I'll Be There for You by Bon Jovi

Overview

Key: D major · Chords used: 11 · Sections: 27

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)

• D5
  I5

Part 2 (0:08)

Same chords as Part 1 (0:00).

Part 3 (0:21)

• Em – G – D
  ii – IV – I

Part 4 (0:34)

Same chords as Part 3 (0:21).

Part 5 (0:47)

Same chords as Part 3 (0:21).

Part 6 (1:00)

• Em – G – A
  ii – IV – V

Part 7 (1:13)

• D – Bm – G – A – C
  I – vi – IV – V – bVII

Part 8 (1:26)

• G – D – Bm – G – A – C
  IV – I – vi – IV – V – bVII

Part 9 (1:40)

• G – D – Em – G
  IV – I – ii – IV

Part 10 (1:53)

• D – Em – G
  I – ii – IV

Part 11 (2:06)

• A – G – A
  V – IV – V

Part 12 (2:19)

• Bm – A/C♯ – D – A/C♯ – Bm – G
  vi – V⁶ – I – V⁶ – vi – IV

Part 13 (2:32)

• A – D – Bm
  V – I – vi

Part 14 (2:45)

• G – A – C – G – D – Bm
  IV – V – bVII – IV – I – vi

Part 15 (2:58)

Same chords as Part 14 (2:45).

Part 16 (3:11)

• G – A – D – Bm
  IV – V – I – vi

Part 17 (3:24)

• G – A – G
  IV – V – IV

Part 18 (3:37)

• A – Bm – A/C♯ – D – A/C♯ – Bm – G
  V – vi – V⁶ – I – V⁶ – vi – IV

Part 19 (3:50)

• A – D
  V – I

Part 20 (4:03)

• Bm – G – A – C – G – D
  vi – IV – V – bVII – IV – I

Part 21 (4:17)

• Bm – G – A – C – G – E
  vi – IV – V – bVII – IV – II

Part 22 (4:30)

• C♯m – A – B – D – A – E
  vii – V – VI – I – V – II

Part 23 (4:43)

Same chords as Part 22 (4:30).

Part 24 (4:56)

Same chords as Part 22 (4:30).

Part 25 (5:09)

Same chords as Part 22 (4:30).

Part 26 (5:23)

• E
  II

Part 27 (5:36)

Same chords as Part 26 (5:23).

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

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

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the Uspop2002 chord annotations (Music and Audio Research Lab, New York University). Chord annotation of the original recording (New Jersey), 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 (New Jersey), 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.