City in the Sky by The Staple Singers

Overview

Key: D major · Chords used: 6 · Sections: 10

Form: Intro → Verse → Chorus → Interlude → Verse → Chorus → Interlude → Verse → Chorus → Outro

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

• D7 – Dm7
  I7 – i7
• D7 – Csus4 (×2)
  I7 – bVIIsus4

Verse 1

• D7 – Csus4 (×3)
  I7 – bVIIsus4
• G7 – D7 – Csus4 (×2)
  IV7 – I7 – bVIIsus4

Chorus 1

• A7 – G7
  V7 – IV7

Interlude 1

• D7 – D7♯9
  I7 – I7#9

Verse 2

Same chords as Verse 1.

Chorus 2

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Interlude 2

Same chords as Interlude 1.

Verse 3

Same chords as Verse 1.

Chorus 3

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Outro

• D7
  I7

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

• Dm7 (i7) is borrowed from the parallel key, D minor.
• Csus4 (bVIIsus4) is borrowed from the parallel key, D minor.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). Expert transcription by trained musicians (song 0497, 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.