Nick of Time by Bonnie Raitt

Overview

Key: C major · Chords used: 12 · Sections: 6

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

• Dm7 – G – Am – Dm7 – G7 (×2)
  ii7 – V – vi – ii7 – V7
• C
  I

Verse 1

• Dm7 – C/E – F6 – C/G (×3)
  ii7 – I⁶ – IV6 – I⁶₄
• Dm7 – C/E – E7/G♯ – Am – Dm7 – G7 – C
  ii7 – I⁶ – III⁶₅ – vi – ii7 – V7 – I

Verse 2

Same chords as Verse 1.

Bridge

• B♭ – F – C – Dm – Dm7 – C/E – E7/G♯ – Am
  bVII – IV – I – ii – ii7 – I⁶ – III⁶₅ – vi
• Dm7 – G7 (×3)
  ii7 – V7
• C
  I

Verse 3

• Dm7 – C/E – F6 – C/G (×3)
  ii7 – I⁶ – IV6 – I⁶₄
• Dm7 – C/E – E7/G♯ – Am
  ii7 – I⁶ – III⁶₅ – vi
• Dm7 – G7 (×5)
  ii7 – V7
• C
  I

Outro

• Dm7 – G – Am – Dm7 – G7 (×4)
  ii7 – V – vi – ii7 – V7

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

• B♭ (bVII) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.
• E7/G♯ acts as V/vi: it resolves to Am.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). Expert transcription by trained musicians (song 0627, CC0), via ChoCo.
• Not verified: only one expert transcription of this song is available so far.
• 4 chords were simplified to the closest symbol our player supports (for example, an unusual added tone dropped).
• Rhythm and chord durations aren't shown; each step is one chord change.