I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch) | Chords + Lyrics
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 A5 |
I can’t help myself, I love you and nobody else.
Verse 1
| C | C |
In and out of my life (in and out of my life),
| G | G |
you come and you go (you come and you go).
| Dm | Dm |
Leaving just your picture behind (oh, oh, oh, oh),
| F | G A5 |
and I kissed it a thousand times (oh, oh, oh, oh).
Verse 2
| C | C |
When you snap your fingers or wink your eye,
| G | G |
I come a-running to you.
| Dm | Dm |
I’m tied to your apron strings (I can’t help myself),
| F | G A5 |
and there’s nothing that I can do (oh, oh, oh, oh). Ooh.
Instrumental
| C | C | G | G |
| Dm | Dm | F | G A5 |
I can’t help myself (oh, oh, oh, oh), no, I can’t help myself (oh, oh, oh, oh).
Chorus 2
| C | C |
Oh, sugar pie, honey bunch (sugar pie, honey bunch),
| G | G |
I’m weaker than a man should be.
| Dm | Dm | F | G A5 |
I can’t help myself, I’m a fool in love you see.
Verse 3
| C | C | G | G |
Wanna tell you I don’t love you, tell you that we’re through and I’ve tried,
| Dm | Dm | F | G A5 |
but every time I see your face (see your face), I get up all choked up inside.
Verse 4
||: 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
| C | C |
Oh, sugar pie, honey bunch (sugar pie, honey bunch),
| G | G |
you now that I’m weak for you (weak for you).
| Dm | Dm | F | G A5 |
I can’t help myself, I love you and nobody else.
Chorus 4
| C | C |
Oh, sugar pie, honey bunch (Sugar pie, honey bunch),
| G | G |
I’ll do anything you ask me to (ask me to).
| Dm | Dm | F | G A5 |
I can’t help myself, I want you and nobody else.
Chorus 5
| C | C |
Oh, sugar pie, honey bunch (sugar pie, honey bunch),
| G | G |
you know that I love you (love you).
| Dm | Dm | F | G A5 |
I can’t help myself, no I can’t help myself.
End
| C | C |
Oh, sugar pie, honey bunch (sugar pie, honey bunch).
I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch) chords and progressions
Slightly backward, but still pretty common, I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch) chords move like this:
I – V – II – IV – V – VI. Being in the key of C, the Roman numerals translate to:
| C | C | G | G |
| Dm | Dm | F | G A5 |
The first three are more common the other way around, as a II – V – I. F – G is IV – V, #2 on my chord progression list.
The only chord that stands out is the A5 at the end which feels wrong as a minor or major, it reminds me of how Jimmy Mack’s chords move, incidentally written by the same songwriting team, Holland-Dozier-Holland.
1965 was one of the best 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 played by house band The Funk Brothers, this was one of the decade’s biggest hits.
Spending weeks at #1, it was ranked the second biggest single of the year, competing with other classics such as (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! It may come to you as a surprise that out of the songs listed above, the biggest single of the year was Wooly Bully. Perhaps Like A Rolling Stone being voted as the best song ever a few decades later helps soothe the pain!
Anyway, let’s focus on Four Tops hit I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch) chords and lyrics, perhaps by studying them you can learn something about songwriting. For example, it’s the same progression for the verse, instrumental, and chorus sections.
Should you play in a Motown band, this one will appear on the set list at some point, guaranteed.
I Can’t Help Myself chords | Related pages
Intermediate Acoustic
Most intermediate acoustic tunes can’t be played using just basic open-position chords. We have to move up the fretboard and play CAGED barre chords as well.
We incorporate bass lines, add licks, extend chords, and play vocal melodies. Most importantly, we’ll invent second guitar parts and play these songs together.
Intermediate Electric
The intermediate electric tunes will help you with learning the CAGED system all over the fretboard, both for chords and pentatonic scales.
Learn these Motown/Soul classics, and you’ll not just improve dramatically but also gain yourself a repertoire.
Five similar tunes with chords and lyrics
- Baby Love
- 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
Four Tops
Joining Motown as one of the first vocal groups, Four Tops stuck together, without changing any members, for 44 years.
Best tunes include I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch), Reach Out I’ll Be There, Bernadette, and Ain’t No Woman.
Four Tops on the web
Motown & Soul
You can learn how to play these Motown & Soul tunes, and in doing so, gain yourself a repertoire so you can jam with, or even join a working band.
Study these tunes in-depth and you will map out the fretboard, master the CAGED system, and learn how to design a rhythm guitar part that works in a band.
