Gloria by Laura Branigan

Overview

Key: A major · Chords used: 9 · Sections: 10

Form: Intro → Verse → Pre-Chorus → Chorus → Chorus → Interlude → Verse → Pre-Chorus → 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

• A
  I
• A/E – E (×6)
  I⁶₄ – V
• D/A – A (×6)
  IV⁶₄ – I

Verse 1

• A/E – E – A/E – E – A/E – E – D/A – A – D/A – A – D/A – A (×4)
  I⁶₄ – V – I⁶₄ – V – I⁶₄ – V – IV⁶₄ – I – IV⁶₄ – I – IV⁶₄ – I

Pre-Chorus 1

• F♯m – B – E – Amaj9 – D – E
  vi – II – V – Imaj9 – IV – V
• D/A – A (×3)
  IV⁶₄ – I

Chorus 1

• E – A (×2)
  V – I
• E – G – D – E
  V – bVII – IV – V
• D/A – A (×3)
  IV⁶₄ – I

Chorus 2

• A/E – E – A/E – E – A/E – E – D/A – A – D/A – A – D/A – A (×2)
  I⁶₄ – V – I⁶₄ – V – I⁶₄ – V – IV⁶₄ – I – IV⁶₄ – I – IV⁶₄ – I
• F♯m – B – E – Amaj9 – D – E
  vi – II – V – Imaj9 – IV – V
• D/A – A (×3)
  IV⁶₄ – I

Interlude

• A/E – E (×6)
  I⁶₄ – V
• D/A – A (×6)
  IV⁶₄ – I

Verse 2

Same chords as Verse 1.

Pre-Chorus 2

Same chords as Pre-Chorus 1.

Chorus 3

Same chords as Chorus 2.

Outro

• A/E – E – A/E – E – A/E – E – D/A – A – D/A – A – D/A – A (×3)
  I⁶₄ – V – I⁶₄ – V – I⁶₄ – V – IV⁶₄ – I – IV⁶₄ – I – IV⁶₄ – I

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

• G (bVII) is borrowed from the parallel key, A minor.
• B acts as V/V: it resolves to E.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). Expert transcription by trained musicians (song 0995, 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.