My Sweet Lady by John Denver

Overview

Key: D major · Chords used: 17 · Sections: 22

Where these chords come from: an expert transcription of the original recording made for the Uspop2002 chord annotations (Music and Audio Research Lab, New York University). 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

Part 1 (0:00)

• Dmaj7 – Em7/D
  Imaj7 – ii⁴₂

Part 2 (0:05)

• D – Em7/D – Dmaj7 – Em7/D
  I – ii⁴₂ – Imaj7 – ii⁴₂

Part 3 (0:17)

• D – F♯m6/D – G/D – Gm/D – D – Dmaj7 – D6
  I – iii6 (bass D) – IV⁶₄ – iv⁶₄ – I – Imaj7 – I6

Part 4 (0:30)

• D – Em/B – Em – A7 – Dmaj7 – Em7/D
  I – ii⁶₄ – ii – V7 – Imaj7 – ii⁴₂

Part 5 (0:42)

• D – Dmaj7 – G/D – Gm/D – D – Dmaj7 – Em
  I – Imaj7 – IV⁶₄ – iv⁶₄ – I – Imaj7 – ii

Part 6 (0:54)

• A7 – D – D7 – G – A7
  V7 – I – I7 – IV – V7

Part 7 (1:07)

• D – D7 – G – A7
  I – I7 – IV – V7

Part 8 (1:19)

Same chords as Part 7 (1:07).

Part 9 (1:31)

• D – Bm – Bm7
  I – vi – vi7

Part 10 (1:44)

• Em – A7 – D – Em7/D
  ii – V7 – I – ii⁴₂

Part 11 (1:56)

• D – Dmaj7 – G/D – Gm/D – D – Dmaj7 – D6
  I – Imaj7 – IV⁶₄ – iv⁶₄ – I – Imaj7 – I6

Part 12 (2:08)

• D – Em – A7 – D – Em7/D
  I – ii – V7 – I – ii⁴₂

Part 13 (2:21)

• D – Dmaj7 – G/D – Gm/D – D – Dmaj7/A – Em7
  I – Imaj7 – IV⁶₄ – iv⁶₄ – I – Imaj⁴₃ – ii7

Part 14 (2:33)

Same chords as Part 6 (0:54).

Part 15 (2:45)

Same chords as Part 7 (1:07).

Part 16 (2:58)

• D – D7 – G – A
  I – I7 – IV – V

Part 17 (3:10)

Same chords as Part 9 (1:31).

Part 18 (3:22)

Same chords as Part 10 (1:44).

Part 19 (3:34)

Same chords as Part 11 (1:56).

Part 20 (3:46)

• D – Em – A7 – Dmaj7 – Em7/D
  I – ii – V7 – Imaj7 – ii⁴₂

Part 21 (3:59)

Same chords as Part 5 (0:42).

Part 22 (4:12)

• A7 – D
  V7 – I

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

• Gm/D (iv⁶₄) is borrowed from the parallel key, D minor.
• D7 acts as V/IV: it resolves to G.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the Uspop2002 chord annotations (Music and Audio Research Lab, New York University). Chord annotation of the original recording (Poems Prayers Promises), time-stamped by researchers; CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo.
• Section names: this annotation doesn't name verses or choruses, so they aren't guessed. Instead, code used the chord timings to find the bars and cut the song into 8-bar parts. Each part is labelled with the time it starts in the annotated recording (Poems Prayers Promises), and a part with exactly the same chords as an earlier one says so.
• The key was estimated by code from the chords; this annotation doesn't state it.
• 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.