Born to Be Alive by Patrick Hernandez

Overview

Key: D major · Chords used: 9 · Sections: 11

Form: Intro → Chorus → Verse → Chorus → Verse → Chorus → Bridge → Interlude → Verse → 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

• Am7
  v7
• D – C – A (×2)
  I – bVII – V

Chorus 1

• Bm – C – Bm – D – Bm – A – G – Dm7
  vi – bVII – vi – I – vi – V – IV – i7

Verse 1

• D – G – D – C
  I – IV – I – bVII
• G – D (×2)
  IV – I

Chorus 2

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Verse 2

Same chords as Verse 1.

Chorus 3

• Bm – C – Bm – D – Bm – A – G
  vi – bVII – vi – I – vi – V – IV

Bridge

• Bm – G – Bm – G – F♯7sus4 – F♯7 (×2)
  vi – IV – vi – IV – III7sus4 – III7

Interlude

• Dm7
  i7

Verse 3

Same chords as Verse 1.

Chorus 4

Same chords as Chorus 3.

Chorus 5

• Bm – C – Bm – D – Bm – A – G – Bm – C – Bm – D
  vi – bVII – vi – I – vi – V – IV – vi – bVII – vi – I

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

• Am7 (v7) is borrowed from the parallel key, D minor.
• C (bVII) is borrowed from the parallel key, D minor.
• Dm7 (i7) is borrowed from the parallel key, D minor.
• F♯7 acts as V/vi: it resolves to Bm.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). Expert transcription by trained musicians (song 0259, CC0), via ChoCo.
• Not verified: only one expert transcription of this song is available so far.
• 6 chords were simplified to the closest symbol our player supports (for example, an unusual added tone dropped).
• Rhythm and chord durations aren't shown; each step is one chord change.