Days of Wine and Roses by Henry Mancini

Overview

Key: F major · Chords used: 17 · Sections: 5

Form: A Section → B Section → A 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

A Section 1

• Fmaj7 – E♭7♯11 – Am7 – D7♭9 – Gm7 – E♭9
  Imaj7 – bVII7#11 – iii7 – VI7b9 – ii7 – bVII9

B Section

• Am7 – Dm7 – Gm7 – Gm7/F – Em7♭5 – A7♭9 – Dm7 – G7 – Gm7 – C7
  iii7 – vi7 – ii7 – ii⁴₂ – viiø7 – III7b9 – vi7 – II7 – ii7 – V7

A Section 2

Same chords as A Section 1.

C Section

• Am7 – Dm7 – Dm7/C – Bm7♭5 – E7♭9 – Am7 – Dm7 – Gm7 – C7 – F6
  iii7 – vi7 – vi⁴₂ – #ivø7 – VII7b9 – iii7 – vi7 – ii7 – V7 – I6

Outro

• Gm7 – C7 – Am7 – Dm7 (×2)
  ii7 – V7 – iii7 – vi7
• Gm7 – C7 – F
  ii7 – V7 – I

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
Fmaj7	Imaj7	Home chord (tonic)	A Section
E♭7♯11	bVII7#11	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
Am7	iii7	In the key	A Section, B Section, C Section, Outro
D7♭9	VI7b9	Secondary dominant (V/ii)	A Section
Gm7	ii7	In the key	A Section, B Section, C Section, Outro
E♭9	bVII9	Borrowed from F minor	A Section
Dm7	vi7	In the key	B Section, C Section, Outro
Gm7/F	ii⁴₂	In the key	B Section
Em7♭5	viiø7	In the key	B Section
A7♭9	III7b9	Secondary dominant (V/vi)	B Section
G7	II7	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
C7	V7	In the key	B Section, C Section, Outro
Dm7/C	vi⁴₂	In the key	C Section
Bm7♭5	#ivø7	Outside the key (chromatic)	C Section
E7♭9	VII7b9	Secondary dominant (V/iii)	C Section
F6	I6	Home chord (tonic)	C Section
F	I	Home chord (tonic)	Outro

Harmonic highlights

• E♭9 (bVII9) is borrowed from the parallel key, F minor.
• D7♭9 acts as V/ii: it resolves to Gm7.
• A7♭9 acts as V/vi: it resolves to Dm7.
• E7♭9 acts as V/iii: it resolves to Am7.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Days Of Wine And Roses” (credited “Mancini Henry”, style Medium Swing) 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 “Days Of Wine And Roses” (credited “Mancini Henry”, style Medium Swing) 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 95%).
• 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.