Sunny | Chords + Lyrics
Verse 1
| Em7 | G9 | Cmaj7 | F#m7b5 B7 |
Sunny, yesterday my life was filled with rain.
| Em7 | G9 | Cmaj7 | F#m7b5 B7 |
Sunny, you smiled at me and really eased the pain.
| Em7 | G9 | Cmaj7 | F9 |
The dark days are gone, and the bright days are here my Sunny one shine so sincere.
| F#m7b5 | B7 |
Sunny one so true, I love you.
Instrumental 1
| Em Emb6 | Em6 Emb6 |
Verse 2
Sunny, thank you for the sunshine bouquet.
Sunny, thank you for the love you brought my way.
You gave to me your all and all, and now I feel ten feet tall.
Sunny one so true, I love you.
Instrumental 2
| Em Emb6 | C9 |
Verse 3 (key change)
| Fm7 | Ab9 | Dbmaj7 | Gm7b5 C7 |
Sunny, thank you for the truth you let me see.
| Fm7 | Ab9 | Dbmaj7 | Gm7b5 C7 |
Sunny, thank you for the facts from A to Z.
| Fm7 | Ab9 | Dbmaj7 | Gb9 |
My life was torn like a windblown sand, then a rock was formed when we held hands.
| Gm7b5 | C7 |
Sunny one so true, I love you.
Instrumental 4
| Fm7 | C#9 |
Verse 4 (key change)
| F#m7 | A9 | Dmaj7 | G#m7b5 C#7 |
Sunny, thank you for that smile upon your face. Mm-hm
| F#m7 | A9 | Dmaj7 | G#m7b5 C#7 |
Sunny, thank you, thank you for that gleam that folds with grace.
| F#m7 | A9 | Dmaj7 | G9 |
You’re my spark of nature’s fire, you’re my sweet complete desire.
| G#m7b5 | C#7 |
Sunny one so true yes, I love you.
Instrumental 4
| F#m7 | D9 |
Verse 5
| Gm7 | Bb9 | Ebmaj7 | Am7b5 D7 |
Sunny, yesterday all my life was filled with rain.
| Gm7 | Bb9 | Ebmaj7 | Am7b5 D7 |
And Sunny, you smiled at me and really, really eased the pain.
| Gm7 | Bb9 | Ebmaj7 | G#9 |
The dark days are done, and the bright days are here, my Sunny one shine so sincere.
| Am7b5 | D7 |
Sunny one so true, I love you.
Outro
||: Gm7 | Cm7 D7#5 :||
I love you (Sunny). I love you (Sunny).
Baby, I love you (Sunny). I love you (Sunny).
Sunny Chords: Learn the progressions
Many jazzers only play Sunny in one key, even though the original modulates as you can see above in the chords and lyrics.
As it modulates, the chords stay the same. Let’s look at verse 1 (Em) and see what the chords are.
||: Em7 (VI) | G9 (I) | Cmaj7 (IV) | F#m7b5 (VIII) B7 (IIIx) :||
| Em7 (VI) | G9 (I) | Cmaj7 (IV) | F9 (bIIx) |
| F#m7b5 (VII) | B7 (IIIx) |
We are clearly in the key of Em (chord VI), then go up to I (G9) which is a dominant chord, rather than maj7, so that’s outside the key, or, a better way to explain it is to say it’s blues. Cmaj7 is chord IV (Lydian).
The following F#m7b5 – B7 could either be described as a VII – IIIx, or “a minor II – V”. Repeat this twice, then go to F9, another chord outside the key. You could say F9 is a tritone substitution of B7 which is chord V.
The last two bars are a drawn-out version of what you’ve already done, a minor II – V.
Should you practice using the original modulating concept, you get a great workout for practising, for example, arpeggios. There is no one scale that theoretically works for everything here although I’m sure many guitar players have used just the E Minor Pentatonic!
I’ve designed some TAB for how you could comp this on one guitar. You could use this for backing up a singer, or a soloist, or, record it using a loop pedal and solo yourself!
No matter how you twist and turn it, Sunny is a great addition to most bands’ repertoire, everyone knows it and it’s great fun to play.
Here’s a link to the TAB lesson: Sunny – Guitar Lesson with TAB.
Having explored the TAB, I believe this chord chart will be a great help at the gig, especially if everyone else thinks Sunny is just in one key, send them this!
Sunny Chord Chart | PDF + iReal Pro
Should you want to download this chart, here’s a PDF: Sunny Chord Chart PDF.
This chord chart was created using iReal Pro, here’s a link to that file: Sunny iReal Pro.
Using this and the iRealPro app, you can change the key, this may be a great idea in case everyone else in the band thinks it’s in a different key and doesn’t modulate, like Am for example…
The iReal Pro app also comes with a backing track feature which works well for jazz tunes like this and practising in 12 keys.
Sunny is Bobby Hebb’s signature song!
Sunny by Bobby Hebb is one of the most recorded and performed tunes in the history of music. BMI rated it #25 on the most important tunes of all time.
Released in 1966, it amazingly went to #1 in the U.S. charts and #12 in the U.K., which is not bad for a jazz tune. Sunny also made the top spot in Norway and Holland, and #3 in Sweden.
In 1975, Boney M released it as a single called Sunny ’76, which is strange as it was released a year earlier. The album it was later included on was released in ’76, still, it’s a strange name.
The Boney M version was Disco and charted better in the U.K., reaching #3 now that it had a steady beat.
During COVID, Billie Eilish covered it live for the TV special Together at Home (2020). As nobody had a gig at this time, plenty of famous artists took part, keeping Sunny in the limelight for over half a century!
Sunny Chords | Related Pages
Sunny | Guitar Lesson + TAB
With this guitar lesson, you can learn to play Sunny by Bobby Hebb using TAB and chord analysis.
| Em7 | G9 | Cmaj7 | F#m7b5 B7 |
Sunny, yesterday my life was filled with rain.
Five similar tunes | Chords + Lyrics
Bobby Hebb tunes
Born to blind musicians, Bobby Hebb was destined for music, getting his first gig at the age of three playing spoons.
He is best known for his jazz standard, worldwide 1966 hit Sunny which he re-recorded in 1976 in a Disco style.
Bobby Hebb on the web
About me | Dan Lundholm
This was a guitar lesson about Sunny chords, by Dan Lundholm. Discover more about him and how you can learn guitar with Spytunes.
Most importantly, find out why you should learn guitar through playing tunes, not practising scales, and studying theory in isolation.
