Sweet Caroline (Good Times Never Seemed So Good) by Bobby Womack

Overview

Key: E major · Chords used: 11 · Sections: 7

Form: Intro → Verse → Chorus → Verse → Chorus → Interlude → 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

• B7 – B9 – B7 – B13 – B7
  V7 – V9 – V7 – V13 – V7

Verse 1

• E – E7 – A – E – B (×2)
  I – I7 – IV – I – V
• E – E6 – B – A – B7 – B13 – B7
  I – I6 – V – IV – V7 – V13 – V7

Chorus 1

• E – A – Amaj7 – A – B (×2)
  I – IV – IVmaj7 – IV – V
• A – G♯m – F♯m
  IV – iii – ii

Verse 2

Same chords as Verse 1.

Chorus 2

• E – A – Amaj7 – A – B (×2)
  I – IV – IVmaj7 – IV – V

Interlude

• B7 – B9 – B7 – B13 – B7
  V7 – V9 – V7 – V13 – V7

Chorus 3

Same chords as Chorus 2.

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

• E7 acts as V/IV: it resolves to A.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). Expert transcription by trained musicians (song 0915, 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.