Fifty Ways To Leave Your Lover by Paul Simon

Overview

Key: E minor · Chords used: 13 · Sections: 5

Form: A Section → A Section → C Section → A Section → 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

A Section 1

• Em/G – D – Cmaj7 – B7♭9 – Em – D♯dim – B7/F♯ – Baug7 – Em – D6 – Cmaj7 – B7♭9 – Em – Am7 – Em
  i⁶ – bVII – bVImaj7 – V7b9 – i – vii° – V⁴₃ – V+7 – i – bVII6 – bVImaj7 – V7b9 – i – iv7 – i

A Section 2

• Em/G – D – Cmaj7 – B7♭9 – Em – D♯dim – B7/F♯ – Baug7 – Em – D6 – Cmaj7 – B7♭9
  i⁶ – bVII – bVImaj7 – V7b9 – i – vii° – V⁴₃ – V+7 – i – bVII6 – bVImaj7 – V7b9
• Em – Am7 (×2)
  i – iv7
• Em
  i

C Section 1

• G – B♭
  bIII – bV

A Section 3

Same chords as A Section 2.

C Section 2

• G – B♭
  bIII – bV
• C – G (×2)
  bVI – bIII

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
Em/G	i⁶	Home chord (tonic)	A Section
D	bVII	In the key	A Section
Cmaj7	bVImaj7	In the key	A Section
B7♭9	V7b9	In the key	A Section
Em	i	Home chord (tonic)	A Section
D♯dim	vii°	In the key	A Section
B7/F♯	V⁴₃	In the key	A Section
Baug7	V+7	In the key	A Section
D6	bVII6	In the key	A Section
Am7	iv7	In the key	A Section
G	bIII	In the key	C Section
B♭	bV	Outside the key (chromatic)	C Section
C	bVI	In the key	C Section

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Fifty Ways To Leave Your Lover” (credited “Simon Paul”, style Pop Samba) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Artist as credited on the chart.
• 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 “Fifty Ways To Leave Your Lover” (credited “Simon Paul”, style Pop) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Artist as credited on the chart. A separately posted chart of the same song; its chords match this page's closely when both are read in the same key (similarity 71%).
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.