Beast of Burden by The Rolling Stones

Overview

Key: E major · Chords used: 6 · Sections: 22

Where these chords come from: an expert transcription of the original recording made for the Uspop2002 chord annotations (Music and Audio Research Lab, New York University). 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

Part 1 (0:00)

• E
  I

Part 2 (0:02)

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

Part 3 (0:15)

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

Part 4 (0:27)

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

Part 5 (0:40)

Same chords as Part 2 (0:02).

Part 6 (0:53)

• E – B – C♯m
  I – V – vi
• A – E/G♯ (×2)
  IV – I⁶

Part 7 (1:06)

• B – E – B – C♯m – A – E – B – C♯m
  V – I – V – vi – IV – I – V – vi

Part 8 (1:18)

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

Part 9 (1:31)

• E/G♯ – A – E/G♯ – B – Bsus4 – B – E
  I⁶ – IV – I⁶ – V – Vsus4 – V – I

Part 10 (1:43)

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

Part 11 (1:56)

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

Part 12 (2:08)

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

Part 13 (2:19)

Same chords as Part 4 (0:27).

Part 14 (2:32)

• B – C♯m – A – E – B – C♯m – A – B – E – B – C♯m
  V – vi – IV – I – V – vi – IV – V – I – V – vi

Part 15 (2:44)

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

Part 16 (2:56)

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

Part 17 (3:09)

Same chords as Part 10 (1:43).

Part 18 (3:22)

• A – E – B – C♯m – A – B – E – B – C♯m – A – E
  IV – I – V – vi – IV – V – I – V – vi – IV – I

Part 19 (3:34)

• B – C♯m – A – B – E – B – C♯m – A – E – B – C♯m
  V – vi – IV – V – I – V – vi – IV – I – V – vi

Part 20 (3:45)

Same chords as Part 11 (1:56).

Part 21 (3:57)

Same chords as Part 2 (0:02).

Part 22 (4:10)

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

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

• The Part 2 (0:02) loops B – C♯m – A – E (V – vi – IV – I), a rotation of the “axis” progression (I–V–vi–IV family).

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the Uspop2002 chord annotations (Music and Audio Research Lab, New York University). Chord annotation of the original recording (Some Girls), time-stamped by researchers; CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo.
• Section names: this annotation doesn't name verses or choruses, so they aren't guessed. Instead, code used the chord timings to find the bars and cut the song into 8-bar parts. Each part is labelled with the time it starts in the annotated recording (Some Girls), and a part with exactly the same chords as an earlier one says so.
• The key was estimated by code from the chords; this annotation doesn't state it.
• 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.