Never Dreamed You'd Leave in Summer by Stevie Wonder

Overview

Key: C major · Chords used: 22 · Sections: 8

Form: Intro → A Section → B Section → A Section → B Section → A Section → B Section → Outro

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

• C – Cmaj7 – C – Fmaj7 (×2)
  I – Imaj7 – I – IVmaj7

A Section 1

• C – Cmaj7 – C – Fmaj7 (×3)
  I – Imaj7 – I – IVmaj7
• D – A9sus4
  II – VI9sus4

B Section 1

• Dm7 – A7♭9 – Dm7 – B♭7 – A7♭9 – A♭7♯11
  ii7 – VI7b9 – ii7 – bVII7 – VI7b9 – bVI7#11

A Section 2

Same chords as A Section 1.

B Section 2

• Dm7 – A7♭9 – Dm7 – B♭7 – A7♭9 – A♭7♯11 – G9
  ii7 – VI7b9 – ii7 – bVII7 – VI7b9 – bVI7#11 – V9

A Section 3

• D – Dmaj7 – D
  II – IImaj7 – II
• Gmaj9 – D – Dmaj7 (×2)
  Vmaj9 – II – IImaj7
• D – Gmaj9 – Gmaj9/F♯ – E – B9sus4
  II – Vmaj9 – Vmaj9 (bass F♯) – III – VII9sus4

B Section 3

• Em7 – B7♭9 – Em7 – C9 – B7♭9 – B♭7♯11
  iii7 – VII7b9 – iii7 – I9 – VII7b9 – bVII7#11

Outro

• A7sus4 – A13
  VI7sus4 – VI13
• D – Dmaj7 – Gadd9 (×3)
  II – IImaj7 – Vadd9
• D
  II

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
C	I	Home chord (tonic)	Intro, A Section
Cmaj7	Imaj7	Home chord (tonic)	Intro, A Section
Fmaj7	IVmaj7	In the key	Intro, A Section
D	II	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section, Outro
A9sus4	VI9sus4	In the key	A Section
Dm7	ii7	In the key	B Section
A7♭9	VI7b9	Secondary dominant (V/ii)	B Section
B♭7	bVII7	Borrowed from C minor	B Section
A♭7♯11	bVI7#11	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
G9	V9	In the key	B Section
Dmaj7	IImaj7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section, Outro
Gmaj9	Vmaj9	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
Gmaj9/F♯	Vmaj9 (bass F♯)	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
E	III	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
B9sus4	VII9sus4	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
Em7	iii7	In the key	B Section
B7♭9	VII7b9	Secondary dominant (V/iii)	B Section
C9	I9	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
B♭7♯11	bVII7#11	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
A7sus4	VI7sus4	In the key	Outro
A13	VI13	Outside the key (chromatic)	Outro
Gadd9	Vadd9	In the key	Outro

Harmonic highlights

• B♭7 (bVII7) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.
• A7♭9 acts as V/ii: it resolves to Dm7.
• B7♭9 acts as V/iii: it resolves to Em7.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Never Dreamed You'd Leave In Summer” (credited “Wonder-Wright (Stevie Wonder)”, style Pop Ballad) 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 “Never Dreamed You'd Leave In Summer” (credited “Stevie Wonder (Wonder, Wright)”, style Pop) 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 93%).
• 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.
• About the song: Wikipedia.
• 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.
• 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.