Happy Man by Greg Kihn Band

Overview

Key: G major · Chords used: 8 · Sections: 8

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

• C – Em (×2)
  IV – vi

Verse 1

• C – Em – C – D – C – G – D
  IV – vi – IV – V – IV – I – V

Chorus 1

• E – G – D (×2)
  VI – I – V
• A – G – D – B7 – D – A – E – D/E
  II – I – V – III7 – V – II – VI – V (bass E)

Verse 2

Same chords as Verse 1.

Chorus 2

• E – G – D (×2)
  VI – I – V
• A – G – D – B7 – D
  II – I – V – III7 – V
• A – E (×2)
  II – VI

Solo

• C – Em – C – D – C – G – D
  IV – vi – IV – V – IV – I – V

Chorus 3

• E – G – D – E – G – D – A – G – D – B7 – D – A (×2)
  VI – I – V – VI – I – V – II – I – V – III7 – V – II

Outro

• E – A (×9)
  VI – II
• E
  VI

Chord vocabulary

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). Expert transcription by trained musicians (song 1246, 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.