One by U2

Overview

Key: C major · Chords used: 5 · Sections: 14

Form: Transition → Verse → Chorus → Transition → Verse → Chorus → Transition → Verse → Chorus → Bridge → Chorus ×4

Where these chords come from: an expert transcription of the original recording made for the Rock Corpus RS 200 (de Clercq & Temperley, 2011), analysis by Trevor de Clercq. 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

Transition 1

• Am – D – F – G
  vi – II – IV – V

Verse 1

• Am – D – F – G (×2)
  vi – II – IV – V

Chorus 1

• C – Am – F (×2)
  I – vi – IV
• C
  I

Transition 2

Same chords as Transition 1.

Verse 2

Same chords as Verse 1.

Chorus 2

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Transition 3

Same chords as Transition 1.

Verse 3

Same chords as Verse 1.

Chorus 3

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Bridge

• C – Am (×2)
  I – vi
• C – G – F
  I – V – IV

Chorus 4

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Chorus 5

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Chorus 6

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Chorus 7

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
Am	vi	In the key	Transition, Verse, Chorus, Bridge
D	II	Outside the key (chromatic)	Transition, Verse
F	IV	In the key	Transition, Verse, Chorus, Bridge
G	V	In the key	Transition, Verse, Bridge
C	I	Home chord (tonic)	Chorus, Bridge

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the Rock Corpus RS 200 (de Clercq & Temperley, 2011), analysis by Trevor de Clercq. Expert by-ear harmonic analysis of the original recording, shown on this page.
• Cross-check: the Rock Corpus RS 200 (de Clercq & Temperley, 2011), analysis by David Temperley. Independent by-ear analysis of the same recording. The two analysts agree on the chord (root and major/minor) for 100% of the song.
• Verified: two independent expert transcriptions agree on this song's harmony.
• Rhythm and chord durations aren't shown; each step is one chord change.