Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen

Overview

Key: E major · Chords used: 14 · Sections: 14

Form: Intro → Verse → Chorus → Intro → Verse → Chorus → Intro → Solo → Bridge → Bridge → Solo → Verse → Chorus → Outro

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 1 moves to G major.
• Solo 2 moves to F major.
• Verse 3 moves to E major.

Section by section

Intro 1

• E – A/E – B – E – A – B
  I – IV⁶₄ – V – I – IV – V

Verse 1

• E – A – B (×2)
  I – IV – V

Chorus 1

• A – C♯m/G♯ – F♯m7 – C♯m/G♯ – E – E9 – A – C♯m/G♯ – F♯m7 – C♯m/G♯ – E – C♯m – A – B
  IV – vi⁶₄ – ii7 – vi⁶₄ – I – I9 – IV – vi⁶₄ – ii7 – vi⁶₄ – I – vi – IV – V

Intro 2

Same chords as Intro 1.

Verse 2

Same chords as Verse 1.

Chorus 2

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Intro 3

Same chords as Intro 1.

Solo 1

• E – A/E – B (×2)
  I – IV⁶₄ – V
• C♯m – B – E – Bm
  vi – V – I – v

Bridge 1

• D – G – A – C
  V – I – II – IV

Bridge 2

Same chords as Bridge 1.

Solo 2

• F – C – F – F♯ – B
  I – V – I – #I – #IV

Verse 3

Same chords as Verse 1.

Chorus 3

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Outro

• E – C♯m – A – B (×2)
  I – vi – IV – V
• E – A – B (×4)
  I – IV – V
• E
  I

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
E	I	Home chord (tonic)	Intro, Verse, Chorus, Solo, Outro
A/E	IV⁶₄	In the key	Intro, Solo
B	V	In the key	Intro, Verse, Chorus, Solo, Outro
A	IV	In the key	Intro, Verse, Chorus, Outro
C♯m/G♯	vi⁶₄	In the key	Chorus
F♯m7	ii7	In the key	Chorus
E9	I9	Secondary dominant (V/IV)	Chorus
C♯m	vi	In the key	Chorus, Solo, Outro
Bm	v	Borrowed from E minor	Solo
D	V (in G major)	In the key	Bridge
G	I (in G major)	Home chord (tonic)	Bridge
A	II (in G major)	Outside the key (chromatic)	Bridge
C	IV (in G major)	In the key	Bridge
F	I (in F major)	Home chord (tonic)	Solo
C	V (in F major)	In the key	Solo
F♯	#I (in F major)	Outside the key (chromatic)	Solo
B	#IV (in F major)	Outside the key (chromatic)	Solo

Harmonic highlights

• Bm (v) is borrowed from the parallel key, E minor.
• E9 acts as V/IV: it resolves to A.
• The Outro loops E – C♯m – A – B (I – vi – IV – V), a rotation of the ’50s progression (I–vi–IV–V family).

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 100% 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.