Down and Out in New York City by James Brown

Overview

Key: D♭ minor · Chords used: 9 · Sections: 10

Form: Intro → Verse → Chorus → Transition → Verse → Chorus → Interlude → Verse → 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

• D♭m7 – G♭7 (×2)
  i7 – IV7

Verse 1

• E♭m7
  ii7

Chorus 1

• G♭ – D♭ – A♭
  IV – I – V

Transition

• D♭m7 – G♭7 (×2)
  i7 – IV7

Verse 2

Same chords as Verse 1.

Chorus 2

• G♭ – D♭ – A♭ (×2)
  IV – I – V
• E♭m – G♭ – D♭ – A♭ (×2)
  ii – IV – I – V
• E♭m – D♭7 – A♭m7
  ii – I7 – v7

Interlude

• D♭m7 – G♭7 (×8)
  i7 – IV7

Verse 3

Same chords as Verse 1.

Chorus 3

Same chords as Chorus 2.

Outro

• D♭m7 – G♭7 (×40)
  i7 – IV7

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

• E♭m7 (ii7) is borrowed from the parallel key, D♭ major.
• G♭ (IV) is borrowed from the parallel key, D♭ major.
• D♭ (I) is borrowed from the parallel key, D♭ major.
• E♭m (ii) is borrowed from the parallel key, D♭ major.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). Expert transcription by trained musicians (song 1032, 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.