Absolutely Right by Five Man Electrical Band

Overview

Key: A major · Chords used: 10 · Sections: 12

Form: Intro → Verse → Chorus → Transition → Verse → Chorus → Transition → Bridge → Verse → Chorus ×2 → Outro

Where these chords come from: an expert transcription of the original recording made for the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). 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

Intro

• A – D (×2)
  I – IV
• G – E
  bVII – V

Verse 1

• A – D (×7)
  I – IV

Chorus 1

• A – D – G – C – B – E7
  I – IV – bVII – bIII – II – V7

Transition 1

• Am – Dm – C – A
  i – iv – bIII – I

Verse 2

• A – D (×6)
  I – IV

Chorus 2

• A – D – G – C – B – E
  I – IV – bVII – bIII – II – V

Transition 2

• A – D – G – E
  I – IV – bVII – V

Bridge

• A – D – G – E (×3)
  I – IV – bVII – V

Verse 3

Same chords as Verse 2.

Chorus 3

Same chords as Chorus 2.

Chorus 4

Same chords as Chorus 2.

Outro

• A – D/A (×3)
  I – IV⁶₄
• G – D – A
  bVII – IV – I

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

• G (bVII) is borrowed from the parallel key, A minor.
• C (bIII) is borrowed from the parallel key, A minor.
• Am (i) is borrowed from the parallel key, A minor.
• Dm (iv) is borrowed from the parallel key, A minor.
• B acts as V/V: it resolves to E7.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). Expert transcription by trained musicians (song 0041, CC0), via ChoCo.
• Not verified: only one expert transcription of this song is available so far.
• Rhythm and chord durations aren't shown; each step is one chord change.