La Mer by Charles Trenet

Overview

Key: C major · Chords used: 18 · Sections: 7

Form: Verse → Verse → Verse → Verse → Instrumental → Bridge → Verse

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

Verse 1

• C – Am – F – G7 (×2)
  I – vi – IV – V7
• C – E7 – Am – G7 – C – Am – F – A7 – Dm – G7 – Am – F – D7 – G – G7
  I – III7 – vi – V7 – I – vi – IV – VI7 – ii – V7 – vi – IV – II7 – V – V7

Verse 2

• C – Am – F – G7 (×2)
  I – vi – IV – V7
• C – E7 – Am – G7 – C – Am – F – A7 – Dm – G7 – Am – F – Dm7 – G7
  I – III7 – vi – V7 – I – vi – IV – VI7 – ii – V7 – vi – IV – ii7 – V7

Verse 3

• C – B7 – E – C♯m – A6 – B7 – E – C♯m – F♯m – B7 – E – Emaj7 – E6 – E – D7 – G – Em – C – D7 – G – Em – Am – D7 – G – G7
  I – VII7 – III – #i – VI6 – VII7 – III – #i – #iv – VII7 – III – IIImaj7 – III6 – III – II7 – V – iii – I – II7 – V – iii – vi – II7 – V – V7

Verse 4

• Em
  iii
• G7 – C – Am – F (×2)
  V7 – I – vi – IV
• G7 – C – E7 – Am – G7 – C – Am – F – A7 – Dm – G7 – Am – F – D7
  V7 – I – III7 – vi – V7 – I – vi – IV – VI7 – ii – V7 – vi – IV – II7

Instrumental

• G
  V
• G7 – C – Am – F (×2)
  V7 – I – vi – IV
• G7 – C – E7 – Am – G7 – C – Am – F – A7 – Dm – G7 – Am – F – D7
  V7 – I – III7 – vi – V7 – I – vi – IV – VI7 – ii – V7 – vi – IV – II7

Bridge

• G – Em – C – D7 – G – Em – Am – D7 – G – G7
  V – iii – I – II7 – V – iii – vi – II7 – V – V7

Verse 5

• Em
  iii
• G7 – C – Am – F (×2)
  V7 – I – vi – IV
• G7 – C – E7 – Am – G7 – C – Am – F – A7 – Dm – G7 – Am – F – D7 – G – C
  V7 – I – III7 – vi – V7 – I – vi – IV – VI7 – ii – V7 – vi – IV – II7 – V – I

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
C	I	Home chord (tonic)	Verse, Instrumental, Bridge
Am	vi	In the key	Verse, Instrumental, Bridge
F	IV	In the key	Verse, Instrumental
G7	V7	In the key	Verse, Instrumental, Bridge
E7	III7	Secondary dominant (V/vi)	Verse, Instrumental
A7	VI7	Secondary dominant (V/ii)	Verse, Instrumental
Dm	ii	In the key	Verse, Instrumental
D7	II7	Secondary dominant (V/V)	Verse, Instrumental, Bridge
G	V	In the key	Verse, Instrumental, Bridge
Dm7	ii7	In the key	Verse
B7	VII7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Verse
E	III	Outside the key (chromatic)	Verse
C♯m	#i	Outside the key (chromatic)	Verse
A6	VI6	Outside the key (chromatic)	Verse
F♯m	#iv	Outside the key (chromatic)	Verse
Emaj7	IIImaj7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Verse
E6	III6	Outside the key (chromatic)	Verse
Em	iii	In the key	Verse, Bridge

Harmonic highlights

• E7 acts as V/vi: it resolves to Am.
• A7 acts as V/ii: it resolves to Dm.
• D7 acts as V/V: it resolves to G.
• The Verse 1 loops C – Am – F – G7 (I – vi – IV – V7), a rotation of the ’50s progression (I–vi–IV–V family).

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “La Mer (Beyond The Sea)” (credited “Trenet Charles”, style Medium Swing) 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 “La mer 1” (credited “Trenet Charles”, style Chansons Fr) 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 87%).
• 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.