Help Is on the Way by Little River Band

Overview

Key: B major · Chords used: 14 · Sections: 9

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

• B – E/B (×2)
  I – IV⁶₄
• B – F♯
  I – V
• E/B – B (×2)
  IV⁶₄ – I
• F♯
  V

Verse 1

• E/B – B – E/B – B – F♯ (×2)
  IV⁶₄ – I – IV⁶₄ – I – V

Chorus 1

• F/C – C – F/C – C – F/C – C – G (×2)
  bV⁶₄ – bII – bV⁶₄ – bII – bV⁶₄ – bII – bVI

Verse 2

Same chords as Verse 1.

Chorus 2

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Bridge

• F♯m – C♯m/E♯ – A/E – Bm (×3)
  v – ii (bass E♯) – bVII⁶₄ – i
• A – Bm
  bVII – i
• C/G – G – C/G – G – C/G – G – G/D – D (×2)
  bII⁶₄ – bVI – bII⁶₄ – bVI – bII⁶₄ – bVI – bVI⁶₄ – bIII

Verse 3

Same chords as Verse 1.

Chorus 3

• F/C – C – F/C – C – F/C – C – G (×4)
  bV⁶₄ – bII – bV⁶₄ – bII – bV⁶₄ – bII – bVI

Outro

• E/B – B – E/B – B – F♯ (×4)
  IV⁶₄ – I – IV⁶₄ – I – V
• E/B – B (×4)
  IV⁶₄ – I

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

• G (bVI) is borrowed from the parallel key, B minor.
• F♯m (v) is borrowed from the parallel key, B minor.
• A/E (bVII⁶₄) is borrowed from the parallel key, B minor.
• Bm (i) is borrowed from the parallel key, B minor.
• A (bVII) is borrowed from the parallel key, B minor.
• G/D (bVI⁶₄) is borrowed from the parallel key, B minor.
• D (bIII) is borrowed from the parallel key, B minor.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). Expert transcription by trained musicians (song 0187, 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.