Don't Talk to Strangers by Rick Springfield

Overview

Key: E major · Chords used: 17 · Sections: 8

Form: Intro → Verse → Chorus → Verse → 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

• Gm
  biii
• C♯9sus4 – C♯m7 – G♯m7 – B9sus4 (×2)
  VI9sus4 – vi7 – iii7 – V9sus4

Verse 1

• C♯9sus4 – C♯m7 – G♯m7 – B9sus4 (×7)
  VI9sus4 – vi7 – iii7 – V9sus4

Chorus 1

• B/E – E – C♯m9 – C♯m7 – B6 (×2)
  V (bass E) – I – vi9 – vi7 – V6
• A5
  IV5
• B/A – Amaj9 (×2)
  V (bass A) – IVmaj9
• B6 – C♯5
  V6 – VI5
• C♯7sus4 – C♯m7 (×2)
  VI7sus4 – vi7
• B6 – A5
  V6 – IV5
• B/A – Amaj9 (×2)
  V (bass A) – IVmaj9
• B6 – C♯9sus4
  V6 – VI9sus4

Verse 2

• C♯9sus4 – C♯m7 – G♯m7 – B9sus4 (×3)
  VI9sus4 – vi7 – iii7 – V9sus4
• G♯m7
  iii7
• C♯9sus4 – C♯m7 – G♯m7 – B9sus4 (×3)
  VI9sus4 – vi7 – iii7 – V9sus4

Chorus 2

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Bridge

• B – B/A – Eadd9/G♯ (×3)
  V – V (bass A) – Iadd9 (bass G♯)
• A – B
  IV – V

Chorus 3

• B/E – E – C♯m9 – C♯m7 – B6 (×2)
  V (bass E) – I – vi9 – vi7 – V6
• A5
  IV5
• B/A – Amaj9 (×2)
  V (bass A) – IVmaj9
• B6 – C♯5
  V6 – VI5
• C♯7sus4 – C♯m7 (×2)
  VI7sus4 – vi7
• B6 – A5
  V6 – IV5
• B/A – Amaj9 (×2)
  V (bass A) – IVmaj9
• B6
  V6

Outro

• B/E – E – C♯m9 – C♯m7 – B6 (×7)
  V (bass E) – I – vi9 – vi7 – V6

Chord vocabulary

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). Expert transcription by trained musicians (song 0865, 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.