It's the Same Old Dream by Sammy Cahn

Overview

Key: D major · Chords used: 20 · Sections: 4

Form: A Section → B Section → C Section → D 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

A Section

• D – C♯m7 – F♯7 – Bm – F♯m – B7 – Em – Gm6 – D/A – Bm – E13 – A9
  I – vii7 – III7 – vi – iii – VI7 – ii – iv6 – I⁶₄ – vi – II13 – V9

B Section

• D – C♯m7 – F♯7 – Bm – F♯m – B7 – Em – Gm6 – D/A – Bm – E7 – A7 – D6
  I – vii7 – III7 – vi – iii – VI7 – ii – iv6 – I⁶₄ – vi – II7 – V7 – I6

C Section

• Am – D7 (×2)
  v – I7
• Gmaj7 – G6 (×2)
  IVmaj7 – IV6
• F♯m – B7 (×2)
  iii – VI7
• E9 – E7 – Am7 – A9 – A7
  II9 – II7 – v7 – V9 – V7

D Section

• D – C♯m7 – F♯7 – Bm – F♯m – B7 – Em – Gm6 – D/A – Bm – E7 – A7 – D6
  I – vii7 – III7 – vi – iii – VI7 – ii – iv6 – I⁶₄ – vi – II7 – V7 – I6

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
D	I	Home chord (tonic)	A Section, B Section, D Section
C♯m7	vii7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section, B Section, D Section
F♯7	III7	Secondary dominant (V/vi)	A Section, B Section, D Section
Bm	vi	In the key	A Section, B Section, D Section
F♯m	iii	In the key	A Section, B Section, C Section, D Section
B7	VI7	Secondary dominant (V/ii)	A Section, B Section, C Section, D Section
Em	ii	In the key	A Section, B Section, D Section
Gm6	iv6	Borrowed from D minor	A Section, B Section, D Section
D/A	I⁶₄	Home chord (tonic)	A Section, B Section, D Section
E13	II13	Secondary dominant (V/V)	A Section
A9	V9	In the key	A Section, C Section
E7	II7	Secondary dominant (V/V)	B Section, C Section, D Section
A7	V7	In the key	B Section, C Section, D Section
D6	I6	Home chord (tonic)	B Section, D Section
Am	v	Borrowed from D minor	C Section
D7	I7	Secondary dominant (V/IV)	C Section
Gmaj7	IVmaj7	In the key	C Section
G6	IV6	In the key	C Section
E9	II9	Outside the key (chromatic)	C Section
Am7	v7	Borrowed from D minor	C Section

Harmonic highlights

• Gm6 (iv6) is borrowed from the parallel key, D minor.
• Am (v) is borrowed from the parallel key, D minor.
• Am7 (v7) is borrowed from the parallel key, D minor.
• F♯7 acts as V/vi: it resolves to Bm.
• B7 acts as V/ii: it resolves to Em.
• E13 acts as V/V: it resolves to A9.
• E7 acts as V/V: it resolves to A7.
• D7 acts as V/IV: it resolves to Gmaj7.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “It's the Same Old Dream” (credited “Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne”, style Ballad) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Performer/songwriter confirmed from Wikidata.
• 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).
• Cross-check: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “It's The Same Old Dream” (credited “Sammy Cahn & Jule Styne”, style Ballad) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Performer/songwriter confirmed from Wikidata. A separately posted chart of the same song; its chords match this page's closely when both are read in the same key (similarity 73%).
• 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.
• Verified: two community charts of this song, posted in different forum threads, agree on its harmony. They're still charts, not transcriptions checked against the recording.
• Rhythm and chord durations aren't shown; each step is one chord change.