel key, E minor.
• D9sus4 (bVII9sus4) is borrowed from the parallel key, E minor.
• E9sus4 (I9sus4) is borrowed from the parallel key, E minor.
• Am7 (iv7) is borrowed from the parallel key, E minor.
• Bm7 (v7) is borrowed from the parallel key, E minor.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). Expert transcription by trained musicians (song 0823, 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.