By the Time I Get to Phoenix by Jimmy Webb

Overview

Key: E♭ major · Chords used: 22 · Sections: 2

Form: A Section → A Section

Where these chords come from: a chord chart of this song written by a musician and shared on the iReal Pro forums, archived in the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). It's one musician's reading of the song, not a transcription checked against the recording. This page shows that chart 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

A Section 1

• Fm7 – B♭7 – E7 – E♭maj7 – A♭7 – Gm7 – C7 – Fm7 – B♭7 – E7 – E♭maj7 – B♭m7 – A7 – A♭maj7 – C7/G – Fm7 – B♭7 – B♭7/A♭ – Gm7 – D♭7 – C7 – Fm7 – D♭9 – B♭7sus4 – E7
  ii7 – V7 – #I7 – Imaj7 – IV7 – iii7 – VI7 – ii7 – V7 – #I7 – Imaj7 – v7 – #IV7 – IVmaj7 – VI⁴₃ – ii7 – V7 – V⁴₂ – iii7 – bVII7 – VI7 – ii7 – bVII9 – V7sus4 – #I7

A Section 2

• Fm7 – B♭7 – E7 – E♭maj7 – A♭7 – Gm7 – C7 – Fm7 – B♭7 – E7 – E♭maj7 – B♭m7 – A7 – A♭maj7 – C7/G – Fm7 – B♭7 – B♭7/A♭ – Gm7 – D♭7 – C7 – Fm7 – D♭9 – B♭7sus4 – E7 – Fm7 – B♭7 – E7 – E♭maj7 – A♭7 – Gm7 – C7 – Fm7 – B♭7 – E7 – E♭maj7 – B♭m7 – A7 – A♭maj7 – C7/G – Fm7 – B♭7 – B♭7/A♭ – Gm7 – D♭7 – C7 – Fm7 – B♭7 – E7 – E♭maj7 – E♭maj7/G – A♭maj7 – A♭maj7/E♭ – Dm7♭5 – G7♭9 – G7♭9/B
  ii7 – V7 – #I7 – Imaj7 – IV7 – iii7 – VI7 – ii7 – V7 – #I7 – Imaj7 – v7 – #IV7 – IVmaj7 – VI⁴₃ – ii7 – V7 – V⁴₂ – iii7 – bVII7 – VI7 – ii7 – bVII9 – V7sus4 – #I7 – ii7 – V7 – #I7 – Imaj7 – IV7 – iii7 – VI7 – ii7 – V7 – #I7 – Imaj7 – v7 – #IV7 – IVmaj7 – VI⁴₃ – ii7 – V7 – V⁴₂ – iii7 – bVII7 – VI7 – ii7 – V7 – #I7 – Imaj7 – Imaj⁶₅ – IVmaj7 – IVmaj⁴₃ – viiø7 – III7b9 – III7b9 (bass B)
• Cmaj7 – B♭maj7 (×2)
  VImaj7 – Vmaj7
• Cmaj7
  VImaj7

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
Fm7	ii7	In the key	A Section
B♭7	V7	In the key	A Section
E7	#I7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
E♭maj7	Imaj7	Home chord (tonic)	A Section
A♭7	IV7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
Gm7	iii7	In the key	A Section
C7	VI7	Secondary dominant (V/ii)	A Section
B♭m7	v7	Borrowed from E♭ minor	A Section
A7	#IV7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
A♭maj7	IVmaj7	In the key	A Section
C7/G	VI⁴₃	Secondary dominant (V/ii)	A Section
B♭7/A♭	V⁴₂	In the key	A Section
D♭7	bVII7	Borrowed from E♭ minor	A Section
D♭9	bVII9	Borrowed from E♭ minor	A Section
B♭7sus4	V7sus4	In the key	A Section
E♭maj7/G	Imaj⁶₅	Home chord (tonic)	A Section
A♭maj7/E♭	IVmaj⁴₃	In the key	A Section
Dm7♭5	viiø7	In the key	A Section
G7♭9	III7b9	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
G7♭9/B	III7b9 (bass B)	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
Cmaj7	VImaj7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
B♭maj7	Vmaj7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section

Harmonic highlights

• B♭m7 (v7) is borrowed from the parallel key, E♭ minor.
• D♭7 (bVII7) is borrowed from the parallel key, E♭ minor.
• D♭9 (bVII9) is borrowed from the parallel key, E♭ minor.
• C7 acts as V/ii: it resolves to Fm7.
• C7/G acts as V/ii: it resolves to Fm7.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “By the Time I Get to Phoenix” (credited “Webb Jimmy”, style Latin-Swing) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Performer/songwriter confirmed from Wikidata.
• Section names: from the chart's own markings: section names written on the chart (Intro, Verse, Chorus…) are kept, and rehearsal letters are shown as “A Section”, “B Section” and so on (the B of an AABA song is called the Bridge).
• Cross-check: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “By the Time I Get to Phoenix” (credited “Webb Jimmy”, style Latin) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Performer/songwriter confirmed from Wikidata. A separately posted chart of the same song; its chords match this page's closely when both are read in the same key (similarity 96%).
• Chord charts are often written in a key that suits a particular singer or band, so this may not be the key of the original recording.
• About the song: Wikipedia.
• Verified: two community charts of this song, posted in different forum threads, agree on its harmony. They're still charts, not transcriptions checked against the recording.
• Rhythm and chord durations aren't shown; each step is one chord change.