Both Sides Now by Joni Mitchell

Overview

Key: F♯ major · Chords used: 5 · Sections: 16

Form: Transition → Verse → Verse → Chorus → Transition → Verse ×2 → Chorus → Transition → Verse ×2 → Chorus → Transition → Chorus → Transition → 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.

Section by section

Transition 1

• F♯ – B/F♯ – F♯ – F♯maj7
  I – IV⁶₄ – I – Imaj7
• B/F♯ – F♯ (×2)
  IV⁶₄ – I
• B/F♯
  IV⁶₄

Verse 1

• F♯maj7 – B/F♯ – C♯sus4 – F♯ – C♯ – F♯
  Imaj7 – IV⁶₄ – Vsus4 – I – V – I
• F♯maj7 – B/F♯ – C♯sus4 (×2)
  Imaj7 – IV⁶₄ – Vsus4

Verse 2

Same chords as Verse 1.

Chorus 1

• F♯ – C♯ (×4)
  I – V
• F♯ – F♯maj7
  I – Imaj7
• B/F♯ – F♯ (×2)
  IV⁶₄ – I
• F♯maj7 – B/F♯ – C♯sus4
  Imaj7 – IV⁶₄ – Vsus4

Transition 2

Same chords as Transition 1.

Verse 3

Same chords as Verse 1.

Verse 4

Same chords as Verse 1.

Chorus 2

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Transition 3

Same chords as Transition 1.

Verse 5

Same chords as Verse 1.

Verse 6

Same chords as Verse 1.

Chorus 3

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Transition 4

Same chords as Transition 1.

Chorus 4

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Transition 5

Same chords as Transition 1.

Outro

• F♯ – B/F♯ (×5)
  I – IV⁶₄
• F♯
  I

Chord vocabulary

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 87% of the song.
• Not verified: the two RS 200 analysts differ in places (see their agreement above).
• Rhythm and chord durations aren't shown; each step is one chord change.