Baby I'm Burnin' by Dolly Parton

Overview

Key: B major · Chords used: 8 · Sections: 9

Form: Intro → Verse → Chorus → Transition → Verse → Chorus → Transition → Chorus → Chorus

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

• B
  I

Verse 1

• B – E – B – E – E/F♯ (×4)
  I – IV – I – IV – IV (bass F♯)
• B – E
  I – IV

Chorus 1

• B – F♯ – B – E (×3)
  I – V – I – IV
• B – F♯
  I – V

Transition 1

• B
  I

Verse 2

• B – E – B – E – E/F♯ (×2)
  I – IV – I – IV – IV (bass F♯)
• B – F♯
  I – V

Chorus 2

• B – F♯ – B – E (×3)
  I – V – I – IV
• B – F♯ – B
  I – V – I

Transition 2

• B7
  I7

Chorus 3

• C – G – C – F (×3)
  bII – bVI – bII – bV
• C – G (×3)
  bII – bVI
• C – F – C – G (×3)
  bII – bV – bII – bVI
• C
  bII

Chorus 4

• G – C (×2)
  bVI – bII
• F – C – G – C (×3)
  bV – bII – bVI – bII
• G – C (×2)
  bVI – bII
• F – C – G – C (×3)
  bV – bII – bVI – bII

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

• G (bVI) is borrowed from the parallel key, B minor.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). Expert transcription by trained musicians (song 0559, 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.