Lucky by Greg Kihn
Piano chords, voicings & structure breakdown · 51 steps · 11 unique chords · 1980s
Am
Whole song transcribed by
Harmonic Analysis & Structure
Overview
Key: A minor · Chords used: 11 · Sections: 11
Form: Intro → Verse → Chorus → Verse → Chorus → Solo → Chorus → Verse → Chorus → Solo → Chorus
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
- Am – Gm7/A – C7/A – Fmaj7/A – Gm7/A – C7/A (×4)
i – bvii7 (bass A) – bIII7 (bass A) – bVImaj⁶₅ – bvii7 (bass A) – bIII7 (bass A)
Verse 1
- Fmaj7 – Gm7/A – C7/A (×3)
bVImaj7 – bvii7 (bass A) – bIII7 (bass A) - Fmaj7 – E – E7
bVImaj7 – V – V7
Chorus 1
- Dm – Em/D – Dm7 (×2)
iv – v (bass D) – iv7
Verse 2
- Am – Gm7/A – C7/A – Fmaj7/A
i – bvii7 (bass A) – bIII7 (bass A) – bVImaj⁶₅ - Gm7/A – C7/A – Fmaj7 (×2)
bvii7 (bass A) – bIII7 (bass A) – bVImaj7 - E – E7
V – V7
Chorus 2
- Dm – Em/D – Dm7 (×4)
iv – v (bass D) – iv7
Solo 1
- Am – Gm7/A – C7/A – Fmaj7/A
i – bvii7 (bass A) – bIII7 (bass A) – bVImaj⁶₅ - Gm7/A – C7/A – Fmaj7 (×2)
bvii7 (bass A) – bIII7 (bass A) – bVImaj7 - E – E7
V – V7
Chorus 3
Same chords as Chorus 2.
Verse 3
Same chords as Verse 2.
Chorus 4
Same chords as Chorus 2.
Solo 2
- Am – Gm7/A – C7/A – Fmaj7/A – Gm7/A – C7/A (×3)
i – bvii7 (bass A) – bIII7 (bass A) – bVImaj⁶₅ – bvii7 (bass A) – bIII7 (bass A) - Am – Gm7/A – C7/A – Fmaj7 – E – E7
i – bvii7 (bass A) – bIII7 (bass A) – bVImaj7 – V – V7
Chorus 5
- Dm – Em/D – Dm7/F
iv – v (bass D) – iv⁶₅
Chord vocabulary
| Chord | Roman numeral | Role | Heard in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Am | i | Home chord (tonic) | Intro, Verse, Solo |
| Gm7/A | bvii7 (bass A) | Outside the key (chromatic) | Intro, Verse, Solo |
| C7/A | bIII7 (bass A) | Secondary dominant (V/bVI) | Intro, Verse, Solo |
| Fmaj7/A | bVImaj⁶₅ | In the key | Intro, Verse, Solo |
| Fmaj7 | bVImaj7 | In the key | Verse, Solo |
| E | V | In the key | Verse, Solo |
| E7 | V7 | In the key | Verse, Solo |
| Dm | iv | In the key | Chorus |
| Em/D | v (bass D) | In the key | Chorus |
| Dm7 | iv7 | In the key | Chorus |
| Dm7/F | iv⁶₅ | In the key | Chorus |
Harmonic highlights
- C7/A acts as V/bVI: it resolves to Fmaj7/A.
Sources & accuracy
- Chords and sections: the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). Expert transcription by trained musicians (song 1027, 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.
Sources & Accuracy
Every chord on this page comes from the expert transcription listed first below. Piano voicings are our arrangement of the reported chord symbols, not a note-for-note transcription.
- the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011)Expert transcription
Annotated from the original recording by trained musicians for a published research dataset.
Expert transcription by trained musicians (song 1027, CC0), via ChoCo.
All Piano Voicings
| # | Section | Chord | Left hand | Right hand | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Intro (×4) | Am | A2, E3 | C4, E4, A4 | — |
| 2 | Intro (×4) | Gm7/A | A2 | B♭3, D4, F4, G4 | — |
| 3 | Intro (×4) | C7/A | A2 | B♭3, C4, E4, G4 | — |
| 4 | Intro (×4) | Fmaj7/A | A2 | A3, C4, E4, F4 | — |
| 5 | Intro (×4) | Gm7/A | A2 | B♭3, D4, F4, G4 | — |
| 6 | Intro (×4) | C7/A | A2 | B♭3, C4, E4, G4 | — |
| 7 | Verse 1, part 1 (×3) | Fmaj7 | F2, C3 | C4, E4, A4 | — |
| 8 | Verse 1, part 1 (×3) | Gm7/A | A2 | B♭3, D4, F4, G4 | — |
| 9 | Verse 1, part 1 (×3) | C7/A | A2 | B♭3, C4, E4, G4 | — |
| 10 | Verse 1, part 2 | Fmaj7 | F2, C3 | C4, E4, A4 | — |
| 11 | Verse 1, part 2 | E | E2, B2 | B3, E4, G♯4 | — |
| 12 | Verse 1, part 2 | E7 | E2, B2 | B3, D4, G♯4 | — |
| 13 | Chorus 1 (×2) | Dm | D2, A2 | A3, D4, F4 | — |
| 14 | Chorus 1 (×2) | Em/D | D2 | B3, E4, G4 | — |
| 15 | Chorus 1 (×2) | Dm7 | D2, A2 | C4, F4, A4 | — |
| 16 | Verse 2, part 1 | Am | A2, E3 | C4, E4, A4 | — |
| 17 | Verse 2, part 1 | Gm7/A | A2 | B♭3, D4, F4, G4 | — |
| 18 | Verse 2, part 1 | C7/A | A2 | B♭3, C4, E4, G4 | — |
| 19 | Verse 2, part 1 | Fmaj7/A | A2 | A3, C4, E4, F4 | — |
| 20 | Verse 2, part 2 (×2) | Gm7/A | A2 | B♭3, D4, F4, G4 | — |
| 21 | Verse 2, part 2 (×2) | C7/A | A2 | B♭3, C4, E4, G4 | — |
| 22 | Verse 2, part 2 (×2) | Fmaj7 | F2, C3 | C4, E4, A4 | — |
| 23 | Verse 2, part 3 | E | E2, B2 | B3, E4, G♯4 | — |
| 24 | Verse 2, part 3 | E7 | E2, B2 | B3, D4, G♯4 | — |
| 25 | Chorus 2 (×4) | Dm | D2, A2 | A3, D4, F4 | — |
| 26 | Chorus 2 (×4) | Em/D | D2 | B3, E4, G4 | — |
| 27 | Chorus 2 (×4) | Dm7 | D2, A2 | C4, F4, A4 | — |
| 28 | Solo 1, part 1 | Am | A2, E3 | C4, E4, A4 | — |
| 29 | Solo 1, part 1 | Gm7/A | A2 | B♭3, D4, F4, G4 | — |
| 30 | Solo 1, part 1 | C7/A | A2 | B♭3, C4, E4, G4 | — |
| 31 | Solo 1, part 1 | Fmaj7/A | A2 | A3, C4, E4, F4 | — |
| 32 | Solo 1, part 2 (×2) | Gm7/A | A2 | B♭3, D4, F4, G4 | — |
| 33 | Solo 1, part 2 (×2) | C7/A | A2 | B♭3, C4, E4, G4 | — |
| 34 | Solo 1, part 2 (×2) | Fmaj7 | F2, C3 | C4, E4, A4 | — |
| 35 | Solo 1, part 3 | E | E2, B2 | B3, E4, G♯4 | — |
| 36 | Solo 1, part 3 | E7 | E2, B2 | B3, D4, G♯4 | — |
| 37 | Solo 2, part 1 (×3) | Am | A2, E3 | C4, E4, A4 | — |
| 38 | Solo 2, part 1 (×3) | Gm7/A | A2 | B♭3, D4, F4, G4 | — |
| 39 | Solo 2, part 1 (×3) | C7/A | A2 | B♭3, C4, E4, G4 | — |
| 40 | Solo 2, part 1 (×3) | Fmaj7/A | A2 | A3, C4, E4, F4 | — |
| 41 | Solo 2, part 1 (×3) | Gm7/A | A2 | B♭3, D4, F4, G4 | — |
| 42 | Solo 2, part 1 (×3) | C7/A | A2 | B♭3, C4, E4, G4 | — |
| 43 | Solo 2, part 2 | Am | A2, E3 | C4, E4, A4 | — |
| 44 | Solo 2, part 2 | Gm7/A | A2 | B♭3, D4, F4, G4 | — |
| 45 | Solo 2, part 2 | C7/A | A2 | B♭3, C4, E4, G4 | — |
| 46 | Solo 2, part 2 | Fmaj7 | F2, C3 | C4, E4, A4 | — |
| 47 | Solo 2, part 2 | E | E2, B2 | B3, E4, G♯4 | — |
| 48 | Solo 2, part 2 | E7 | E2, B2 | B3, D4, G♯4 | — |
| 49 | Chorus 5 | Dm | D2, A2 | A3, D4, F4 | — |
| 50 | Chorus 5 | Em/D | D2 | B3, E4, G4 | — |
| 51 | Chorus 5 | Dm7/F | F2 | C4, D4, F4, A4 | — |