Cry me a river by Arthur Hamilton

Overview

Key: E♭ major · Chords used: 23 · Sections: 5

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

Intro

• Gm7♭5 – C7♭9 – F7sus4 – F9 – B7 – B♭9 – E♭6 – G7
  iiiø7 – VI7b9 – II7sus4 – II9 – #V7 – V9 – I6 – III7

A Section 1

• Cm – A♭/C – Cm6 – Cm7 – Fm7 – B♭7 – E♭maj7 – G7 – C7♭9 – F9 – B7 – B♭9 – E♭6 – G7
  vi – IV⁶ – vi6 – vi7 – ii7 – V7 – Imaj7 – III7 – VI7b9 – II9 – #V7 – V9 – I6 – III7

A Section 2

• Cm – A♭/C – Cm6 – Cm7 – Fm7 – B♭7 – E♭maj7 – G7 – C7♭9 – F9 – B7 – B♭9 – E♭6 – D7♭9
  vi – IV⁶ – vi6 – vi7 – ii7 – V7 – Imaj7 – III7 – VI7b9 – II9 – #V7 – V9 – I6 – VII7b9

B Section

• Gm – Am7♭5 – D7♭9 (×3)
  iii – #ivø7 – VII7b9
• Gmaj7 – Dm7 – G7
  IIImaj7 – vii7 – III7

C Section

• Cm – A♭/C – Cm6 – Cm7 – Fm7 – B♭7 – E♭maj7 – G7♭9 – C7♭9 – F9 – B7 – B♭9 – E♭6 – G7
  vi – IV⁶ – vi6 – vi7 – ii7 – V7 – Imaj7 – III7b9 – VI7b9 – II9 – #V7 – V9 – I6 – III7
• B7 – B♭7sus4 (×3)
  #V7 – V7sus4
• E♭7♯11
  I7#11

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
Gm7♭5	iiiø7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Intro
C7♭9	VI7b9	Secondary dominant (V/II)	Intro, A Section, C Section
F7sus4	II7sus4	In the key	Intro
F9	II9	Outside the key (chromatic)	Intro, A Section, C Section
B7	#V7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Intro, A Section, C Section
B♭9	V9	In the key	Intro, A Section, C Section
E♭6	I6	Home chord (tonic)	Intro, A Section, C Section
G7	III7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Intro, A Section, B Section, C Section
Cm	vi	In the key	A Section, C Section
A♭/C	IV⁶	In the key	A Section, C Section
Cm6	vi6	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section, C Section
Cm7	vi7	In the key	A Section, C Section
Fm7	ii7	In the key	A Section, C Section
B♭7	V7	In the key	A Section, C Section
E♭maj7	Imaj7	Home chord (tonic)	A Section, C Section
D7♭9	VII7b9	Secondary dominant (V/iii)	B Section
Gm	iii	In the key	B Section
Am7♭5	#ivø7	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
Gmaj7	IIImaj7	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
Dm7	vii7	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
G7♭9	III7b9	Outside the key (chromatic)	C Section
B♭7sus4	V7sus4	In the key	C Section
E♭7♯11	I7#11	Outside the key (chromatic)	C Section

Harmonic highlights

• C7♭9 acts as V/II: it resolves to F7sus4.
• D7♭9 acts as V/iii: it resolves to Gm.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Cry Me A River 1” (credited “1953-99 Arthur Hamilton”, style Ballad) 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 “Cry Me A River” (credited “Hamilton Arthur”, style Ballad) 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 70%).
• 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.