Heroes by David Bowie

Overview

Key: D major · Chords used: 5 · Sections: 6

Form: Verse → Verse ×5

Where these chords come from: an expert transcription of the original recording made for the Rock Corpus RS 200 (de Clercq & Temperley, 2011), analysis by Trevor de Clercq. 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

Verse 1

• D – G (×4)
  I – IV
• C – D – Am – Em – D – C – G – D
  bVII – I – v – ii – I – bVII – IV – I

Verse 2

Same chords as Verse 1.

Verse 3

Same chords as Verse 1.

Verse 4

Same chords as Verse 1.

Verse 5

Same chords as Verse 1.

Verse 6

Same chords as Verse 1.

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
D	I	Home chord (tonic)	Verse
G	IV	In the key	Verse
C	bVII	Borrowed from D minor	Verse
Am	v	Borrowed from D minor	Verse
Em	ii	In the key	Verse

Harmonic highlights

• C (bVII) is borrowed from the parallel key, D minor.
• Am (v) is borrowed from the parallel key, D minor.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the Rock Corpus RS 200 (de Clercq & Temperley, 2011), analysis by Trevor de Clercq. Expert by-ear harmonic analysis of the original recording, shown on this page.
• Cross-check: the Rock Corpus RS 200 (de Clercq & Temperley, 2011), analysis by David Temperley. Independent by-ear analysis of the same recording. The two analysts agree on the chord (root and major/minor) for 100% of the song.
• Verified: two independent expert transcriptions agree on this song's harmony.
• Rhythm and chord durations aren't shown; each step is one chord change.