Only the Good Die Young by Billy Joel

Overview

Key: C major · Chords used: 11 · Sections: 19

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)

• F/C – Am – G – Am7 – F/C – G – C/G – C – F – Am – G – Am7 – F/C
  IV⁶₄ – vi – V – vi7 – IV⁶₄ – V – I⁶₄ – I – IV – vi – V – vi7 – IV⁶₄

Part 2 (0:11)

• Dm7/C – G7 – F – G – Am – F – G – C – F – G
  ii⁴₂ – V7 – IV – V – vi – IV – V – I – IV – V

Part 3 (0:23)

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

Part 4 (0:36)

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

Part 5 (0:47)

• F – G – C – F – G – Am – F – G
  IV – V – I – IV – V – vi – IV – V

Part 6 (1:00)

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

Part 7 (1:12)

• C – F – G – Am – F – G – C – F
  I – IV – V – vi – IV – V – I – IV

Part 8 (1:25)

• G – C – F – G – C – G – F
  V – I – IV – V – I – V – IV

Part 9 (1:38)

• C – D7 – F – G – F
  I – II7 – IV – V – IV

Part 10 (1:50)

• C – D7 – F – G – Dm – C – G – F
  I – II7 – IV – V – ii – I – V – IV

Part 11 (2:01)

• G – Am – F – G – C – F – G – Am – F – G
  V – vi – IV – V – I – IV – V – vi – IV – V

Part 12 (2:14)

• C – F – G (×2)
  I – IV – V

Part 13 (2:25)

• C – G – F – C – D7 – F
  I – V – IV – I – II7 – IV

Part 14 (2:38)

• G – F – C – D7 – F
  V – IV – I – II7 – IV

Part 15 (2:50)

• G – Dm – C – G – F – G – Am – F – G – C – F – G – Am
  V – ii – I – V – IV – V – vi – IV – V – I – IV – V – vi

Part 16 (3:01)

• F – G – C (×2)
  IV – V – I

Part 17 (3:14)

Same chords as Part 16 (3:01).

Part 18 (3:26)

Same chords as Part 16 (3:01).

Part 19 (3:38)

Same chords as Part 16 (3:01).

Chord vocabulary

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the Uspop2002 chord annotations (Music and Audio Research Lab, New York University). Chord annotation of the original recording (The Stranger), 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 (The Stranger), 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.