Long Dark Road by The Hollies

Overview

Key: E major · Chords used: 6 · Sections: 13

Form: Transition → Verse → Transition → Verse → Pre-Chorus → Chorus → Solo → Pre-Chorus → Chorus → Verse → 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

Transition 1

• E – A (×2)
  I – IV

Verse 1

• E – B – D (×2)
  I – V – bVII
• A
  IV

Transition 2

Same chords as Transition 1.

Verse 2

Same chords as Verse 1.

Pre-Chorus 1

• E – D – A – E – A – B
  I – bVII – IV – I – IV – V

Chorus 1

• E – A – B (×2)
  I – IV – V
• E – E7/D – A/C♯ (×2)
  I – I⁴₂ – IV⁶

Solo

• E – B – D (×2)
  I – V – bVII
• A
  IV

Pre-Chorus 2

Same chords as Pre-Chorus 1.

Chorus 2

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Verse 3

Same chords as Verse 1.

Pre-Chorus 3

Same chords as Pre-Chorus 1.

Chorus 3

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Outro

• E – A – B (×7)
  I – IV – V
• E
  I

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

• D (bVII) is borrowed from the parallel key, E minor.
• E7/D acts as V/IV: it resolves to A/C♯.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). Expert transcription by trained musicians (song 0290, 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.