Moon Over Bourbon Street by Sting

Overview

Key: F minor · Chords used: 26 · Sections: 7

Form: A Section → A Section → Interlude → A Section → A Section → Interlude → 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

• Gm7♭5 – C7♯11 – Fm – Fm/E – Fm/E♭ – Fm/D – Gm7♭5 – C7♯11 – Fm – Fm/G – Fm/A♭ – Fm/C – D♭ – D♭/C – Fm – Fm/G – Fm/A♭ – Fm/C – Dm7♭5 – G7 – D♭ – C7
  iiø7 – V7#11 – i – i (bass E) – i (bass E♭) – i (bass D) – iiø7 – V7#11 – i – i (bass G) – i⁶ – i⁶₄ – bVI – bVI (bass C) – i – i (bass G) – i⁶ – i⁶₄ – viø7 – II7 – bVI – V7

A Section 2

• Gm7♭5 – C7♯11 – Fm – Fm/G – Fm/A♭ – Fm/C – Gm7♭5 – C7♯11 – Fm – Fm/E – Fm/E♭ – Fm/D – D♭ – D♭/C – Fm – Fm/E – Fm/E♭ – Fm/D – D♭
  iiø7 – V7#11 – i – i (bass G) – i⁶ – i⁶₄ – iiø7 – V7#11 – i – i (bass E) – i (bass E♭) – i (bass D) – bVI – bVI (bass C) – i – i (bass E) – i (bass E♭) – i (bass D) – bVI

Interlude 1

• C7 – Fm – Fm/A♭ – B♭m (×4)
  V7 – i – i⁶ – iv
• C7
  V7

A Section 3

Same chords as A Section 1.

A Section 4

Same chords as A Section 2.

Interlude 2

Same chords as Interlude 1.

B Section

• D♭ – E♭ – Fm – G7 – G7/B – Cm – Cm/G – Cm – Fm – B♭7 – A♭maj7 – G7/C – C7sus4 – Gm7♭5/C – C9sus4 – A♭add9/C – C7♯11 – C7 – Fm
  bVI – bVII – i – II7 – II⁶₅ – v – v⁶₄ – v – i – IV7 – bIIImaj7 – II7 (bass C) – V7sus4 – iiø7 (bass C) – V9sus4 – bIIIadd9 (bass C) – V7#11 – V7 – i

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
Gm7♭5	iiø7	In the key	A Section
C7♯11	V7#11	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section, B Section
Fm	i	Home chord (tonic)	A Section, Interlude, B Section
Fm/E	i (bass E)	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
Fm/E♭	i (bass E♭)	Home chord (tonic)	A Section
Fm/D	i (bass D)	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
Fm/G	i (bass G)	Home chord (tonic)	A Section
Fm/A♭	i⁶	Home chord (tonic)	A Section, Interlude
Fm/C	i⁶₄	Home chord (tonic)	A Section
D♭	bVI	In the key	A Section, B Section
D♭/C	bVI (bass C)	In the key	A Section
Dm7♭5	viø7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
G7	II7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section, B Section
C7	V7	In the key	A Section, Interlude, B Section
B♭m	iv	In the key	Interlude
E♭	bVII	In the key	B Section
G7/B	II⁶₅	Secondary dominant (V/v)	B Section
Cm	v	In the key	B Section
Cm/G	v⁶₄	In the key	B Section
B♭7	IV7	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
A♭maj7	bIIImaj7	In the key	B Section
G7/C	II7 (bass C)	Secondary dominant (V/V)	B Section
C7sus4	V7sus4	In the key	B Section
Gm7♭5/C	iiø7 (bass C)	In the key	B Section
C9sus4	V9sus4	Borrowed from F major	B Section
A♭add9/C	bIIIadd9 (bass C)	In the key	B Section

Harmonic highlights

• C9sus4 (V9sus4) is borrowed from the parallel key, F major.
• G7/B acts as V/v: it resolves to Cm.
• G7/C acts as V/V: it resolves to C7sus4.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Moon Over Bourbon Street” (credited “Sting”, style Medium Swing) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Artist as credited on the chart.
• 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 “Moon Over Bourbon Street” (credited “Sting”, style Medium Swing) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Artist as credited on the chart. A separately posted chart of the same song; its chords match this page's closely when both are read in the same key (similarity 88%).
• 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.
• The chart's D.S./D.C./coda jumps have been written out in playing order.
• 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.
• Rhythm and chord durations aren't shown; each step is one chord change.