Life Is a Carnival by The Band

Overview

Key: E major · Chords used: 14 · Sections: 12

Form: Intro → Verse → Pre-Chorus → Chorus → Transition → Verse → Pre-Chorus → Chorus → Instrumental → Pre-Chorus → Chorus → 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

• E
  I

Verse 1

• E – A/E (×8)
  I – IV⁶₄

Pre-Chorus 1

• A – A7 – E7 – F♯m7 – E/G♯ – A – B – E – Esus4 – E – Esus2
  IV – IV7 – I7 – ii7 – I⁶ – IV – V – I – Isus4 – I – Isus2

Chorus 1

• E – A/E (×4)
  I – IV⁶₄

Transition

• E/B – E – D – D/E – E/B – E – D – E
  I⁶₄ – I – bVII – bVII (bass E) – I⁶₄ – I – bVII – I

Verse 2

Same chords as Verse 1.

Pre-Chorus 2

• A – A7 – E7 – F♯m7 – E/G♯ – A – Bsus4 – E – Esus4 – E – Esus2
  IV – IV7 – I7 – ii7 – I⁶ – IV – Vsus4 – I – Isus4 – I – Isus2

Chorus 2

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Instrumental

• E
  I

Pre-Chorus 3

Same chords as Pre-Chorus 2.

Chorus 3

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Outro

• E – A/E (×2)
  I – IV⁶₄
• E
  I

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

• D (bVII) is borrowed from the parallel key, E minor.
• D/E (bVII (bass E)) is borrowed from the parallel key, E minor.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). Expert transcription by trained musicians (song 0234, 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.