Live and Let Die by Paul McCartney & Wings

Overview

Key: G major · Chords used: 27 · Sections: 11

Form: A Section → B Section → B Section → C Section → C Section → D Section → B Section → A Section → Interlude → B Section → B 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 1

• G – Bm7 – C6 – D7 – D7♭9 (×2)
  I – iii7 – IV6 – V7 – V7b9
• G – Bm7 – C6 – A7 – D – B♭ – D
  I – iii7 – IV6 – II7 – V – bIII – V
• G7 – C – G – Gdim7 (×2)
  I7 – IV – I – i°7

B Section 1

• G5
  I5

B Section 2

• G5 – Caug/G – C♯/G – G♯dim/G – B/G – C/G – B♭/G – Gm7
  I5 – IV+ (bass G) – #IV (bass G) – #i° (bass G) – III (bass G) – IV⁶₄ – bIII (bass G) – i7

C Section 1

• C9sus4/G – B♭aug/G – Caug/G – A♭aug/G – B♭aug/G
  IV9sus4 (bass G) – bIII+ (bass G) – IV+ (bass G) – bII+ (bass G) – bIII+ (bass G)

C Section 2

• C9sus4/G – B♭aug/G – Caug/G – A♭aug/G – B♭aug/G – C9sus4/G – B♭aug/G – Caug/G
  IV9sus4 (bass G) – bIII+ (bass G) – IV+ (bass G) – bII+ (bass G) – bIII+ (bass G) – IV9sus4 (bass G) – bIII+ (bass G) – IV+ (bass G)
• A/G – B♭/G – C/G (×2)
  II (bass G) – bIII (bass G) – IV⁶₄
• G9sus4
  I9sus4

D Section

• C – G – D7 – Em – F
  IV – I – V7 – vi – bVII

B Section 3

Same chords as B Section 1.

A Section 2

Same chords as A Section 1.

Interlude

• G5
  I5

B Section 4

Same chords as B Section 1.

B Section 5

• G5 – E♭m
  I5 – bvi

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
G	I	Home chord (tonic)	A Section, D Section
Bm7	iii7	In the key	A Section
C6	IV6	In the key	A Section
D7	V7	In the key	A Section, D Section
D7♭9	V7b9	Borrowed from G minor	A Section
A7	II7	Secondary dominant (V/V)	A Section
D	V	In the key	A Section
B♭	bIII	Borrowed from G minor	A Section
G7	I7	Secondary dominant (V/IV)	A Section
C	IV	In the key	A Section, D Section
Gdim7	i°7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
G5	I5	Home chord (tonic)	B Section, Interlude
Caug/G	IV+ (bass G)	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section, C Section
C♯/G	#IV (bass G)	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
G♯dim/G	#i° (bass G)	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
B/G	III (bass G)	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
C/G	IV⁶₄	In the key	B Section, C Section
B♭/G	bIII (bass G)	Borrowed from G minor	B Section, C Section
Gm7	i7	Borrowed from G minor	B Section
C9sus4/G	IV9sus4 (bass G)	Borrowed from G minor	C Section
B♭aug/G	bIII+ (bass G)	Outside the key (chromatic)	C Section
A♭aug/G	bII+ (bass G)	Outside the key (chromatic)	C Section
A/G	II (bass G)	Outside the key (chromatic)	C Section
G9sus4	I9sus4	Borrowed from G minor	C Section
Em	vi	In the key	D Section
F	bVII	Borrowed from G minor	D Section
E♭m	bvi	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section

Harmonic highlights

• D7♭9 (V7b9) is borrowed from the parallel key, G minor.
• B♭ (bIII) is borrowed from the parallel key, G minor.
• B♭/G (bIII (bass G)) is borrowed from the parallel key, G minor.
• Gm7 (i7) is borrowed from the parallel key, G minor.
• C9sus4/G (IV9sus4 (bass G)) is borrowed from the parallel key, G minor.
• G9sus4 (I9sus4) is borrowed from the parallel key, G minor.
• F (bVII) is borrowed from the parallel key, G minor.
• A7 acts as V/V: it resolves to D.
• G7 acts as V/IV: it resolves to C.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Live And Let Die” (credited “McCartney Paul”, style Pop Rock) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Performer confirmed from the Billboard year-end charts.
• 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 “Live and Let Die” (credited “McCartney Paul”, style Rock/Reggae) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Performer confirmed from the Billboard year-end charts. A separately posted chart of the same song; its chords match this page's closely when both are read in the same key (similarity 67%).
• 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.
• The chart's D.S./D.C./coda jumps have been written out in playing order.
• 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.