Ode to Billie Joe by Bobbie Gentry

Overview

Key: D major · Chords used: 6 · Sections: 7

Form: Intro → Verse → Verse → Verse → Verse ×2 → 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

• D7
  I7

Verse 1

• D7 – D7sus4/A
  I7 – I7sus4 (bass A)
• D7 – G7 (×2)
  I7 – IV7
• D7 – C7 – D7
  I7 – bVII7 – I7

Verse 2

• D7 – D7sus4/A (×2)
  I7 – I7sus4 (bass A)
• D7 – G7 (×2)
  I7 – IV7
• D7 – C7 – D7
  I7 – bVII7 – I7

Verse 3

• D7 – D7/A (×2)
  I7 – I⁴₃
• D7 – G7 (×2)
  I7 – IV7
• D7 – C7 – D7
  I7 – bVII7 – I7

Verse 4

Same chords as Verse 2.

Verse 5

Same chords as Verse 2.

Outro

• D7 – D/A
  I7 – I⁶₄

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

• D7sus4/A (I7sus4 (bass A)) is borrowed from the parallel key, D minor.
• C7 (bVII7) is borrowed from the parallel key, D minor.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). Expert transcription by trained musicians (song 1168, 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.