Chain Lightning by Steely Dan

Overview

Key: A major · Chords used: 9 · Sections: 7

Form: Intro → Intro → A Section → A Section → Interlude → Vamp → Vamp

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

Intro 1

• A9
  I9

Intro 2

Same chords as Intro 1.

A Section 1

• A13 – C69 – D9sus4 – G69 – D9sus4 – D9 – E9sus4 – E13 (×3)
  I13 – bIII69 – IV9sus4 – bVII69 – IV9sus4 – IV9 – V9sus4 – V13
• A13 – A7
  I13 – I7

A Section 2

• A13 – C69 – D9sus4 – G69 – D9sus4 – D9 – E9sus4 – E13 – A13
  I13 – bIII69 – IV9sus4 – bVII69 – IV9sus4 – IV9 – V9sus4 – V13 – I13

Interlude

• A13 – C69 – D9sus4 – G69 – D9sus4 – D9 – E9sus4 – E13
  I13 – bIII69 – IV9sus4 – bVII69 – IV9sus4 – IV9 – V9sus4 – V13

Vamp 1

• A13 – C69 – D9sus4 – G69 – D9sus4 – D9 – E9sus4 – E13
  I13 – bIII69 – IV9sus4 – bVII69 – IV9sus4 – IV9 – V9sus4 – V13

Vamp 2

• A13
  I13

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
A9	I9	Outside the key (chromatic)	Intro
A13	I13	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section, Interlude, Vamp
C69	bIII69	Borrowed from A minor	A Section, Interlude, Vamp
D9sus4	IV9sus4	Borrowed from A minor	A Section, Interlude, Vamp
G69	bVII69	Borrowed from A minor	A Section, Interlude, Vamp
D9	IV9	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section, Interlude, Vamp
E9sus4	V9sus4	In the key	A Section, Interlude, Vamp
E13	V13	In the key	A Section, Interlude, Vamp
A7	I7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section

Harmonic highlights

• C69 (bIII69) is borrowed from the parallel key, A minor.
• D9sus4 (IV9sus4) is borrowed from the parallel key, A minor.
• G69 (bVII69) is borrowed from the parallel key, A minor.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Chain Lightning” (credited “Becker-Fagen (Steely Dan)”, style Shuffle) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Artist as credited on the chart.
• 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 “Chain Lightning” (credited “Steely Dan (Becker-Fagen)”, style Pop-Shuffle) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Artist as credited on the chart. A separately posted chart of the same song; its chords match this page's closely when both are read in the same key (similarity 65%).
• 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.
• The chart's D.S./D.C./coda jumps have been written out in playing order.
• 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.