PianoChords.studio

I'm on Fire by Bruce Springsteen

Piano chords, voicings & structure breakdown · 31 steps · 4 unique chords · 1980s

Community chart. These chords come from a chart a musician wrote and shared on the iReal Pro forums, not from a transcription checked against the recording. Charts are sometimes written in a different key or simplified, and no second chart of this song agreed closely enough to mark this page verified. Trust your ears.
Lead-inStep 1 of 31

E

LeftE2, B2RightB3, E4, G♯4
C4E2B2B3E4G♯4
Left hand Right hand Middle C (C4)

No source cited for this step

Harmonic Analysis & Structure

Overview

Key: E major · Chords used: 4 · Sections: 6

Form: Lead-in → Verse → Verse → A Section → A Section → B 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

Lead-in

  • E – C♯m
    I – vi

Verse 1

  • C♯m – E – C♯m
    vi – I – vi

Verse 2

  • C♯m
    vi

A Section 1

  • E – A – C♯m – A – B – E
    I – IV – vi – IV – V – I

A Section 2

  • E – A – C♯m – A – B
    I – IV – vi – IV – V
  • E – C♯m (×2)
    I – vi
  • E
    I

B Section

  • A – E – C♯m – E – A – C♯m
    IV – I – vi – I – IV – vi
  • A – B – E (×3)
    IV – V – I
  • C♯m – E (×3)
    vi – I

Chord vocabulary

ChordRoman numeralRoleHeard in
EIHome chord (tonic)Lead-in, Verse, A Section, B Section
C♯mviIn the keyLead-in, Verse, A Section, B Section
AIVIn the keyA Section, B Section
BVIn the keyA Section, B Section

Sources & accuracy

  • Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Im On Fire” (credited “Springsteen”, style Medium Rock) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Performer confirmed from the Billboard year-end charts.
  • 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).
  • 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.
  • Not verified: only one chart of this song is available, so it hasn't been cross-checked.
  • Rhythm and chord durations aren't shown; each step is one chord change.

Sources & Accuracy

Every chord on this page comes from the community chart listed first below. Piano voicings are our arrangement of the reported chord symbols, not a note-for-note transcription.

  • Chords from a chart a musician wrote and shared on the iReal Pro forums (archived in the ChoCo research dataset); may be in a different key from the recording, and not checked against it.

    Community chord chart “Im On Fire” (credited “Springsteen”, style Medium Rock) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Performer confirmed from the Billboard year-end charts.

All Piano Voicings

#SectionChordLeft handRight handSources
1Lead-inEE2, B2B3, E4, G♯4—
2Lead-inC♯mC♯2, G♯2C♯4, E4, G♯4—
3Verse 1C♯mC♯2, G♯2C♯4, E4, G♯4—
4Verse 1EE2, B2B3, E4, G♯4—
5Verse 1C♯mC♯2, G♯2C♯4, E4, G♯4—
6Verse 2C♯mC♯2, G♯2C♯4, E4, G♯4—
7A Section 1EE2, B2B3, E4, G♯4—
8A Section 1AA2, E3C♯4, E4, A4—
9A Section 1C♯mC♯2, G♯2C♯4, E4, G♯4—
10A Section 1AA2, E3C♯4, E4, A4—
11A Section 1BB1, F♯2B3, D♯4, F♯4—
12A Section 1EE2, B2B3, E4, G♯4—
13A Section 2, part 1EE2, B2B3, E4, G♯4—
14A Section 2, part 1AA2, E3C♯4, E4, A4—
15A Section 2, part 1C♯mC♯2, G♯2C♯4, E4, G♯4—
16A Section 2, part 1AA2, E3C♯4, E4, A4—
17A Section 2, part 1BB1, F♯2B3, D♯4, F♯4—
18A Section 2, part 2 (×2)EE2, B2B3, E4, G♯4—
19A Section 2, part 2 (×2)C♯mC♯2, G♯2C♯4, E4, G♯4—
20A Section 2, part 3EE2, B2B3, E4, G♯4—
21B Section, part 1AA2, E3C♯4, E4, A4—
22B Section, part 1EE2, B2B3, E4, G♯4—
23B Section, part 1C♯mC♯2, G♯2C♯4, E4, G♯4—
24B Section, part 1EE2, B2B3, E4, G♯4—
25B Section, part 1AA2, E3C♯4, E4, A4—
26B Section, part 1C♯mC♯2, G♯2C♯4, E4, G♯4—
27B Section, part 2 (×3)AA2, E3C♯4, E4, A4—
28B Section, part 2 (×3)BB1, F♯2B3, D♯4, F♯4—
29B Section, part 2 (×3)EE2, B2B3, E4, G♯4—
30B Section, part 3 (×3)C♯mC♯2, G♯2C♯4, E4, G♯4—
31B Section, part 3 (×3)EE2, B2B3, E4, G♯4—