Golden Years by David Bowie

Overview

Key: G♭ major · Chords used: 11 · Sections: 14

Form: Intro → Chorus → Verse → Chorus → Chorus → Verse → Chorus → Chorus → Verse → Chorus → Chorus → 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

• G♭ – F♭7(no3) (×2)
  I – bVII7(no3)
• G♭
  I

Chorus 1

• G♭ – F♭ (×8)
  I – bVII

Verse 1

• G♭ – F♭ (×8)
  I – bVII

Chorus 2

• D – Bmadd11 (×2)
  #V – #iiiadd11

Chorus 3

• G♭ – F♭ (×4)
  I – bVII

Verse 2

Same chords as Verse 1.

Chorus 4

• D – Bmadd11 (×2)
  #V – #iiiadd11
• G – C – A – C♯dim – Bm – Em7
  #I – #IV – #II – v° – #iii – #vi7

Chorus 5

Same chords as Chorus 3.

Verse 3

• G♭ – F♭ (×12)
  I – bVII

Chorus 6

Same chords as Chorus 2.

Chorus 7

Same chords as Chorus 3.

Verse 4

Same chords as Verse 1.

Chorus 8

Same chords as Chorus 4.

Outro

• G♭ – F♭ (×21)
  I – bVII

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

• F♭7(no3) (bVII7(no3)) is borrowed from the parallel key, G♭ minor.
• F♭ (bVII) is borrowed from the parallel key, G♭ minor.
• D (#V) is borrowed from the parallel key, G♭ minor.
• Bmadd11 (#iiiadd11) is borrowed from the parallel key, G♭ minor.
• A (#II) is borrowed from the parallel key, G♭ minor.
• Bm (#iii) is borrowed from the parallel key, G♭ minor.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). Expert transcription by trained musicians (song 0415, 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.