Carry Me by David Crosby & Graham Nash

Overview

Key: E major · Chords used: 11 · Sections: 7

Form: Intro → Verse → Chorus → Verse → Chorus → Verse → 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

• E – E6 – Bm7/E (×2)
  I – I6 – v7 (bass E)
• E
  I

Verse 1

• E – B – A – C♯m7 – C♯7sus2
  I – V – IV – vi7 – VI7sus2
• E – B – A – C♯m7 – A6 (×2)
  I – V – IV – vi7 – IV6
• E – B – A – C♯m7 – Amaj7
  I – V – IV – vi7 – IVmaj7

Chorus 1

• E – E6 – Bm7/E (×2)
  I – I6 – v7 (bass E)
• E
  I

Verse 2

• E – B – A – C♯m7 – C♯7sus2 – E – B – A – C♯m7 – A6 – E – B – A – C♯m7 – B7 – E – B – A – C♯m7 – Amaj7
  I – V – IV – vi7 – VI7sus2 – I – V – IV – vi7 – IV6 – I – V – IV – vi7 – V7 – I – V – IV – vi7 – IVmaj7

Chorus 2

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Verse 3

• E – B – A – C♯m7 – C♯7sus2 – E – B – A – C♯m7 – A69 – E – B – A – C♯m7 – A – E – B – A – C♯m7 – Amaj7
  I – V – IV – vi7 – VI7sus2 – I – V – IV – vi7 – IV69 – I – V – IV – vi7 – IV – I – V – IV – vi7 – IVmaj7

Chorus 3

• E – E6 – Bm7/E (×2)
  I – I6 – v7 (bass E)
• A69 – Bm7/E (×2)
  IV69 – v7 (bass E)
• A69 – E
  IV69 – I

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

• Bm7/E (v7 (bass E)) is borrowed from the parallel key, E minor.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). Expert transcription by trained musicians (song 1124, CC0), via ChoCo.
• 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.