When Doves Cry by Prince and the Revolution

Overview

Key: A minor · Chords used: 5 · Sections: 12

Form: Transition → Verse → Verse → Transition → Verse → Transition → Verse → Interlude → Bridge → Solo → Outro → Outro

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

Transition 1

• F – Am – G (×8)
  bVI – i – bVII

Verse 1

• Am – G – E (×4)
  i – bVII – V

Verse 2

• Am – G – Am
  i – bVII – i
• E – Am – G (×2)
  V – i – bVII
• Am – E – Am – G
  i – V – i – bVII

Transition 2

Same chords as Transition 1.

Verse 3

• Am – G – Am – E – Am – G – E (×2)
  i – bVII – i – V – i – bVII – V
• Am – G – Am – E – Am – G
  i – bVII – i – V – i – bVII

Transition 3

Same chords as Transition 1.

Verse 4

• Am – Dm – G – Am
  i – iv – bVII – i
• E – Am – Dm – G (×2)
  V – i – iv – bVII
• Am – E – Am – Dm – G
  i – V – i – iv – bVII

Interlude

• Am – Dm – G – Am – E (×2)
  i – iv – bVII – i – V

Bridge

• Am – Dm – G – Am – E (×11)
  i – iv – bVII – i – V

Solo

• Am – Dm – Am – E (×2)
  i – iv – i – V

Outro 1

• Am – Dm – G – Am – E (×4)
  i – iv – bVII – i – V

Outro 2

• Am
  i

Chord vocabulary

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 89% of the song.
• Not verified: the two RS 200 analysts differ in places (see their agreement above).
• Rhythm and chord durations aren't shown; each step is one chord change.