Nothing Compares 2 U by Sinéad O'Connor

Overview

Key: F major · Chords used: 9 · Sections: 13

Form: Intro → Verse → Chorus → Verse → Chorus → Interlude → Verse → Chorus ×6

Where these chords come from: an expert transcription of the original recording made for the Rock Corpus RS 200 (de Clercq & Temperley, 2011), analysis by Trevor de Clercq. 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

• F
  I

Verse 1

• F – C/E – Dm7 – F – C9 (×3)
  I – V⁶ – vi7 – I – V9
• F – C/E – Dm7 – A
  I – V⁶ – vi7 – III

Chorus 1

• E♭ – B♭ (×2)
  bVII – IV
• C
  V

Verse 2

• F – C/E – Dm7 – F – C9 – F – C/E – Dm7 – B♭ – F – C/E – Dm7 – F – C9 – F – C/E – Dm7 – A
  I – V⁶ – vi7 – I – V9 – I – V⁶ – vi7 – IV – I – V⁶ – vi7 – I – V9 – I – V⁶ – vi7 – III

Chorus 2

• E♭ – B♭ – Dm – C
  bVII – IV – vi – V

Interlude

• C
  V

Verse 3

Same chords as Verse 1.

Chorus 3

Same chords as Chorus 2.

Chorus 4

Same chords as Chorus 2.

Chorus 5

Same chords as Chorus 2.

Chorus 6

Same chords as Chorus 2.

Chorus 7

Same chords as Chorus 2.

Chorus 8

Same chords as Chorus 2.

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
F	I	Home chord (tonic)	Intro, Verse
C/E	V⁶	In the key	Verse
Dm7	vi7	In the key	Verse
C9	V9	In the key	Verse
A	III	Outside the key (chromatic)	Verse
E♭	bVII	Borrowed from F minor	Chorus
B♭	IV	In the key	Chorus, Verse
C	V	In the key	Chorus, Interlude
Dm	vi	In the key	Chorus

Harmonic highlights

• E♭ (bVII) is borrowed from the parallel key, F minor.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the Rock Corpus RS 200 (de Clercq & Temperley, 2011), analysis by Trevor de Clercq. Expert by-ear harmonic analysis of the original recording, shown on this page.
• Cross-check: the Rock Corpus RS 200 (de Clercq & Temperley, 2011), analysis by David Temperley. Independent by-ear analysis of the same recording. The two analysts agree on the chord (root and major/minor) for 95% of the song.
• Verified: two independent expert transcriptions agree on this song's harmony.
• Rhythm and chord durations aren't shown; each step is one chord change.