Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me by Elton John

Overview

Key: C major · Chords used: 20 · Sections: 10

Form: Intro → A Section → A Section → A Section → A Section → B Section → A Section → B Section → Interlude → 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

• C – C/B♭ – F/A – C/G – F
  I – I (bass B♭) – IV⁶ – I⁶₄ – IV

A Section 1

• G – C/G – G7 – Csus4 – C – C/E – F – G7 – C/G – G7
  V – I⁶₄ – V7 – Isus4 – I – I⁶ – IV – V7 – I⁶₄ – V7

A Section 2

Same chords as A Section 1.

A Section 3

• G – C/G – G7 – G/B – Csus4 – C – C/E – F – B♭/F – F – F/A – F/C – G7 – C/G – G7
  V – I⁶₄ – V7 – V⁶ – Isus4 – I – I⁶ – IV – bVII⁶₄ – IV – IV⁶ – IV⁶₄ – V7 – I⁶₄ – V7

A Section 4

• G – C/G – G7 – G/B – Csus4 – C – C/E – F – B♭/F – F – F/A – F/C – C/G – G7
  V – I⁶₄ – V7 – V⁶ – Isus4 – I – I⁶ – IV – bVII⁶₄ – IV – IV⁶ – IV⁶₄ – I⁶₄ – V7

B Section 1

• C – C/B♭ – Am – Am/G – D/F♯ – C/G – F/G – G7 – C – C/B♭ – F/A – Dm – C/E – Gsus4 – C – C/B♭ – F/A – C/G
  I – I (bass B♭) – vi – vi (bass G) – II⁶ – I⁶₄ – IV (bass G) – V7 – I – I (bass B♭) – IV⁶ – ii – I⁶ – Vsus4 – I – I (bass B♭) – IV⁶ – I⁶₄

A Section 5

Same chords as A Section 4.

B Section 2

• C – C/B♭ – Am – Am/G – D/F♯ – C/G – F/G – G7 – C – C/B♭ – F/A – Dm – C/E – Gsus4 – C – C/B♭
  I – I (bass B♭) – vi – vi (bass G) – II⁶ – I⁶₄ – IV (bass G) – V7 – I – I (bass B♭) – IV⁶ – ii – I⁶ – Vsus4 – I – I (bass B♭)

Interlude

• F/A – A♭ – B♭
  IV⁶ – bVI – bVII

C Section

• C – C/B♭ – Am – Am/G – D/F♯ – C/G – F/G – G7 – C – C/B♭ – F/A – Dm – C/E – Gsus4 – C – C/B♭ – F/A – A♭ – B♭ – C
  I – I (bass B♭) – vi – vi (bass G) – II⁶ – I⁶₄ – IV (bass G) – V7 – I – I (bass B♭) – IV⁶ – ii – I⁶ – Vsus4 – I – I (bass B♭) – IV⁶ – bVI – bVII – I

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
C	I	Home chord (tonic)	Intro, A Section, B Section, C Section
C/B♭	I (bass B♭)	Secondary dominant (V/IV)	Intro, B Section, C Section
F/A	IV⁶	In the key	Intro, A Section, B Section, Interlude, C Section
C/G	I⁶₄	Home chord (tonic)	Intro, A Section, B Section, C Section
F	IV	In the key	Intro, A Section
G	V	In the key	A Section
G7	V7	In the key	A Section, B Section, C Section
Csus4	Isus4	Home chord (tonic)	A Section
C/E	I⁶	Home chord (tonic)	A Section, B Section, C Section
G/B	V⁶	In the key	A Section
B♭/F	bVII⁶₄	Borrowed from C minor	A Section
F/C	IV⁶₄	In the key	A Section
Am	vi	In the key	B Section, C Section
Am/G	vi (bass G)	In the key	B Section, C Section
D/F♯	II⁶	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section, C Section
F/G	IV (bass G)	In the key	B Section, C Section
Dm	ii	In the key	B Section, C Section
Gsus4	Vsus4	In the key	B Section, C Section
A♭	bVI	Borrowed from C minor	Interlude, C Section
B♭	bVII	Borrowed from C minor	Interlude, C Section

Harmonic highlights

• B♭/F (bVII⁶₄) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.
• A♭ (bVI) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.
• B♭ (bVII) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.
• C/B♭ acts as V/IV: it resolves to F/A.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me” (credited “Elton John (John, Taupin)”, style Pop) 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 “Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me” (credited “John Elton”, style Pop) 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 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.
• The chart's D.S./D.C./coda jumps have been written out in playing order.
• 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.