Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is by Chicago

Overview

Key: G major · Chords used: 19 · Sections: 16

Form: Intro → Intro → Instrumental → Bridge → Verse → Bridge → Chorus → Verse → Bridge → Chorus → Verse → Bridge → Chorus → Bridge → 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 1

• Gmaj13 – Dm9 – Gmaj13 – E♭maj13 – B9sus4 – B♭maj13 – A♭13 – Fmaj9/B♭ – Gmaj13 – F♯9sus4
  Imaj13 – v9 – Imaj13 – bVImaj13 – III9sus4 – bIIImaj13 – bII13 – bVIImaj9 (bass B♭) – Imaj13 – VII9sus4

Intro 2

• F – G (×3)
  bVII – I
• E♭ – E♭maj7♯11
  bVI – bVImaj7#11

Instrumental

• Gmaj7 – Cmaj13 (×4)
  Imaj7 – IVmaj13

Bridge 1

• D – Em7 – F6 – Em7
  V – vi7 – bVII6 – vi7

Verse 1

• G – F
  I – bVII
• B♭maj7 – E♭maj13 (×3)
  bIIImaj7 – bVImaj13

Bridge 2

Same chords as Bridge 1.

Chorus 1

• Gmaj7 – Cmaj13 (×4)
  Imaj7 – IVmaj13

Verse 2

Same chords as Verse 1.

Bridge 3

Same chords as Bridge 1.

Chorus 2

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Verse 3

Same chords as Verse 1.

Bridge 4

Same chords as Bridge 1.

Chorus 3

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Bridge 5

Same chords as Bridge 1.

Chorus 4

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Outro

• F – B♭maj7 – E♭maj7 – F – Gmaj7
  bVII – bIIImaj7 – bVImaj7 – bVII – Imaj7

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

• E♭maj13 (bVImaj13) is borrowed from the parallel key, G minor.
• B♭maj13 (bIIImaj13) is borrowed from the parallel key, G minor.
• F (bVII) is borrowed from the parallel key, G minor.
• E♭ (bVI) is borrowed from the parallel key, G minor.
• E♭maj7♯11 (bVImaj7#11) is borrowed from the parallel key, G minor.
• F6 (bVII6) is borrowed from the parallel key, G minor.
• B♭maj7 (bIIImaj7) is borrowed from the parallel key, G minor.
• E♭maj7 (bVImaj7) is borrowed from the parallel key, G minor.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). Expert transcription by trained musicians (song 0700, CC0), via ChoCo.
• Not verified: only one expert transcription of this song is available so far.
• 2 chords were simplified to the closest symbol our player supports (for example, an unusual added tone dropped).
• Rhythm and chord durations aren't shown; each step is one chord change.