A Song for You by Leon Russell

Overview

Key: D minor · Chords used: 27 · Sections: 6

Form: A Section → A Section → Bridge → A Section → A Section → Outro

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

• Dm – A7/C♯ – F/C – Bm7♭5 – B♭ – Am7 – Gm7 – Am7 – B♭ – Am7 – B♭/C – F – F/E
  i – V⁶₅ – bIII⁶₄ – viø7 – bVI – v7 – iv7 – v7 – bVI – v7 – bVI (bass C) – bIII – bIII (bass E)

A Section 2

• Dm – A7/C♯ – F/C – Bm7♭5 – B♭ – Am7 – Gm7 – Am7 – B♭ – Am7 – B♭/C – F
  i – V⁶₅ – bIII⁶₄ – viø7 – bVI – v7 – iv7 – v7 – bVI – v7 – bVI (bass C) – bIII

Bridge

• Dm – Aaug7/C♯ – F6/C – Bm7♭5 – B♭ – F/C – C7 – B♭/F – F – F/E – Dm – Aaug7/C♯ – F6/C – Bm7♭5 – B♭ – Am11 – G7 – B♭/C – C7
  i – V+⁶₅ – bIII6 (bass C) – viø7 – bVI – bIII⁶₄ – bVII7 – bVI⁶₄ – bIII – bIII (bass E) – i – V+⁶₅ – bIII6 (bass C) – viø7 – bVI – v11 – IV7 – bVI (bass C) – bVII7

A Section 3

• Dm – A7/C♯ – F/C – Bm7♭5 – B♭ – Am7 – Gm7 – F/A – Am – B♭ – C6 – B♭/C – F – F/E♭ – B♭/D – Am7♭5 – D7 – Gm9
  i – V⁶₅ – bIII⁶₄ – viø7 – bVI – v7 – iv7 – bIII⁶ – v – bVI – bVII6 – bVI (bass C) – bIII – bIII (bass E♭) – bVI⁶ – vø7 – I7 – iv9

A Section 4

• Dm – A7/C♯ – F/C – Bm7♭5 – B♭ – Am7 – Gm7 – F/A – Am – B♭ – C6 – B♭/C – F
  i – V⁶₅ – bIII⁶₄ – viø7 – bVI – v7 – iv7 – bIII⁶ – v – bVI – bVII6 – bVI (bass C) – bIII

Outro

• B♭ – Am/C – B♭/C – F – B♭ – Am – E♭ – B♭ – B♭/F – F – C
  bVI – v⁶ – bVI (bass C) – bIII – bVI – v – bII – bVI – bVI⁶₄ – bIII – bVII

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
Dm	i	Home chord (tonic)	A Section, Bridge
A7/C♯	V⁶₅	In the key	A Section
F/C	bIII⁶₄	In the key	A Section, Bridge
Bm7♭5	viø7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section, Bridge
B♭	bVI	In the key	A Section, Bridge, Outro
Am7	v7	In the key	A Section
Gm7	iv7	In the key	A Section
B♭/C	bVI (bass C)	In the key	A Section, Bridge, Outro
F	bIII	In the key	A Section, Bridge, Outro
F/E	bIII (bass E)	In the key	A Section, Bridge
Aaug7/C♯	V+⁶₅	In the key	Bridge
F6/C	bIII6 (bass C)	In the key	Bridge
C7	bVII7	In the key	Bridge
B♭/F	bVI⁶₄	In the key	Bridge, Outro
Am11	v11	Outside the key (chromatic)	Bridge
G7	IV7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Bridge
F/A	bIII⁶	In the key	A Section
Am	v	In the key	A Section, Outro
C6	bVII6	In the key	A Section
F/E♭	bIII (bass E♭)	Secondary dominant (V/bVI)	A Section
B♭/D	bVI⁶	In the key	A Section
Am7♭5	vø7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
D7	I7	Secondary dominant (V/iv)	A Section
Gm9	iv9	In the key	A Section
Am/C	v⁶	In the key	Outro
E♭	bII	Outside the key (chromatic)	Outro
C	bVII	In the key	Outro

Harmonic highlights

• F/E♭ acts as V/bVI: it resolves to B♭/D.
• D7 acts as V/iv: it resolves to Gm9.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Song For You, A” (credited “Russell Leon”, style Ballad) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Performer/songwriter confirmed from Wikidata.
• 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).
• Cross-check: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Song For You, A” (credited “Russell Leon”, style Ballad) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Performer/songwriter confirmed from Wikidata. A separately posted chart of the same song; its chords match this page's closely when both are read in the same key (similarity 86%).
• 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 D.S./D.C./coda jumps have been written out in playing order.
• About the song: Wikipedia.
• Verified: two community charts of this song, posted in different forum threads, agree on its harmony. They're still charts, not transcriptions checked against the recording.
• Rhythm and chord durations aren't shown; each step is one chord change.