Back Home Again by John Denver

Overview

Key: E major · Chords used: 6 · Sections: 15

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

• E
  I

Verse 1

• E – A – B – B7 – E
  I – IV – V – V7 – I

Verse 2

• E – E7 – A – B – B7 – E
  I – I7 – IV – V – V7 – I

Verse 3

Same chords as Verse 2.

Verse 4

Same chords as Verse 2.

Chorus 1

• A – B – E (×2)
  IV – V – I
• A – B – B7 – E
  IV – V – V7 – I

Verse 5

Same chords as Verse 2.

Verse 6

Same chords as Verse 2.

Chorus 2

• A – B – E (×2)
  IV – V – I
• A – B – B7 – E – E7
  IV – V – V7 – I – I7

Bridge

• A – B – E – A – F♯m – B – E – E7 – A – B – E – A – F♯m – A – B
  IV – V – I – IV – ii – V – I – I7 – IV – V – I – IV – ii – IV – V

Verse 7

Same chords as Verse 2.

Verse 8

• E – A – B – B7 – E – E7
  I – IV – V – V7 – I – I7

Chorus 3

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Chorus 4

• A – B7 – E – E7 – A – B7 – E – A – B – B7 – E
  IV – V7 – I – I7 – IV – V7 – I – IV – V – V7 – I

Outro

• B – B7 – A – E
  V – V7 – IV – I

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

• E7 acts as V/IV: it resolves to A.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). Expert transcription by trained musicians (song 0235, 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.