All I Have to Do Is Dream by The Everly Brothers

Overview

Key: E major · Chords used: 7 · Sections: 9

Form: Intro → Chorus → Verse → Verse → Bridge → Verse → Bridge → Verse → Chorus

Where these chords come from: an expert transcription of the original recording made for the Rock Corpus RS 200 (de Clercq & Temperley, 2011), analysis by Trevor de Clercq. 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

• E
  I

Chorus 1

• E – C♯m – A – B (×2)
  I – vi – IV – V

Verse 1

• E – C♯m – A – B (×4)
  I – vi – IV – V

Verse 2

• E – C♯m – A – B (×3)
  I – vi – IV – V
• E – A – E
  I – IV – I

Bridge 1

• A – G♯m – F♯m – B – E – A – G♯m – F♯ – B
  IV – iii – ii – V – I – IV – iii – II – V

Verse 3

• E – C♯m – A – B (×4)
  I – vi – IV – V
• E – A – E
  I – IV – I

Bridge 2

Same chords as Bridge 1.

Verse 4

Same chords as Verse 1.

Chorus 2

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
E	I	Home chord (tonic)	Intro, Chorus, Verse, Bridge
C♯m	vi	In the key	Chorus, Verse
A	IV	In the key	Chorus, Verse, Bridge
B	V	In the key	Chorus, Verse, Bridge
G♯m	iii	In the key	Bridge
F♯m	ii	In the key	Bridge
F♯	II	Secondary dominant (V/V)	Bridge

Harmonic highlights

• F♯ acts as V/V: it resolves to B.
• The Chorus 1 loops E – C♯m – A – B (I – vi – IV – V), a rotation of the ’50s progression (I–vi–IV–V family).

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the Rock Corpus RS 200 (de Clercq & Temperley, 2011), analysis by Trevor de Clercq. Expert by-ear harmonic analysis of the original recording, shown on this page.
• Cross-check: the Rock Corpus RS 200 (de Clercq & Temperley, 2011), analysis by David Temperley. Independent by-ear analysis of the same recording. The two analysts agree on the chord (root and major/minor) for 99% of the song.
• Verified: two independent expert transcriptions agree on this song's harmony.
• Rhythm and chord durations aren't shown; each step is one chord change.