Cry Softly Lonely One by Roy Orbison

Overview

Key: G major · Chords used: 10 · Sections: 7

Form: Intro → 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

• G
  I

Verse 1

• G – Am – D – G – C – A7 – D – Am7 – D
  I – ii – V – I – IV – II7 – V – ii7 – V

Chorus 1

• G – F – G – Bm – C – G – B7 – C – D – G
  I – bVII – I – iii – IV – I – III7 – IV – V – I

Interlude

• G – Am – C – D – G – C – G
  I – ii – IV – V – I – IV – I

Verse 2

Same chords as Verse 1.

Chorus 2

• G – F – G – C6
  I – bVII – I – IV6
• C – D (×4)
  IV – V
• G – C
  I – IV

Outro

• G
  I

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

• F (bVII) is borrowed from the parallel key, G minor.
• A7 acts as V/V: it resolves to D.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). Expert transcription by trained musicians (song 0064, 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.