Chords + Lyrics | I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)
Intro
||: C ( C G A C G A C) :|| x6
Chorus 1
| C | C | G | G |
Oh, sugar pie, honey bunch, you know that I love you.
| Dm | Dm | F | G G5 A5 |
I can’t help myself, I love you and nobody else.
Verse 1
| C | C | G | G |
In and out of my life (in and out of my life), you come and you go (you come and you go).
| Dm | Dm | F | G G5 A5 |
Leaving just your picture behind (oh, oh, oh, oh), and I kissed it a thousand times (oh, oh, oh, oh).
Verse 2
When you snap your fingers or wink your eye, I come a-running to you.
I’m tied to your apron strings (I can’t help myself), and there’s nothing that I can do (oh, oh, oh, oh). Ooh.
Solo
| C | C | G | G |
| Dm | Dm | F | G G5 A5 |
I can’t help myself (oh, oh, oh, oh), no, I can’t help myself (oh, oh, oh, oh).
Chorus 2
Oh, sugar pie, honey bunch (sugar pie, honey bunch), I’m weaker than a man should be.
I can’t help myself, I’m a fool in love you see.
Verse 3
Wanna tell you I don’t love you, tell you that we’re through and I’ve tried,
but every time I see your face (see your face), I get up all choked up inside.
Verse 4 (re-intro)
||: C (C G A C G A C) :|| x6
When I call your name, girl it starts the flame (burning in my heart, tearin’ it all apart).
No matter how I try, my love I cannot hide.
Chorus 3
Oh, sugar pie, honey bunch (sugar pie, honey bunch), you now that I’m weak for you (weak for you).
I can’t help myself, I love you and nobody else, oh.
Chorus 4
Sugar pie, honey bunch (Sugar pie, honey bunch), I’ll do anything you ask me to (ask me to).
I can’t help myself, I want you and nobody else, oh.
Chorus 5
Sugar pie, honey bunch (sugar pie, honey bunch), you know that I love you (love you).
I can’t help myself, no I can’t help myself, oh.
End (fade)
| C | C |
Sugar pie, honey bunch (sugar pie, honey bunch).
I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch) Backing Tracks | Chord Analysis
Above, you’ll find backing tracks to use when learning I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch). I’ve used stem separation to extract the guitar while keeping the drums, bass, keys, horns, and vocals intact.
After studying the chords and TAB, use my backing tracks to prepare for playing this tune with a band.
Should you want to play along with the original recording instead, you need to tune your guitar sharp to 442Hz. In the backing tracks, I’ve done this job for you by tuning it to 440Hz.
Chord Progressions – What’s Going On?
Somewhat reversed but still fairly common, the chord progression for the Four Tops I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch) moves like this:
I – V – II – IV – V – VI
In the key of C, this becomes:
| C (I) | C | G (V) | G |
| Dm (II) | Dm | F (IV) | G (V) G5 A5 (VI) |
Typically, the first three chords appear in the more familiar order of II–V–I, while IV–V (F–G) ranks as #2 on my chord progression list.
The real standout here is the A5 at the end — it doesn’t quite work as either major or minor, giving the section an unresolved feel. It’s a similar trick to what’s used in Jimmy Mack — no surprise, since Holland–Dozier–Holland wrote both songs.
Further down this guitar lesson, we look at TAB for how to play this in an improvised way — you simply explore the fretboard methodically and then let go.
Here’s a chord chart to help you keep track of the structure. It might look strange to repeat the same section three times, but it’s the clearest way to present how the song actually works.
I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch) Chord Chart | PDF + iReal Pro
You can download my chord chart as a PDF and/or in the iReal Pro format here:
- I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch) chord chart PDF
- I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch) iReal Pro
I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch) | TAB
Let’s start with the bass line and then see how we can expand on it.
Intro
This later returns as a re-intro/breakdown. Here’s the bass line:
Next, let’s modify this part so you contribute rather than just copy — start by playing an octave up:
On the recording, the bass starts first, then the keyboard enters, followed by the strings higher up. Try this:
You could also hold that C/G for two bars, or experiment with other shapes of a C chord.
Chorus + Verse
Here’s a simple part that works for both the chorus and verse — this is what’s happening on the recording:
We can modify it to explore the fretboard and see if we can find something better:
Here’s a third idea — now we’re playing very high up the neck:
Idea 4 doubles up on the hits while maintaining the previous shapes:
Idea 5 moves down the fretboard:
The final example is a real challenge. Once you can play this, try applying the same approach to other areas of the neck:
When you can play all of this TAB, start improvising using only the chord chart as you play with the backing tracks.
1965—One of the Greatest Years for Songwriting
Four Tops released I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch) in 1965 on Berry Gordy’s Motown label.
Written by Holland–Dozier–Holland and performed by Motown’s house band, The Funk Brothers, it became one of the decade’s biggest hits. Spending weeks at #1, it was ultimately ranked as the second-biggest single of the year—competing with an incredible lineup of classics, including:
(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction, California Dreamin’, Fever, How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You), It’s Not Unusual, Keep On Running, Like a Rolling Stone, Mr. Tambourine Man, My Generation, My Girl, Nowhere to Run, Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag, Rescue Me, Respect, Unchained Melody, We Can Work It Out, and Wooly Bully.
1965—what a year for songwriting! Surprisingly, out of all these legendary tracks, Wooly Bully claimed the title of the year’s biggest single. Perhaps the fact that Like a Rolling Stone was later voted the greatest song of all time helps soften the blow.
Now let’s focus on I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)—its chords and lyrics offer a valuable lesson in songwriting. Notably, the verse, instrumental, and chorus sections all use the same progression, a hallmark of Motown’s hit-making formula.
If you play in a Motown band, this one is guaranteed to appear on the setlist at some point!
I Can’t Help Myself Chords: Continue Learning
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- Build Me Up Buttercup
- Can’t Take My Eyes Off You
- How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)
- Reach Out I’ll Be There
