I Got Stripes by Johnny Cash

Overview

Key: D♭ major · Chords used: 5 · Sections: 8

Form: Intro → Verse → Chorus → Verse → Chorus → Transition → Verse → Chorus

Where these chords come from: an expert transcription of the original recording made for the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). 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.

Key changes

• Transition moves to E♭ major.

Section by section

Intro

• C♭ – D♭
  bVII – I

Verse 1

• D♭ – A♭ (×2)
  I – V
• D♭
  I

Chorus 1

• D♭ – A♭ (×2)
  I – V
• D♭
  I

Verse 2

Same chords as Verse 1.

Chorus 2

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Transition

• E♭
  I

Verse 3

• E♭ – B♭ (×2)
  I – V
• E♭
  I

Chorus 3

• E♭ – B♭ (×2)
  I – V
• E♭
  I

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

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

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). Expert transcription by trained musicians (song 1160, CC0), via ChoCo.
• Not verified: only one expert transcription of this song is available so far.
• Rhythm and chord durations aren't shown; each step is one chord change.