Lay Down Sally by Eric Clapton

Overview

Key: A major · Chords used: 4 · Sections: 11

Form: Intro → Verse → Chorus → Interlude → Verse → Chorus → Solo → Verse → Chorus ×2 → Outro

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.

Section by section

Intro

• A – A7 (×3)
  I – I7

Verse 1

• A7 – D (×2)
  I7 – IV
• E
  V

Chorus 1

• A – D – E (×2)
  I – IV – V
• A
  I

Interlude

• A7
  I7

Verse 2

Same chords as Verse 1.

Chorus 2

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Solo

• A7
  I7

Verse 3

Same chords as Verse 1.

Chorus 3

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Chorus 4

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Outro

• A7
  I7

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

• A7 acts as V/IV: it resolves to D.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). Expert transcription by trained musicians (song 1040, 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.