Fast Car by Tracy Chapman

Overview

Key: A major · Chords used: 6 · Sections: 7

Form: Intro → Chorus → Interlude → Chorus → Interlude → Chorus → Outro

Where these chords come from: an expert transcription of the original recording made for the Rock Corpus RS 200 (de Clercq & Temperley, 2011), analysis by Trevor de Clercq. 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

• Dmaj7 – A – F♯m – D/E (×26)
  IVmaj7 – I – vi – IV (bass E)

Chorus 1

• D – A
  IV – I
• F♯m – E – D (×3)
  vi – V – IV
• E
  V

Interlude 1

• Dmaj7 – A – F♯m – D/E (×8)
  IVmaj7 – I – vi – IV (bass E)

Chorus 2

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Interlude 2

Same chords as Interlude 1.

Chorus 3

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Outro

• Dmaj7 – A – F♯m – D/E (×7)
  IVmaj7 – I – vi – IV (bass E)
• Dmaj7 – A
  IVmaj7 – I

Chord vocabulary

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the Rock Corpus RS 200 (de Clercq & Temperley, 2011), analysis by Trevor de Clercq. Expert by-ear harmonic analysis of the original recording, shown on this page.
• Cross-check: the Rock Corpus RS 200 (de Clercq & Temperley, 2011), analysis by David Temperley. Independent by-ear analysis of the same recording. The two analysts agree on the chord (root and major/minor) for 81% of the song.
• Not verified: the two RS 200 analysts differ in places (see their agreement above).
• Rhythm and chord durations aren't shown; each step is one chord change.