I Fought the Law by The Bobby Fuller Four

Overview

Key: G major · Chords used: 3 · Sections: 15

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

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

Intro

• G
  I

Chorus 1

• G – C
  I – IV
• D – G (×2)
  V – I

Verse 1

• G – C (×2)
  I – IV
• G – D
  I – V

Chorus 2

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Verse 2

Same chords as Verse 1.

Chorus 3

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Bridge 1

• C – G (×3)
  IV – I
• D
  V

Chorus 4

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Bridge 2

• C – G (×3)
  IV – I
• D – G
  V – I

Verse 3

Same chords as Verse 1.

Chorus 5

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Verse 4

Same chords as Verse 1.

Chorus 6

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Bridge 3

Same chords as Bridge 1.

Chorus 7

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
G	I	Home chord (tonic)	Intro, Chorus, Verse, Bridge
C	IV	In the key	Chorus, Verse, Bridge
D	V	In the key	Chorus, Verse, Bridge

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.