Mr. Bojangles by Jerry Jeff Walker

Overview

Key: D major · Chords used: 11 · Sections: 12

Form: Intro → Verse → Chorus → Transition → Verse ×2 → Chorus → Transition → Verse ×2 → 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

Intro

• D – D/C♯ – D/B – D/A (×2)
  I – I (bass C♯) – I (bass B) – I⁶₄

Verse 1

• D – D/C♯ – D/B – D/A – G – A (×2)
  I – I (bass C♯) – I (bass B) – I⁶₄ – IV – V
• G – D – F♯ – Bm – Bm/A – E9/G♯ – E9 – A
  IV – I – III – vi – vi (bass A) – II9 (bass G♯) – II9 – V

Chorus 1

• Bm – A (×3)
  vi – V

Transition 1

• D – D/C♯ – D/B – D/A
  I – I (bass C♯) – I (bass B) – I⁶₄

Verse 2

Same chords as Verse 1.

Verse 3

Same chords as Verse 1.

Chorus 2

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Transition 2

Same chords as Transition 1.

Verse 4

Same chords as Verse 1.

Verse 5

Same chords as Verse 1.

Chorus 3

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Outro

• D – D/C♯ – D/B – D/A – G – A (×2)
  I – I (bass C♯) – I (bass B) – I⁶₄ – IV – V
• D – D/C♯ – D/B
  I – I (bass C♯) – I (bass B)

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

• F♯ acts as V/vi: it resolves to Bm.
• E9 acts as V/V: it resolves to A.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). Expert transcription by trained musicians (song 0294, 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.