Me and Bobby McGee by Janis Joplin

Overview

Key: G major · Chords used: 8 · Sections: 10

Form: Intro → Verse → Verse → Chorus → Interlude → Verse → Verse → Chorus → Bridge → Solo

Where these chords come from: an expert transcription of the original recording made for the Rock Corpus RS 200 (de Clercq & Temperley, 2011), analysis by Trevor de Clercq. 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

• Interlude moves to A major.

Section by section

Intro

• G – C/G – G
  I – IV⁶₄ – I

Verse 1

• G – D – G
  I – V – I

Verse 2

• G – G7 – C – G – D
  I – I7 – IV – I – V

Chorus 1

• C – G – D – G (×2)
  IV – I – V – I

Interlude

• A
  I

Verse 3

• A – E – A
  I – V – I

Verse 4

• A – A7 – D – A – E
  I – I7 – IV – I – V

Chorus 2

• D – A – E – A (×2)
  IV – I – V – I

Bridge

• A – E (×3)
  I – V
• A
  I

Solo

• A – E (×3)
  I – V
• A
  I

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
G	I	Home chord (tonic)	Intro, Verse, Chorus
C/G	IV⁶₄	In the key	Intro
D	V	In the key	Verse, Chorus
G7	I7	Secondary dominant (V/IV)	Verse
C	IV	In the key	Verse, Chorus
A	I (in A major)	Home chord (tonic)	Interlude, Verse, Chorus, Bridge, Solo
E	V (in A major)	In the key	Verse, Chorus, Bridge, Solo
A7	I7 (in A major)	Secondary dominant (V/IV)	Verse
D	IV (in A major)	In the key	Verse, Chorus

Harmonic highlights

• G7 acts as V/IV: it resolves to C.
• A7 acts as V/IV: it resolves to D.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the Rock Corpus RS 200 (de Clercq & Temperley, 2011), analysis by Trevor de Clercq. Expert by-ear harmonic analysis of the original recording, shown on this page.
• Cross-check: the Rock Corpus RS 200 (de Clercq & Temperley, 2011), analysis by David Temperley. Independent by-ear analysis of the same recording. The two analysts agree on the chord (root and major/minor) for 100% of the song.
• Verified: two independent expert transcriptions agree on this song's harmony.
• Rhythm and chord durations aren't shown; each step is one chord change.