Love's In Need Of LoveToday by Stevie Wonder

Overview

Key: E♭ major · Chords used: 14 · Sections: 9

Form: Intro → A Section → A Section → B Section → B Section → A Section → B Section → Interlude → B 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

• E♭ – D♭6 – C7 – Fm7 – A♭m6 (×2)
  I – bVII6 – VI7 – ii7 – iv6
• E♭ – A♭/B♭
  I – IV (bass B♭)

A Section 1

• E♭ – A7/E – Fm7 – B♭7sus4 – B♭7 – Fm7 – B♭9 – A♭maj7 – Gm7 – Fm7 – B♭9
  I – #IV⁴₃ – ii7 – V7sus4 – V7 – ii7 – V9 – IVmaj7 – iii7 – ii7 – V9

A Section 2

Same chords as A Section 1.

B Section 1

• E♭ – Cm7 – Gm7 – Fm7 – Cm7 – A♭/B♭
  I – vi7 – iii7 – ii7 – vi7 – IV (bass B♭)

B Section 2

• E♭ – Cm7 – Gm7 – Fm7 – Cm7 – A♭/B♭
  I – vi7 – iii7 – ii7 – vi7 – IV (bass B♭)
• E♭ – D♭6 – C7 – Fm7 – A♭mmaj7 (×2)
  I – bVII6 – VI7 – ii7 – ivmaj7
• E♭
  I

A Section 3

Same chords as A Section 1.

B Section 3

Same chords as B Section 1.

Interlude

• E♭ – Cm7 – Gm7 – Fm7 – Cm7 – A♭/B♭
  I – vi7 – iii7 – ii7 – vi7 – IV (bass B♭)

B Section 4

• E♭ – Cm7 – Gm7 – Fm7 – Cm7 – A♭/B♭ – E♭
  I – vi7 – iii7 – ii7 – vi7 – IV (bass B♭) – I

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
E♭	I	Home chord (tonic)	Intro, A Section, B Section, Interlude
D♭6	bVII6	Borrowed from E♭ minor	Intro, B Section
C7	VI7	Secondary dominant (V/ii)	Intro, B Section
Fm7	ii7	In the key	Intro, A Section, B Section, Interlude
A♭m6	iv6	Borrowed from E♭ minor	Intro
A♭/B♭	IV (bass B♭)	In the key	Intro, B Section, Interlude
A7/E	#IV⁴₃	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
B♭7sus4	V7sus4	In the key	A Section
B♭7	V7	In the key	A Section
B♭9	V9	In the key	A Section
A♭maj7	IVmaj7	In the key	A Section
Gm7	iii7	In the key	A Section, B Section, Interlude
Cm7	vi7	In the key	B Section, Interlude
A♭mmaj7	ivmaj7	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section

Harmonic highlights

• D♭6 (bVII6) is borrowed from the parallel key, E♭ minor.
• A♭m6 (iv6) is borrowed from the parallel key, E♭ minor.
• C7 acts as V/ii: it resolves to Fm7.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Love's In Need Of LoveToday” (credited “Wonder Stevie”, style Pop) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Artist as credited on the chart.
• 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 “Love's In Need Of Love Today” (credited “Wonder Stevie”, style Soul) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Artist as credited on the chart. A separately posted chart of the same song; its chords match this page's closely when both are read in the same key (similarity 80%).
• 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.
• The chart's D.S./D.C./coda jumps have been written out in playing order.
• 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.