Overjoyed by Stevie Wonder

Overview

Key: E♭ major · Chords used: 24 · Sections: 9

Form: Intro → A Section → A Section → B Section → Intro → A Section → Interlude → C Section → D 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 1

• D♭6 – C7 – Bmaj7 – C7 – D♭6 – C7 – Bmaj7 – B♭7
  bVII6 – VI7 – #Vmaj7 – VI7 – bVII6 – VI7 – #Vmaj7 – V7

A Section 1

• E♭maj7 – Cm7 – Fm7 – B♭7 – E♭maj7 – Cm7 – F/A – G/B – Cmaj7 – G/B – Cm7 – F7 – B♭7
  Imaj7 – vi7 – ii7 – V7 – Imaj7 – vi7 – II⁶ – III⁶ – VImaj7 – III⁶ – vi7 – II7 – V7

A Section 2

Same chords as A Section 1.

B Section

• A♭maj7 – E♭/G – Fm7 – B♭7 – D♭maj7 – C7 – B♭maj7 – F/A – B♭/A♭ – Fm7
  IVmaj7 – I⁶ – ii7 – V7 – bVIImaj7 – VI7 – Vmaj7 – II⁶ – V (bass A♭) – ii7

Intro 2

Same chords as Intro 1.

A Section 3

Same chords as A Section 1.

Interlude

• A♭maj7 – E♭/G – Fm7 – B♭7 – D♭maj7 – C7 – B♭maj7 – F/A – B♭/A♭ – Fm7 – B♭sus4 – B♭7 – Csus4 – C7
  IVmaj7 – I⁶ – ii7 – V7 – bVIImaj7 – VI7 – Vmaj7 – II⁶ – V (bass A♭) – ii7 – Vsus4 – V7 – VIsus4 – VI7

C Section

• B♭maj7 – F/A – Gm7 – C7 – E♭maj7 – D7 – Cmaj7 – G/B – C/B♭ – Gm7 – Csus4 – C7
  Vmaj7 – II⁶ – iii7 – VI7 – Imaj7 – VII7 – VImaj7 – III⁶ – VI (bass B♭) – iii7 – VIsus4 – VI7

D Section

• Fmaj7 – G♭maj7 – Emaj7 – Fm7 – B♭7 – E♭maj7
  IImaj7 – bIIImaj7 – #Imaj7 – ii7 – V7 – Imaj7

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
D♭6	bVII6	Borrowed from E♭ minor	Intro
C7	VI7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Intro, B Section, Interlude, C Section
Bmaj7	#Vmaj7	Borrowed from E♭ minor	Intro
B♭7	V7	In the key	Intro, A Section, B Section, Interlude, D Section
E♭maj7	Imaj7	Home chord (tonic)	A Section, C Section, D Section
Cm7	vi7	In the key	A Section
Fm7	ii7	In the key	A Section, B Section, Interlude, D Section
F/A	II⁶	Secondary dominant (V/V)	B Section, A Section, Interlude, C Section
G/B	III⁶	Secondary dominant (V/vi)	A Section, C Section
Cmaj7	VImaj7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section, C Section
F7	II7	Secondary dominant (V/V)	A Section
A♭maj7	IVmaj7	In the key	B Section, Interlude
E♭/G	I⁶	Home chord (tonic)	B Section, Interlude
D♭maj7	bVIImaj7	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section, Interlude
B♭maj7	Vmaj7	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section, Interlude, C Section
B♭/A♭	V (bass A♭)	In the key	B Section, Interlude
B♭sus4	Vsus4	In the key	Interlude
Csus4	VIsus4	In the key	Interlude, C Section
Gm7	iii7	In the key	C Section
D7	VII7	Outside the key (chromatic)	C Section
C/B♭	VI (bass B♭)	Outside the key (chromatic)	C Section
Fmaj7	IImaj7	Outside the key (chromatic)	D Section
G♭maj7	bIIImaj7	Borrowed from E♭ minor	D Section
Emaj7	#Imaj7	Outside the key (chromatic)	D Section

Harmonic highlights

• D♭6 (bVII6) is borrowed from the parallel key, E♭ minor.
• Bmaj7 (#Vmaj7) is borrowed from the parallel key, E♭ minor.
• G♭maj7 (bIIImaj7) is borrowed from the parallel key, E♭ minor.
• F/A acts as V/V: it resolves to B♭/A♭.
• G/B acts as V/vi: it resolves to Cm7.
• F7 acts as V/V: it resolves to B♭7.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Overjoyed” (credited “Wonder Stevie”, style Rock Pop) 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 “Overjoyed” (credited “Wonder Stevie”, 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 97%).
• 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.
• Rhythm and chord durations aren't shown; each step is one chord change.