He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother by The Hollies

Overview

Key: G major · Chords used: 22 · Sections: 12

Form: Intro → A Section → B Section → A Section → B Section → C Section → A Section → Interlude → A Section → Interlude → Vamp → Vamp

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

• G – D/F♯ – C/E – C/D
  I – V⁶ – IV⁶ – IV (bass D)

A Section 1

• G – D/F♯ – C/E – Am7 – D – B7♯9/D♯ – Em – F – Am7 – D9sus4 – D7
  I – V⁶ – IV⁶ – ii7 – V – III7#9 (bass D♯) – vi – bVII – ii7 – V9sus4 – V7

B Section 1

• G – D/F♯ – Em – E♭
  I – V⁶ – vi – bVI
• G – Am7 – D9sus4 (×2)
  I – ii7 – V9sus4

A Section 2

Same chords as A Section 1.

B Section 2

• G – D/F♯ – Em – E♭ – G – Am7 – D9sus4 – G – Am7 – G7/B
  I – V⁶ – vi – bVI – I – ii7 – V9sus4 – I – ii7 – I⁶₅

C Section

• C – D/C (×2)
  IV – V (bass C)
• Bm7 – Dm – Cmaj7 – B7 – Em – Em/D – C – C/B – A7 – D9sus4
  iii7 – v – IVmaj7 – III7 – vi – vi (bass D) – IV – IV (bass B) – II7 – V9sus4

A Section 3

Same chords as A Section 1.

Interlude 1

• G – D/F♯ – Em – E♭ – G – Am7 – D9sus4
  I – V⁶ – vi – bVI – I – ii7 – V9sus4

A Section 4

• G – D/F♯ – C/E – Am7 – D – B7♯9/D♯ – Em – F – Am7
  I – V⁶ – IV⁶ – ii7 – V – III7#9 (bass D♯) – vi – bVII – ii7

Interlude 2

• D9sus4 – G – D/F♯ – Em – D9sus4 – G
  V9sus4 – I – V⁶ – vi – V9sus4 – I

Vamp 1

• D/F♯ – C/E – D – G – D/F♯ – Em – D9sus4 – G
  V⁶ – IV⁶ – V – I – V⁶ – vi – V9sus4 – I

Vamp 2

• D/F♯ – C/E – D
  V⁶ – IV⁶ – V

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

• F (bVII) is borrowed from the parallel key, G minor.
• E♭ (bVI) is borrowed from the parallel key, G minor.
• Dm (v) is borrowed from the parallel key, G minor.
• B7♯9/D♯ acts as V/vi: it resolves to Em.
• B7 acts as V/vi: it resolves to Em.
• A7 acts as V/V: it resolves to D9sus4.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother” (credited “Scott-Russell (The Hollies)”, style Pop Ballad) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Performer confirmed from the Billboard year-end charts.
• 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).
• 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 D.S./D.C./coda jumps have been written out in playing order.
• Not verified: only one chart of this song is available, so it hasn't been cross-checked.
• Rhythm and chord durations aren't shown; each step is one chord change.