Island of Lost Souls by Blondie

Overview

Key: D major · Chords used: 7 · Sections: 10

Form: Intro → Verse → Pre-Chorus → Chorus → Verse → Bridge → Chorus → Interlude → Verse → Outro

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.

Section by section

Intro

• D
  I

Verse 1

• D – B – G – A (×3)
  I – VI – IV – V
• D – A7 – D – B
  I – V7 – I – VI
• G – A – D (×3)
  IV – V – I
• A7
  V7

Pre-Chorus

• D – B
  I – VI
• G – A – D (×3)
  IV – V – I
• A7 – D – B
  V7 – I – VI
• G – A – D (×3)
  IV – V – I

Chorus 1

• Em – G – D (×3)
  ii – IV – I
• Em – G – A
  ii – IV – V

Verse 2

• D – B
  I – VI
• G – A – D (×3)
  IV – V – I
• A7 – D – B
  V7 – I – VI
• G – A – D (×3)
  IV – V – I

Bridge

• D – G/D (×2)
  I – IV⁶₄
• G – D (×3)
  IV – I

Chorus 2

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Interlude

• D – B
  I – VI
• G – A – D (×3)
  IV – V – I
• A7
  V7

Verse 3

• D – B – G – A – D – G – A – D – G – A – D – A7 (×2)
  I – VI – IV – V – I – IV – V – I – IV – V – I – V7

Outro

• D – B – G – A – D – G – A – D – G – A – D – A7 (×3)
  I – VI – IV – V – I – IV – V – I – IV – V – I – V7

Chord vocabulary

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). Expert transcription by trained musicians (song 1203, 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.