Last Dance by Donna Summer

Overview

Key: E♭ major · Chords used: 30 · Sections: 7

Form: Intro → Verse → Chorus → Verse → Chorus → Verse → Chorus

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.

Key changes

• Verse 3 moves to F major.

Section by section

Intro

• E♭ – A♭/E♭ (×2)
  I – IV⁶₄

Verse 1

• E♭maj7 – A♭/E♭ – E♭maj7 – B♭aug7 – E♭maj7 – A♭/E♭ – E♭7 – A♭maj7 – B♭/A♭ – Gm7 – Cm – A♭maj7 – B♭/A♭ – Gm7 – G7 – Cm – F9
  Imaj7 – IV⁶₄ – Imaj7 – V+7 – Imaj7 – IV⁶₄ – I7 – IVmaj7 – V (bass A♭) – iii7 – vi – IVmaj7 – V (bass A♭) – iii7 – III7 – vi – II9

Chorus 1

• E♭/B♭ – A♭/B♭ (×3)
  I⁶₄ – IV (bass B♭)
• F9/A – B♭
  II9 (bass A) – V

Verse 2

Same chords as Verse 1.

Chorus 2

• E♭/B♭ – A♭/B♭ (×2)
  I⁶₄ – IV (bass B♭)
• F/C – B♭/C – G9/B – B♭maj7 – F/A – Gm7 – C9sus4
  II⁶₄ – V (bass C) – III9 (bass B) – Vmaj7 – II⁶ – iii7 – VI9sus4

Verse 3

• F – B♭/F – F – Caug7 – F – B♭/F – F7 – B♭maj7 – C/B♭ – Am7 – Dm – B♭maj7 – C/B♭ – Am7 – A7 – Dm – G9/D
  I – IV⁶₄ – I – V+7 – I – IV⁶₄ – I7 – IVmaj7 – V (bass B♭) – iii7 – vi – IVmaj7 – V (bass B♭) – iii7 – III7 – vi – II9 (bass D)

Chorus 3

• F/C – B♭/C (×3)
  I⁶₄ – IV (bass C)
• G9/B – B♭maj7 – F/A – Gm7 – C9sus4 – F
  II9 (bass B) – IVmaj7 – I⁶ – ii7 – V9sus4 – I

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

• B♭aug7 (V+7) is borrowed from the parallel key, E♭ minor.
• Caug7 (V+7) is borrowed from the parallel key, F minor.
• E♭7 acts as V/IV: it resolves to A♭maj7.
• G7 acts as V/vi: it resolves to Cm.
• F9/A acts as V/V: it resolves to B♭.
• F/C acts as V/V: it resolves to B♭/C.
• F7 acts as V/IV: it resolves to B♭maj7.
• A7 acts as V/vi: it resolves to Dm.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). Expert transcription by trained musicians (song 0501, 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.