Flesh for Fantasy by Billy Idol

Overview

Key: B minor · Chords used: 16 · Sections: 7

Form: Verse → Chorus → Verse → Chorus → Interlude → Chorus → Verse

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

Verse 1

• E7(no3) – C♯m7/E (×2)
  IV7(no3) – ii⁶₅
• E7(no3)
  IV7(no3)

Chorus 1

• Bm – A/C♯ – D – A/C♯ (×2)
  i – bVII⁶ – bIII – bVII⁶
• Gmaj7 – A6 – Bm7 – Gmaj7 – A6 – E9sus4
  bVImaj7 – bVII6 – i7 – bVImaj7 – bVII6 – IV9sus4

Verse 2

• E7(no3) – C♯m7/E (×2)
  IV7(no3) – ii⁶₅

Chorus 2

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Interlude

• B5
  I5

Chorus 3

• Em7 – Dadd9/F♯ – Em/G – A (×2)
  iv7 – bIIIadd9 (bass F♯) – iv⁶ – bVII
• Em7 – F♯m7
  iv7 – v7
• Bm7 – Gmaj7 – A6 (×3)
  i7 – bVImaj7 – bVII6
• E9sus4 – E9 (×2)
  IV9sus4 – IV9

Verse 3

• E7(no3) – C♯m7/E (×4)
  IV7(no3) – ii⁶₅
• E7(no3)
  IV7(no3)

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

• C♯m7/E (ii⁶₅) is borrowed from the parallel key, B major.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). Expert transcription by trained musicians (song 0464, CC0), via ChoCo.
• Not verified: only one expert transcription of this song is available so far.
• 28 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.