Copacabana by Barry Manilow

Overview

Key: G minor · Chords used: 33 · Sections: 11

Form: Intro → A Section → B Section → C Section → A Section → B Section → C Section → A Section → B Section → C Section → Outro

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

• Gm9 – F♯m – Fm9 – Gm9 – F♯m – Fm7 – F♯m7 – Gm7
  i9 – vii – bvii9 – i9 – vii – bvii7 – vii7 – i7

A Section 1

• Fm7 – A♭/B♭ – E♭maj7 – Am7♭5 – D7 – Gm – Fm7 – A♭/B♭ – E♭maj7 – Am7♭5 – D7 – Gm7
  bvii7 – bII (bass B♭) – bVImaj7 – iiø7 – V7 – i – bvii7 – bII (bass B♭) – bVImaj7 – iiø7 – V7 – i7

B Section 1

• Cdim7 – Gm – Cdim – D7 – Gm – Cm7 – D7 – Gm – D7/F♯ – B♭7/F
  iv°7 – i – iv° – V7 – i – iv7 – V7 – i – V⁶₅ – bIII⁴₃

C Section 1

• Fm7 – A♭/B♭ – E♭maj7 (×2)
  bvii7 – bII (bass B♭) – bVImaj7
• B♭/C – C7 – Fm7 – A♭/B♭ – B♭/C – C7 – Fm7 – B♭7 – Gm7 – C9 – Fm7 – D7♭9
  bIII (bass C) – IV7 – bvii7 – bII (bass B♭) – bIII (bass C) – IV7 – bvii7 – bIII7 – i7 – IV9 – bvii7 – V7b9
• Gm9 – F♯m – Fm9 (×2)
  i9 – vii – bvii9
• F♯m9 – Gm9
  vii9 – i9

A Section 2

Same chords as A Section 1.

B Section 2

Same chords as B Section 1.

C Section 2

• Fm7 – A♭/B♭ – E♭maj7 (×2)
  bvii7 – bII (bass B♭) – bVImaj7
• B♭/C – C7 – Fm7 – A♭/B♭ – B♭/C – C7 – Fm7 – B♭7 – Gm7 – C9 – Fm7 – D7♭9
  bIII (bass C) – IV7 – bvii7 – bII (bass B♭) – bIII (bass C) – IV7 – bvii7 – bIII7 – i7 – IV9 – bvii7 – V7b9
• Gm9 – F♯m – Fm9 (×2)
  i9 – vii – bvii9
• Gm9 – A♭m – Am – B♭m9 – Bm – Cm – D♭m9 – Dm9 – E♭/D♭ – Fm/D – B♭m9 – Gm9 – G♭m9
  i9 – bii – ii – biii9 – iii – iv – bv9 – v9 – bVI (bass D♭) – bvii (bass D) – biii9 – i9 – bi9
• Fm9 – Gm9 (×2)
  bvii9 – i9
• Am9 – Gm9
  ii9 – i9

A Section 3

Same chords as A Section 1.

B Section 3

Same chords as B Section 1.

C Section 3

• Fm7 – A♭/B♭ – E♭maj7 (×2)
  bvii7 – bII (bass B♭) – bVImaj7
• B♭/C – C7 – Fm7 – A♭/B♭ – B♭/C – C7 – Fm7 – B♭7 – Gm7 – C9 – Fm7
  bIII (bass C) – IV7 – bvii7 – bII (bass B♭) – bIII (bass C) – IV7 – bvii7 – bIII7 – i7 – IV9 – bvii7

Outro

• D7♭9
  V7b9
• Gm9 – Fm9 (×2)
  i9 – bvii9
• Gm9
  i9

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
Gm9	i9	Home chord (tonic)	Intro, C Section, Outro
F♯m	vii	Outside the key (chromatic)	Intro, C Section
Fm9	bvii9	Outside the key (chromatic)	Intro, C Section, Outro
Fm7	bvii7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Intro, A Section, C Section
F♯m7	vii7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Intro
Gm7	i7	Home chord (tonic)	Intro, A Section, C Section
A♭/B♭	bII (bass B♭)	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section, C Section
E♭maj7	bVImaj7	In the key	A Section, C Section
Am7♭5	iiø7	In the key	A Section
D7	V7	In the key	A Section, B Section
Gm	i	Home chord (tonic)	A Section, B Section
Cdim7	iv°7	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
Cdim	iv°	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
Cm7	iv7	In the key	B Section
D7/F♯	V⁶₅	In the key	B Section
B♭7/F	bIII⁴₃	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
B♭/C	bIII (bass C)	In the key	C Section
C7	IV7	Outside the key (chromatic)	C Section
B♭7	bIII7	Outside the key (chromatic)	C Section
C9	IV9	Outside the key (chromatic)	C Section
D7♭9	V7b9	In the key	C Section, Outro
F♯m9	vii9	Outside the key (chromatic)	C Section
A♭m	bii	Outside the key (chromatic)	C Section
Am	ii	Borrowed from G major	C Section
B♭m9	biii9	Outside the key (chromatic)	C Section
Bm	iii	Borrowed from G major	C Section
Cm	iv	In the key	C Section
D♭m9	bv9	Outside the key (chromatic)	C Section
Dm9	v9	Outside the key (chromatic)	C Section
E♭/D♭	bVI (bass D♭)	Outside the key (chromatic)	C Section
Fm/D	bvii (bass D)	Outside the key (chromatic)	C Section
G♭m9	bi9	Outside the key (chromatic)	C Section
Am9	ii9	Borrowed from G major	C Section

Harmonic highlights

• Am (ii) is borrowed from the parallel key, G major.
• Bm (iii) is borrowed from the parallel key, G major.
• Am9 (ii9) is borrowed from the parallel key, G major.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Copacabana” (credited “Manilow Barry”, style Latin) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Performer confirmed from the Billboard year-end charts.
• 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 “Copacabana” (credited “Manilow Barry”, style Latin Pop) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Performer confirmed from the Billboard year-end charts. A separately posted chart of the same song; its chords match this page's closely when both are read in the same key (similarity 88%).
• 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.
• 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.