I Am the Walrus by The Beatles

Overview

Key: A major · Chords used: 14 · Sections: 13

Form: Intro → Verse → Verse → Chorus → Verse → Verse → Chorus → Intro → Chorus → Verse → Verse → Chorus → Outro

Where these chords come from: an expert transcription of the original recording made for the Isophonics reference annotations (Centre for Digital Music, Queen Mary University of London). 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 1

• B – A – G – F – E – E7 – D – D7
  II – I – bVII – bVI – V – V7 – IV – IV7

Verse 1

• A – A/G – C – D (×2)
  I – I (bass G) – bIII – IV
• A
  I

Verse 2

• A – A/G – F♯m7 – F – G – A – A/G – F – B
  I – I (bass G) – vi7 – bVI – bVII – I – I (bass G) – bVI – II

Chorus 1

• C – D – E
  bIII – IV – V

Verse 3

• A – A/G – C – D (×2)
  I – I (bass G) – bIII – IV
• A – Dadd11 – A – E – D
  I – IVadd11 – I – V – IV

Verse 4

Same chords as Verse 2.

Chorus 2

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Intro 2

• B – A – G – F – E (×2)
  II – I – bVII – bVI – V
• F – B
  bVI – II

Chorus 3

• C – D – E – D
  bIII – IV – V – IV

Verse 5

Same chords as Verse 1.

Verse 6

Same chords as Verse 2.

Chorus 4

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Outro

• D – C – B
  IV – bIII – II
• A – G – F – E7 – Dadd9 – C – G/B (×3)
  I – bVII – bVI – V7 – IVadd9 – bIII – bVII⁶
• A – G – F – E7
  I – bVII – bVI – V7

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

• G (bVII) is borrowed from the parallel key, A minor.
• F (bVI) is borrowed from the parallel key, A minor.
• C (bIII) is borrowed from the parallel key, A minor.
• G/B (bVII⁶) is borrowed from the parallel key, A minor.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the Isophonics reference annotations (Centre for Digital Music, Queen Mary University of London). Expert chord and structure annotation of the original recording (CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo).
• Not verified: only one expert transcription of this song is available so far.
• 3 chords were simplified to the closest symbol our player supports (for example, an unusual added tone dropped).
• Rhythm and chord durations aren't shown; each step is one chord change.