Anarchy in the U.K. by Sex Pistols

Overview

Key: C major · Chords used: 8 · Sections: 14

Form: Intro → Verse → Chorus → Verse → Chorus → Solo → Verse → Chorus → Bridge → Verse → Chorus ×4

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.

Key changes

• Bridge moves to D major.
• Verse 4 moves to C major.

Section by section

Intro

• G – F – Em – Dm – C
  V – IV – iii – ii – I

Verse 1

• C – F – C/E (×4)
  I – IV – I⁶

Chorus 1

• G – F – Em – Dm – C – F – C/E – C – G
  V – IV – iii – ii – I – IV – I⁶ – I – V

Verse 2

Same chords as Verse 1.

Chorus 2

• G – F – Em – Dm – C – F – C/E – C
  V – IV – iii – ii – I – IV – I⁶ – I

Solo

• Dm – Em (×3)
  ii – iii
• Dm – G
  ii – V

Verse 3

Same chords as Verse 1.

Chorus 3

Same chords as Chorus 2.

Bridge

• D – G – D/F♯ (×4)
  I – IV – I⁶

Verse 4

Same chords as Verse 1.

Chorus 4

Same chords as Chorus 2.

Chorus 5

Same chords as Chorus 2.

Chorus 6

Same chords as Chorus 2.

Chorus 7

Same chords as Chorus 2.

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
G	V	In the key	Intro, Chorus, Solo
F	IV	In the key	Intro, Verse, Chorus
Em	iii	In the key	Intro, Chorus, Solo
Dm	ii	In the key	Intro, Chorus, Solo
C	I	Home chord (tonic)	Intro, Verse, Chorus
C/E	I⁶	Home chord (tonic)	Verse, Chorus
D	I (in D major)	Home chord (tonic)	Bridge
G	IV (in D major)	In the key	Bridge
D/F♯	I⁶ (in D major)	Home chord (tonic)	Bridge

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 94% 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.