I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues by Elton John

Overview

Key: C major · Chords used: 17 · Sections: 24

Where these chords come from: an expert transcription of the original recording made for the Uspop2002 chord annotations (Music and Audio Research Lab, New York University). 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

Part 1 (0:00)

• C – Em – F (×2)
  I – iii – IV

Part 2 (0:12)

• G – Em – F – C – F/A – C/G – F/A – C – F/C – C
  V – iii – IV – I – IV⁶ – I⁶₄ – IV⁶ – I – IV⁶₄ – I

Part 3 (0:24)

• G – Bm – F – C – F/A – C/G – F/A – C – F/A – C/G
  V – vii – IV – I – IV⁶ – I⁶₄ – IV⁶ – I – IV⁶ – I⁶₄

Part 4 (0:36)

• G – B7 – Em – G7/D – C
  V – VII7 – iii – V⁴₃ – I

Part 5 (0:48)

• G – Am – F – G – Am7 – G7/B
  V – vi – IV – V – vi7 – V⁶₅

Part 6 (1:00)

• C – G/B – F – C – G – F – C
  I – V⁶ – IV – I – V – IV – I

Part 7 (1:12)

• G – Am – C/E – F – D/F♯
  V – vi – I⁶ – IV – II⁶

Part 8 (1:24)

• F – Fadd9/G – C – Em – F – G
  IV – IVadd9 (bass G) – I – iii – IV – V

Part 9 (1:36)

• Em – F – C – F/A – C/G – F/A – C – F/A – C/E – G
  iii – IV – I – IV⁶ – I⁶₄ – IV⁶ – I – IV⁶ – I⁶ – V

Part 10 (1:48)

• Bm – F – C – F/A – C/G – F/A – C – F/A – C/E – G
  vii – IV – I – IV⁶ – I⁶₄ – IV⁶ – I – IV⁶ – I⁶ – V

Part 11 (2:00)

• B7 – Em – G7/D – C – G
  VII7 – iii – V⁴₃ – I – V

Part 12 (2:12)

• Am – F – G – Am7 – G7/B – C – G/B
  vi – IV – V – vi7 – V⁶₅ – I – V⁶

Part 13 (2:23)

• F – C – G (×2)
  IV – I – V

Part 14 (2:36)

• Am – C/E – F – D/F♯ – F – Fadd9/G
  vi – I⁶ – IV – II⁶ – IV – IVadd9 (bass G)

Part 15 (2:47)

• C – Em – F – G – Em – F
  I – iii – IV – V – iii – IV

Part 16 (2:59)

• C – F/A – C/G – F/A – C – F – C/E – G – Bm – F
  I – IV⁶ – I⁶₄ – IV⁶ – I – IV – I⁶ – V – vii – IV

Part 17 (3:11)

• C – F/A – C/G
  I – IV⁶ – I⁶₄
• F/A – C (×2)
  IV⁶ – I
• G – B7
  V – VII7

Part 18 (3:23)

• Em – G7/D – C – G – Am – F
  iii – V⁴₃ – I – V – vi – IV

Part 19 (3:35)

• G – Am7 – G7/B – C – G/B – F
  V – vi7 – V⁶₅ – I – V⁶ – IV

Part 20 (3:47)

• C – G – F – C – G – Am – C/E
  I – V – IV – I – V – vi – I⁶

Part 21 (3:59)

• F – D/F♯ – F – Fadd9/G – C – G
  IV – II⁶ – IV – IVadd9 (bass G) – I – V

Part 22 (4:11)

• Am – Em – F – Fadd9/G – C – G – Am – Em
  vi – iii – IV – IVadd9 (bass G) – I – V – vi – iii

Part 23 (4:23)

• F – Fadd9/G – C – G – Am – Em – F – Fadd9/G
  IV – IVadd9 (bass G) – I – V – vi – iii – IV – IVadd9 (bass G)

Part 24 (4:35)

• C
  I

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

• B7 acts as V/iii: it resolves to Em.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the Uspop2002 chord annotations (Music and Audio Research Lab, New York University). Chord annotation of the original recording (Too Low For Zero), time-stamped by researchers; CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo.
• Section names: this annotation doesn't name verses or choruses, so they aren't guessed. Instead, code used the chord timings to find the bars and cut the song into 8-bar parts. Each part is labelled with the time it starts in the annotated recording (Too Low For Zero), and a part with exactly the same chords as an earlier one says so.
• The key was estimated by code from the chords; this annotation doesn't state it.
• 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.