The Sweetest Taboo by Sade

Overview

Key: B♭ minor · Chords used: 26 · Sections: 10

Form: A Section → B Section → A Section → B Section → A Section → B Section → C Section → D Section → D 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

A Section 1

• B♭m7/A♭ – A♭6 – A♭ – G♭6 – G♭ – G♭6 – A♭6 – B♭m11/A♭ – A♭9sus4 – G♭7sus4 – G♭9sus4 – G♭13 – A♭9sus4
  i⁴₂ – bVII6 – bVII – bVI6 – bVI – bVI6 – bVII6 – i11 (bass A♭) – bVII9sus4 – bVI7sus4 – bVI9sus4 – bVI13 – bVII9sus4

B Section 1

• B♭m9/A♭ – A♭9sus4 – A♭7sus4 – G♭maj7♯11 – G♭69 – A♭7sus4 – B♭m7/A♭ – Fm9/A♭ – E♭m9/G♭ – G♭maj7♯11 – A♭69
  i9 (bass A♭) – bVII9sus4 – bVII7sus4 – bVImaj7#11 – bVI69 – bVII7sus4 – i⁴₂ – v9 (bass A♭) – iv9 (bass G♭) – bVImaj7#11 – bVII69

A Section 2

Same chords as A Section 1.

B Section 2

• B♭m9/A♭ – A♭9sus4 – A♭7sus4 – G♭maj7♯11 – G♭69 – A♭7sus4 – B♭m7/A♭ – Fm9/A♭ – E♭m9/G♭ – G♭maj7♯11 – A♭6
  i9 (bass A♭) – bVII9sus4 – bVII7sus4 – bVImaj7#11 – bVI69 – bVII7sus4 – i⁴₂ – v9 (bass A♭) – iv9 (bass G♭) – bVImaj7#11 – bVII6

A Section 3

Same chords as A Section 1.

B Section 3

• B♭m9/A♭ – A♭9sus4 – A♭7sus4 – G♭maj7♯11 – G♭69 – A♭7sus4 – B♭m7/A♭ – Fm9/A♭ – E♭m9/G♭ – G♭maj7♯11 – A♭maj13
  i9 (bass A♭) – bVII9sus4 – bVII7sus4 – bVImaj7#11 – bVI69 – bVII7sus4 – i⁴₂ – v9 (bass A♭) – iv9 (bass G♭) – bVImaj7#11 – bVIImaj13

C Section

• G♭maj7 – G♭maj9 – E♭m9/G♭ – E♭m11/G♭ – B♭m11 – B♭m7/A♭ – B♭m9/G♭ – Fm9/A♭ – G♭maj7 – G♭maj9 – E♭m9 – E♭m11
  bVImaj7 – bVImaj9 – iv9 (bass G♭) – iv11 (bass G♭) – i11 – i⁴₂ – i9 (bass G♭) – v9 (bass A♭) – bVImaj7 – bVImaj9 – iv9 – iv11

D Section 1

• B♭m7/A♭ – A♭6 – A♭ – G♭6 – G♭ – G♭6 – A♭6 – B♭m11/A♭ – A♭9sus4 – A♭7 – G♭7sus4 – G♭9sus4 – G♭13 – A♭maj13
  i⁴₂ – bVII6 – bVII – bVI6 – bVI – bVI6 – bVII6 – i11 (bass A♭) – bVII9sus4 – bVII7 – bVI7sus4 – bVI9sus4 – bVI13 – bVIImaj13

D Section 2

Same chords as D Section 1.

D Section 3

• B♭m7/A♭ – A♭6 – A♭ – G♭6 – G♭ – G♭6 – A♭6 – B♭m11/A♭ – A♭9sus4 – A♭7 – G♭7sus4 – G♭9sus4 – G♭13 – A♭maj13 – B♭m11
  i⁴₂ – bVII6 – bVII – bVI6 – bVI – bVI6 – bVII6 – i11 (bass A♭) – bVII9sus4 – bVII7 – bVI7sus4 – bVI9sus4 – bVI13 – bVIImaj13 – i11

Chord vocabulary

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Sweetest Taboo” (credited “Sade”, style Medium Swing) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Performer confirmed from the Billboard year-end charts.
• 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).
• 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 key setting didn't fit its chords (it was probably left at a default), so the key shown here was worked out from the chords.
• Not verified: only one chart of this song is available, so it hasn't been cross-checked.
• 4 chords were 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.