Goodbye by Gordon Jenkins

Overview

Key: C minor · Chords used: 19 · Sections: 6

Form: Intro → A Section → A Section → B Section → A Section → B 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

Intro

• Fm7 – B♭7 – E♭maj7 – Dm7♭5 – G7♭9
  iv7 – bVII7 – bIIImaj7 – iiø7 – V7b9

A Section 1

• A♭7♯11 – G7 (×2)
  bVI7#11 – V7
• Cm7 – Cm7/B♭ – Am7♭5 – A♭7♯11 – Cm7/G – A♭7/G♭ – G7♭9/F – Cm7/E♭ – Dm7♭5 – A♭7♯11 – G7 – D♭7♯11 – Cmaj7 – Dm7♭5 – G7♭9
  i7 – i⁴₂ – viø7 – bVI7#11 – i⁴₃ – bVI⁴₂ – V7b9 (bass F) – i⁶₅ – iiø7 – bVI7#11 – V7 – bII7#11 – Imaj7 – iiø7 – V7b9

A Section 2

• A♭7♯11 – G7 (×2)
  bVI7#11 – V7
• Cm7 – Cm7/B♭ – Am7♭5 – A♭7♯11 – Cm7/G – A♭7/G♭ – G7♭9/F – Cm7/E♭ – Dm7♭5 – A♭7♯11 – G7 – D♭7♯11 – Cmaj7 – B♭7 – A7♯9
  i7 – i⁴₂ – viø7 – bVI7#11 – i⁴₃ – bVI⁴₂ – V7b9 (bass F) – i⁶₅ – iiø7 – bVI7#11 – V7 – bII7#11 – Imaj7 – bVII7 – VI7#9

B Section 1

• Dm7 – G7 – C6 – Fm7 – B♭7 – E♭maj7
  ii7 – V7 – I6 – iv7 – bVII7 – bIIImaj7

A Section 3

Same chords as A Section 2.

B Section 2

• Dm7 – G7 – C6 – Fm7 – B♭7 – E♭maj7 – Dm7♭5 – G7♭9
  ii7 – V7 – I6 – iv7 – bVII7 – bIIImaj7 – iiø7 – V7b9

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
Fm7	iv7	In the key	Intro, B Section
B♭7	bVII7	In the key	Intro, A Section, B Section
E♭maj7	bIIImaj7	In the key	Intro, B Section
Dm7♭5	iiø7	In the key	Intro, A Section, B Section
G7♭9	V7b9	In the key	Intro, A Section, B Section
A♭7♯11	bVI7#11	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
G7	V7	In the key	A Section, B Section
Cm7	i7	Home chord (tonic)	A Section
Cm7/B♭	i⁴₂	Home chord (tonic)	A Section
Am7♭5	viø7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
Cm7/G	i⁴₃	Home chord (tonic)	A Section
A♭7/G♭	bVI⁴₂	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
G7♭9/F	V7b9 (bass F)	In the key	A Section
Cm7/E♭	i⁶₅	Home chord (tonic)	A Section
D♭7♯11	bII7#11	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
Cmaj7	Imaj7	Borrowed from C major	A Section
A7♯9	VI7#9	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
Dm7	ii7	Borrowed from C major	B Section
C6	I6	Borrowed from C major	B Section

Harmonic highlights

• Cmaj7 (Imaj7) is borrowed from the parallel key, C major.
• Dm7 (ii7) is borrowed from the parallel key, C major.
• C6 (I6) is borrowed from the parallel key, C major.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Goodbye” (credited “Jenkins Gordon”, style Ballad) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Performer/songwriter confirmed from Wikidata.
• 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 “Goodbye” (credited “Jenkins Gordon”, style Ballad) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Performer/songwriter confirmed from Wikidata. A separately posted chart of the same song; its chords match this page's closely when both are read in the same key (similarity 100%).
• 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 key setting didn't fit its chords (it was probably left at a default), so the key shown here was worked out from the chords.
• The chart's D.S./D.C./coda jumps have been written out in playing order.
• About the song: Wikipedia.
• 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.
• 4 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.