Lonely Town by Leonard Bernstein

Overview

Key: F major · Chords used: 36 · Sections: 3

Form: A Section → A 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

• Fm7 – Fmmaj7 – Fm7/E♭ – Fm6/D – Em7 – A7 – E♭m7 – A♭7 – D♭maj7 – B♭7 – E♭m7 – D7♯9 – D♭maj7 – G♭7 – Fm7 – B♭aug7 – E♭m7 – D7♯9 – Gm7♭5 – G♭7 – Fmaj7 – Fmaj7/C – A♭7/C – Gm7/C – C7
  i7 – imaj7 – i⁴₂ – i6 (bass D) – vii7 – III7 – bvii7 – bIII7 – bVImaj7 – IV7 – bvii7 – VI7#9 – bVImaj7 – bII7 – i7 – IV+7 – bvii7 – VI7#9 – iiø7 – bII7 – Imaj7 – Imaj⁴₃ – bIII⁶₅ – ii7 (bass C) – V7

A Section 2

• Fm7 – Fmmaj7 – Fm7/E♭ – Fm6/D – Em7 – A7 – E♭m7 – A♭7 – D♭maj7 – B♭7 – E♭m7 – D7♯9 – D♭maj7 – G♭7 – Fm7 – B♭aug7 – E♭m7 – D7♯9 – Gm7♭5 – G♭7 – F69
  i7 – imaj7 – i⁴₂ – i6 (bass D) – vii7 – III7 – bvii7 – bIII7 – bVImaj7 – IV7 – bvii7 – VI7#9 – bVImaj7 – bII7 – i7 – IV+7 – bvii7 – VI7#9 – iiø7 – bII7 – I69

B Section

• Cm7 – Cmmaj7 – Cm7/B♭ – Cm6/A – Cm7 – F7 – Bm7♭5 – Eaug7 – Amaj7 – B♭m7 – E♭7 – A♭maj7 – Gm7 – C7 – Bm7♭5 – B♭7 – Am7 – A♭7 – Gm7 – G♭7 – Fmaj7 – E♭7 – Am7 – A♭7 – Gm7 – G♭7 – Fmaj7 – A♭7 – Gm7♭5 – C7♯9 – Bm7♭5 – B♭7 – Am7 – A♭7 – Gm7 – G♭maj7 – Fm6
  v7 – vmaj7 – v⁴₂ – v6 (bass A) – v7 – I7 – #ivø7 – VII+7 – IIImaj7 – iv7 – bVII7 – bIIImaj7 – ii7 – V7 – #ivø7 – IV7 – iii7 – bIII7 – ii7 – bII7 – Imaj7 – bVII7 – iii7 – bIII7 – ii7 – bII7 – Imaj7 – bIII7 – iiø7 – V7#9 – #ivø7 – IV7 – iii7 – bIII7 – ii7 – bIImaj7 – i6

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
Fm7	i7	Borrowed from F minor	A Section
Fmmaj7	imaj7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
Fm7/E♭	i⁴₂	Borrowed from F minor	A Section
Fm6/D	i6 (bass D)	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
Em7	vii7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
A7	III7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
E♭m7	bvii7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
A♭7	bIII7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section, B Section
D♭maj7	bVImaj7	Borrowed from F minor	A Section
B♭7	IV7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section, B Section
D7♯9	VI7#9	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
G♭7	bII7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section, B Section
B♭aug7	IV+7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
Gm7♭5	iiø7	Borrowed from F minor	A Section, B Section
Fmaj7	Imaj7	Home chord (tonic)	A Section, B Section
Fmaj7/C	Imaj⁴₃	Home chord (tonic)	A Section
A♭7/C	bIII⁶₅	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
Gm7/C	ii7 (bass C)	In the key	A Section
C7	V7	In the key	A Section, B Section
F69	I69	Home chord (tonic)	A Section
Cm7	v7	Borrowed from F minor	B Section
Cmmaj7	vmaj7	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
Cm7/B♭	v⁴₂	Borrowed from F minor	B Section
Cm6/A	v6 (bass A)	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
F7	I7	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
Bm7♭5	#ivø7	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
Eaug7	VII+7	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
Amaj7	IIImaj7	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
B♭m7	iv7	Borrowed from F minor	B Section
E♭7	bVII7	Borrowed from F minor	B Section
A♭maj7	bIIImaj7	Borrowed from F minor	B Section
Gm7	ii7	In the key	B Section
Am7	iii7	In the key	B Section
C7♯9	V7#9	Borrowed from F minor	B Section
G♭maj7	bIImaj7	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
Fm6	i6	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section

Harmonic highlights

• Fm7 (i7) is borrowed from the parallel key, F minor.
• Fm7/E♭ (i⁴₂) is borrowed from the parallel key, F minor.
• D♭maj7 (bVImaj7) is borrowed from the parallel key, F minor.
• Gm7♭5 (iiø7) is borrowed from the parallel key, F minor.
• Cm7 (v7) is borrowed from the parallel key, F minor.
• Cm7/B♭ (v⁴₂) is borrowed from the parallel key, F minor.
• B♭m7 (iv7) is borrowed from the parallel key, F minor.
• E♭7 (bVII7) is borrowed from the parallel key, F minor.
• A♭maj7 (bIIImaj7) is borrowed from the parallel key, F minor.
• C7♯9 (V7#9) is borrowed from the parallel key, F minor.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Lonely Town-Rev JE” (credited “Bernstein Leonard”, 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 “Lonely Town” (credited “Bernstein Leonard”, style Medium Swing) 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 100%).
• 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.
• 3 chords were simplified to the closest symbol our player supports (for example, an unusual added tone dropped).
• Rhythm and chord durations aren't shown; each step is one chord change.