Keep the Home Fires Burning by Ivor Novello

Overview

Key: G major · Chords used: 24 · Sections: 8

Form: A Section → B Section → C Section → Chorus → A Section → B Section → C Section → Chorus

Where these chords come from: a lead sheet of this public-domain song, contributed by a musician to the Wikifonia archive and preserved in the OpenEWLD lead-sheet collection (Simonetta et al., 2018). It describes the song as written, not any particular recording. This page shows that lead sheet 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 1

• C – Em – C6 – G/D – Am7♭5 – G/D – D7 – G – D9 – G – Cm6 – G
  IV – vi – IV6 – I⁶₄ – iiø7 – I⁶₄ – V7 – I – V9 – I – iv6 – I

B Section 1

• D7 – G – Emaj7(no3) – Em/B – D/A – A7 – D7
  V7 – I – VImaj7(no3) – vi⁶₄ – V⁶₄ – II7 – V7
• G6 – D (×2)
  I6 – V
• G – D9 – G – Cm6
  I – V9 – I – iv6

C Section 1

• G – A7 – D – Bm7 – Dmaj7 – Daug – Gmaj7 – A7 – G – D/A – G♭m – Em7 – A7 – D – D9 – Bm – D7
  I – II7 – V – iii7 – Vmaj7 – V+ – Imaj7 – II7 – I – V⁶₄ – bi – vi7 – II7 – V – V9 – iii – V7

Chorus 1

• G – D7 – Em – B7 – C – Em – C6 – G – A7 – D – G – Em – D7 – Em – B7 – C – C6 – G/B – Am7♭5 – G/D – D7 – G
  I – V7 – vi – III7 – IV – vi – IV6 – I – II7 – V – I – vi – V7 – vi – III7 – IV – IV6 – I⁶ – iiø7 – I⁶₄ – V7 – I

A Section 2

Same chords as A Section 1.

B Section 2

Same chords as B Section 1.

C Section 2

Same chords as C Section 1.

Chorus 2

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

• Am7♭5 (iiø7) is borrowed from the parallel key, G minor.
• Cm6 (iv6) is borrowed from the parallel key, G minor.
• Daug (V+) is borrowed from the parallel key, G minor.
• A7 acts as V/V: it resolves to D7.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the OpenEWLD lead-sheet collection (Simonetta et al., 2018). Community-contributed lead sheet (chord symbols over the melody) from the Wikifonia archive, MIT licence. Title and songwriter credit as written on the sheet.
• Section names: detected by code from repeated 8-, 12- and 16-bar phrases (letters such as A and B mark different phrases; a phrase that comes back keeps its letter). Lead sheets rarely print section names.
• Not verified: only one lead sheet of this song is available, so it hasn't been cross-checked.
• 1 chord was simplified to the closest symbol our player supports (for example, an unusual added tone dropped).
• Rhythm and chord durations aren't shown; each step is one chord change.