Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds by The Beatles

Overview

Key: A major · Chords used: 17 · Sections: 11

Form: Intro → Verse → Bridge → Chorus → Verse → Bridge → Chorus → Verse → Chorus → Chorus → Chorus

Where these chords come from: an expert transcription of the original recording made for the Isophonics reference annotations (Centre for Digital Music, Queen Mary University of London). 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.

Key changes

• Bridge 1 moves to B♭ major.
• Chorus 1 moves to G major.
• Bridge 2 moves to B♭ major.
• Verse 3 moves to A major.
• Chorus 3 moves to G major.

Section by section

Intro

• A/E – A7/G – F♯m7 – Dm/F
  I⁶₄ – I⁴₂ – vi7 – iv⁶

Verse 1

• A – A7/G – F♯m7 – Faug – A/E – A7/G – F♯m7 – F – A – A7/G – F♯m7 – Faug – A – A7/G – F♯m7 – Dm – Dm/C
  I – I⁴₂ – vi7 – bVI+ – I⁶₄ – I⁴₂ – vi7 – bVI – I – I⁴₂ – vi7 – bVI+ – I – I⁴₂ – vi7 – iv – iv (bass C)

Bridge 1

• B♭ – Cadd9 – F6 – B♭ – Cadd9 – G – D
  I – IIadd9 – V6 – I – IIadd9 – VI – III

Chorus 1

• G – C – D (×3)
  I – IV – V

Verse 2

• A – A7/G – F♯m7 – Faug – A/E – A7/G – F♯m7 – F – A – A7/G – F♯m7 – Faug – A – A7/G – F♯m – Dm – Dm/C
  II – II⁴₂ – vii7 – bVII+ – II⁶₄ – II⁴₂ – vii7 – bVII – II – II⁴₂ – vii7 – bVII+ – II – II⁴₂ – vii – v – v (bass C)

Bridge 2

Same chords as Bridge 1.

Chorus 2

• G – C – D (×3)
  VI – II – III

Verse 3

• A – A7/G – F♯m7 – Faug – A – A7/G – F♯m – F – A/E – A7/G – F♯m7 – Faug – A/E – A7/G – F♯m – D5
  I – I⁴₂ – vi7 – bVI+ – I – I⁴₂ – vi – bVI – I⁶₄ – I⁴₂ – vi7 – bVI+ – I⁶₄ – I⁴₂ – vi – IV5

Chorus 3

• G – C – D (×3)
  I – IV – V
• A
  II

Chorus 4

Same chords as Chorus 3.

Chorus 5

• G – C – D (×2)
  I – IV – V
• G – C
  I – IV

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

• Dm/F (iv⁶) is borrowed from the parallel key, A minor.
• F (bVI) is borrowed from the parallel key, A minor.
• Dm (iv) is borrowed from the parallel key, A minor.
• Dm/C (iv (bass C)) is borrowed from the parallel key, A minor.
• F (bVII) is borrowed from the parallel key, G minor.
• Dm (v) is borrowed from the parallel key, G minor.
• Dm/C (v (bass C)) is borrowed from the parallel key, G minor.
• Cadd9 acts as V/V: it resolves to F6.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the Isophonics reference annotations (Centre for Digital Music, Queen Mary University of London). Expert chord and structure annotation of the original recording (CC BY 4.0 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.