Darn That Dream by Jimmy Van Heusen

Overview

Key: G major · Chords used: 21 · Sections: 5

Form: Intro → A Section → A Section → Bridge → A 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

• Am7 – F7 – Bm7 – B♭m7 – Am7 – D7 – G6 – Am7 – D7
  ii7 – bVII7 – iii7 – biii7 – ii7 – V7 – I6 – ii7 – V7

A Section 1

• G6 – B♭m7 – E♭7 – Am7 – B7♯11 – Em – Em/D – A7/C♯ – Cm7 – Bm7♭5 – E7 – Am7 – F7 – Bm7 – B♭m7 – Am7 – D7 – Bm7 – B♭7 – Am7 – D7
  I6 – biii7 – bVI7 – ii7 – III7#11 – vi – vi (bass D) – II⁶₅ – iv7 – iiiø7 – VI7 – ii7 – bVII7 – iii7 – biii7 – ii7 – V7 – iii7 – bIII7 – ii7 – V7

A Section 2

• G6 – B♭m7 – E♭7 – Am7 – B7♯11 – Em – Em/D – A7/C♯ – Cm7 – Bm7♭5 – E7 – Am7 – F7 – Bm7 – B♭m7 – Am7 – D7 – G6 – Fm7 – B♭7
  I6 – biii7 – bVI7 – ii7 – III7#11 – vi – vi (bass D) – II⁶₅ – iv7 – iiiø7 – VI7 – ii7 – bVII7 – iii7 – biii7 – ii7 – V7 – I6 – bvii7 – bIII7

Bridge

• E♭maj7 – Cm7 – Fm7 – B♭7 – Gm7 – F♯m7 – B7 – Fm7 – B♭7 – E♭maj7 – Cm7 – Gm – Am7 – D7 – B♭m7 – E♭7 – Am7 – D7
  bVImaj7 – iv7 – bvii7 – bIII7 – i7 – vii7 – III7 – bvii7 – bIII7 – bVImaj7 – iv7 – i – ii7 – V7 – biii7 – bVI7 – ii7 – V7

A Section 3

• G6 – B♭m7 – E♭7 – Am7 – B7♯11 – Em – Em/D – A7/C♯ – Cm7 – Bm7♭5 – E7 – Am7 – F7 – Bm7 – B♭m7 – Am7 – D7 – G6 – Am7 – D7
  I6 – biii7 – bVI7 – ii7 – III7#11 – vi – vi (bass D) – II⁶₅ – iv7 – iiiø7 – VI7 – ii7 – bVII7 – iii7 – biii7 – ii7 – V7 – I6 – ii7 – V7

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
Am7	ii7	In the key	Intro, A Section, Bridge
F7	bVII7	Borrowed from G minor	Intro, A Section
Bm7	iii7	In the key	Intro, A Section
B♭m7	biii7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Intro, A Section, Bridge
D7	V7	In the key	Intro, A Section, Bridge
G6	I6	Home chord (tonic)	Intro, A Section
E♭7	bVI7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section, Bridge
B7♯11	III7#11	Secondary dominant (V/vi)	A Section
Em	vi	In the key	A Section
Em/D	vi (bass D)	In the key	A Section
A7/C♯	II⁶₅	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
Cm7	iv7	Borrowed from G minor	A Section, Bridge
Bm7♭5	iiiø7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
E7	VI7	Secondary dominant (V/ii)	A Section
B♭7	bIII7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section, Bridge
Fm7	bvii7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section, Bridge
E♭maj7	bVImaj7	Borrowed from G minor	Bridge
Gm7	i7	Borrowed from G minor	Bridge
F♯m7	vii7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Bridge
B7	III7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Bridge
Gm	i	Borrowed from G minor	Bridge

Harmonic highlights

• F7 (bVII7) is borrowed from the parallel key, G minor.
• Cm7 (iv7) is borrowed from the parallel key, G minor.
• E♭maj7 (bVImaj7) is borrowed from the parallel key, G minor.
• Gm7 (i7) is borrowed from the parallel key, G minor.
• Gm (i) is borrowed from the parallel key, G minor.
• B7♯11 acts as V/vi: it resolves to Em.
• E7 acts as V/ii: it resolves to Am7.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Darn That Dream” (credited “Van-Heusen Jimmy”, 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 “Darn That Dream” (credited “Van-Heusen Jimmy”, 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 100%).
• 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.