I Cover the Waterfront by Johnny Green

Overview

Key: G major · Chords used: 23 · Sections: 4

Form: A Section → A Section → Bridge → A Section

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

A Section 1

• Em7 – A7 – Am7 – D7 – Gmaj7 – Am7 – Bm7 – B♭m7 – E♭7 – Am7 – Am7/B – Cm7 – F7 – Bm7 – E7 – Am7 – Am7/G – F♯m7♭5 – B7
  vi7 – II7 – ii7 – V7 – Imaj7 – ii7 – iii7 – biii7 – bVI7 – ii7 – ii7 (bass B) – iv7 – bVII7 – iii7 – VI7 – ii7 – ii⁴₂ – viiø7 – III7

A Section 2

• Em7 – A7 – Am7 – D7 – Gmaj7 – Am7 – Bm7 – B♭m7 – E♭7 – Am7 – D7sus4 – D7 – Gmaj7 – C7 – Gmaj7 – Bm7 – E7
  vi7 – II7 – ii7 – V7 – Imaj7 – ii7 – iii7 – biii7 – bVI7 – ii7 – V7sus4 – V7 – Imaj7 – IV7 – Imaj7 – iii7 – VI7

Bridge

• Am7 – D7 – D7/C – Bm7 – E7 – Am7 – D7 – Gmaj7 – Bm11 – E13 – Amaj7 – Amaj7/G♯ – F♯m7 – Bm11 – E13 – Am7 – Am7/G – F♯m7♭5 – B7
  ii7 – V7 – V⁴₂ – iii7 – VI7 – ii7 – V7 – Imaj7 – iii11 – VI13 – IImaj7 – IImaj⁴₂ – vii7 – iii11 – VI13 – ii7 – ii⁴₂ – viiø7 – III7

A Section 3

• Em7 – A7 – Am7 – D7 – Gmaj7 – Am7 – Bm7 – B♭m7 – E♭7 – Am7 – Cm7 – F7 – Bm7 – E7 – Am7 – D7 – Gmaj7 – E7 – Am7 – Am7/G – F♯m7♭5 – B7
  vi7 – II7 – ii7 – V7 – Imaj7 – ii7 – iii7 – biii7 – bVI7 – ii7 – iv7 – bVII7 – iii7 – VI7 – ii7 – V7 – Imaj7 – VI7 – ii7 – ii⁴₂ – viiø7 – III7

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
Em7	vi7	In the key	A Section
A7	II7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
Am7	ii7	In the key	A Section, Bridge
D7	V7	In the key	A Section, Bridge
Gmaj7	Imaj7	Home chord (tonic)	A Section, Bridge
Bm7	iii7	In the key	A Section, Bridge
B♭m7	biii7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
E♭7	bVI7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
Am7/B	ii7 (bass B)	In the key	A Section
Cm7	iv7	Borrowed from G minor	A Section
F7	bVII7	Borrowed from G minor	A Section
E7	VI7	Secondary dominant (V/ii)	A Section, Bridge
Am7/G	ii⁴₂	In the key	A Section, Bridge
F♯m7♭5	viiø7	In the key	A Section, Bridge
B7	III7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section, Bridge
D7sus4	V7sus4	In the key	A Section
C7	IV7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
D7/C	V⁴₂	In the key	Bridge
Bm11	iii11	Outside the key (chromatic)	Bridge
E13	VI13	Secondary dominant (V/ii)	Bridge
Amaj7	IImaj7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Bridge
Amaj7/G♯	IImaj⁴₂	Outside the key (chromatic)	Bridge
F♯m7	vii7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Bridge

Harmonic highlights

• Cm7 (iv7) is borrowed from the parallel key, G minor.
• F7 (bVII7) is borrowed from the parallel key, G minor.
• E7 acts as V/ii: it resolves to Am7.
• E13 acts as V/ii: it resolves to Am7.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “I Cover The Waterfront-Rev JE” (credited “Green Johnny”, style Ballad) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Performer/songwriter confirmed from Wikidata.
• 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 “I Cover The Waterfront” (credited “Green Johnny”, style Ballad) 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 61%).
• 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.
• 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.