How Can You Mend a Broken Heart by Bee Gees

Overview

Key: E major · Chords used: 12 · Sections: 9

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

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

• E – Esus4 (×2)
  I – Isus4
• E
  I

A Section 1

• E – Emaj7 – B7sus4 – E – G♯7 – D♯m7 – G♯7 – C♯m7 – F♯7 – B – B7sus4 – B
  I – Imaj7 – V7sus4 – I – III7 – vii7 – III7 – vi7 – II7 – V – V7sus4 – V

B Section 1

• Emaj7 – F♯m7
  Imaj7 – ii7
• A – B (×2)
  IV – V
• F♯m7 – B7 – E
  ii7 – V7 – I

B Section 2

• Emaj7 – F♯m7
  Imaj7 – ii7
• A – B (×2)
  IV – V
• F♯m7 – B7 – E – Esus4 – E
  ii7 – V7 – I – Isus4 – I

A Section 2

Same chords as A Section 1.

B Section 3

Same chords as B Section 1.

B Section 4

• Emaj7 – F♯m7
  Imaj7 – ii7
• A – B (×2)
  IV – V
• F♯m7 – B7
  ii7 – V7

B Section 5

Same chords as B Section 1.

Outro

• Esus4 – E – Emaj7
  Isus4 – I – Imaj7

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
E	I	Home chord (tonic)	Intro, A Section, B Section, Outro
Esus4	Isus4	Home chord (tonic)	Intro, B Section, Outro
Emaj7	Imaj7	Home chord (tonic)	A Section, B Section, Outro
B7sus4	V7sus4	In the key	A Section
G♯7	III7	Secondary dominant (V/vi)	A Section
D♯m7	vii7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
C♯m7	vi7	In the key	A Section
F♯7	II7	Secondary dominant (V/V)	A Section
B	V	In the key	A Section, B Section
F♯m7	ii7	In the key	B Section
A	IV	In the key	B Section
B7	V7	In the key	B Section

Harmonic highlights

• G♯7 acts as V/vi: it resolves to C♯m7.
• F♯7 acts as V/V: it resolves to B.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “How Can You Mend A Broken Heart” (credited “Bee Gees (Barry Gibb-Robin Gibb)”, 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).
• Cross-check: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “How Can You Mend A Broken Heart (Beloff Arr.*)” (credited “Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb”, style Slow Beat) 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 91%).
• 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.
• 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.
• Rhythm and chord durations aren't shown; each step is one chord change.