La Javanaise by Serge Gainsbourg

Overview

Key: C major · Chords used: 17 · Sections: 6

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

• Cmaj7 – C6 (×2)
  Imaj7 – I6
• Dm9 – Dm – Dm7 – G7
  ii9 – ii – ii7 – V7
• Cmaj7 – C6 (×2)
  Imaj7 – I6
• G7
  V7

B Section

• Dm7 – G7 (×2)
  ii7 – V7
• C6 – C7 – Fmaj7 – F6 – Faug – Dm7
  I6 – I7 – IVmaj7 – IV6 – IV+ – ii7

C Section

• E7 – Bm7 – E7 – F6 – F – F6 – F♯dim – C – A7
  III7 – vii7 – III7 – IV6 – IV – IV6 – #iv° – I – VI7

D Section

• D9 – Dm7 – G7
  II9 – ii7 – V7
• Cmaj7 – C6 (×2)
  Imaj7 – I6
• G7 – Dm7 – G7
  V7 – ii7 – V7

E Section

• Dm7 – G7 – C6 – C7 – Fmaj7 – F6 – Faug – Dm7 – E7 – Bm7
  ii7 – V7 – I6 – I7 – IVmaj7 – IV6 – IV+ – ii7 – III7 – vii7

F Section

• E7 – F6 – F – F6 – F♯dim – C – A7 – D9 – Dm7 – G7
  III7 – IV6 – IV – IV6 – #iv° – I – VI7 – II9 – ii7 – V7

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
Cmaj7	Imaj7	Home chord (tonic)	A Section, D Section
C6	I6	Home chord (tonic)	A Section, B Section, D Section, E Section
Dm9	ii9	In the key	A Section
Dm	ii	In the key	A Section
Dm7	ii7	In the key	A Section, B Section, D Section, E Section, F Section
G7	V7	In the key	A Section, B Section, D Section, E Section, F Section
C7	I7	Secondary dominant (V/IV)	B Section, E Section
Fmaj7	IVmaj7	In the key	B Section, E Section
F6	IV6	In the key	B Section, C Section, E Section, F Section
Faug	IV+	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section, E Section
E7	III7	Outside the key (chromatic)	C Section, E Section, F Section
Bm7	vii7	Outside the key (chromatic)	C Section, E Section
F	IV	In the key	C Section, F Section
F♯dim	#iv°	Outside the key (chromatic)	C Section, F Section
C	I	Home chord (tonic)	C Section, F Section
A7	VI7	Outside the key (chromatic)	C Section, F Section
D9	II9	Outside the key (chromatic)	D Section, F Section

Harmonic highlights

• C7 acts as V/IV: it resolves to Fmaj7.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “La Javanaise” (credited “Gainsbourg Serge”, style Medium Swing) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Performer/songwriter confirmed from Wikidata.
• Section names: the chart has no section markings, so sections were detected by code from repeated 8-, 12- and 16-bar phrases (letters such as A and B mark different phrases).
• Cross-check: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “La Javanaise” (credited “Gainsbourg Serge”, style Waltz) 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 64%).
• 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.
• About the song: Wikipedia.
• 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.