America by Simon & Garfunkel

Overview

Key: C major · Chords used: 14 · Sections: 16

Form: Intro → Verse → Verse ×2 → Verse → Verse ×3 → Verse → Outro → Outro ×2 → Outro → Outro → Outro → 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

Intro

• C – Cmaj7 – Am – Am7
  I – Imaj7 – vi – vi7

Verse 1

• F
  IV

Verse 2

Same chords as Verse 1.

Verse 3

Same chords as Verse 1.

Verse 4

• F – C – Cmaj7 – Am – Am7 – F – C – Cmaj7 – Am – Em
  IV – I – Imaj7 – vi – vi7 – IV – I – Imaj7 – vi – iii
• Em7 – A (×2)
  iii7 – VI
• D – C – G – C – Cmaj7 – Am – Am7
  II – I – V – I – Imaj7 – vi – vi7

Verse 5

Same chords as Verse 1.

Verse 6

Same chords as Verse 1.

Verse 7

Same chords as Verse 1.

Verse 8

• F – C – Cmaj7 – Am – Am7 – F – C – Cmaj7 – Am
  IV – I – Imaj7 – vi – vi7 – IV – I – Imaj7 – vi
• G – D (×2)
  V – II
• Cmaj7 – B♭maj7 (×2)
  Imaj7 – bVIImaj7
• Cmaj7 – F – C – Cmaj7 – Am – Am7 – Am – F – D – C – Cmaj7 – Am – Am7 – F – C – Cmaj7 – Am – Em
  Imaj7 – IV – I – Imaj7 – vi – vi7 – vi – IV – II – I – Imaj7 – vi – vi7 – IV – I – Imaj7 – vi – iii
• Em7 – A (×2)
  iii7 – VI
• D – C – G – C – Cmaj7 – Am – Am7
  II – I – V – I – Imaj7 – vi – vi7

Outro 1

• F
  IV

Outro 2

Same chords as Outro 1.

Outro 3

Same chords as Outro 1.

Outro 4

• F – C – Cmaj7 – Am – Am7 – F – C – Em – Am
  IV – I – Imaj7 – vi – vi7 – IV – I – iii – vi
• G – D (×2)
  V – II
• Cmaj7
  Imaj7

Outro 5

• Cmaj7 – D – G – D – Cmaj7
  Imaj7 – II – V – II – Imaj7

Outro 6

Same chords as Outro 5.

Outro 7

• Cmaj7
  Imaj7
• C – Cmaj7 – Am – Am7 – Dm – Dm7 – G7 (×3)
  I – Imaj7 – vi – vi7 – ii – ii7 – V7
• C – Cmaj7 – C
  I – Imaj7 – I

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
C	I	Home chord (tonic)	Intro, Verse, Outro
Cmaj7	Imaj7	Home chord (tonic)	Intro, Verse, Outro
Am	vi	In the key	Intro, Verse, Outro
Am7	vi7	In the key	Intro, Verse, Outro
F	IV	In the key	Verse, Outro
Em	iii	In the key	Verse, Outro
Em7	iii7	In the key	Verse
A	VI	Outside the key (chromatic)	Verse
D	II	Secondary dominant (V/V)	Verse, Outro
G	V	In the key	Verse, Outro
B♭maj7	bVIImaj7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Verse
Dm	ii	In the key	Outro
Dm7	ii7	In the key	Outro
G7	V7	In the key	Outro

Harmonic highlights

• D acts as V/V: it resolves to G.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “America” (credited “Simon Paul”, style Rock Pop) 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 “America - Flinner” (credited “Simon Paul”, style Pop) 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 77%).
• 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.