Out of This World by Harold Arlen

Overview

Key: E♭ major · Chords used: 21 · Sections: 6

Form: Intro → A Section → A Section → B Section → A Section → B Section

Where these chords come from: a chord chart of this song written by a musician and shared on the iReal Pro forums, archived in the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). It's one musician's reading of the song, not a transcription checked against the recording. This page shows that chart 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

• B♭m/E♭ – E♭m7 – E♭7sus4 – E♭7
  v (bass E♭) – i7 – I7sus4 – I7

A Section 1

• B♭m/E♭ – E♭m7 – E♭7 – E♭m7 – B♭m/E♭ – E♭m7 – E♭7sus4 – E♭7 – E♭m7 – E♭m6 – A♭m7 – A♭7 – E♭6 – Edim7 – Fm7 – B♭aug7
  v (bass E♭) – i7 – I7 – i7 – v (bass E♭) – i7 – I7sus4 – I7 – i7 – i6 – iv7 – IV7 – I6 – #i°7 – ii7 – V+7

A Section 2

• B♭m/E♭ – E♭m7 – E♭7 – E♭m7 – B♭m/E♭ – E♭m7 – E♭7sus4 – E♭7 – E♭m7 – E♭m6 – A♭m7 – A♭7 – E♭6 – Dm7♭5 – G7♭9
  v (bass E♭) – i7 – I7 – i7 – v (bass E♭) – i7 – I7sus4 – I7 – i7 – i6 – iv7 – IV7 – I6 – viiø7 – III7b9

B Section 1

• Cm6 – Cdim7 – A♭7♯11 – G7 – Cm
  vi6 – vi°7 – IV7#11 – III7 – vi
• Cm6 – A♭7 (×2)
  vi6 – IV7
• G7 – C7
  III7 – VI7

A Section 3

Same chords as A Section 2.

B Section 2

• Cm6 – Cdim7 – A♭7♯11 – G7 – Cm
  vi6 – vi°7 – IV7#11 – III7 – vi
• Cm6 – A♭7 (×2)
  vi6 – IV7
• G7 – C7 – F7 – B♭7
  III7 – VI7 – II7 – V7

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
B♭m/E♭	v (bass E♭)	Borrowed from E♭ minor	Intro, A Section
E♭m7	i7	Borrowed from E♭ minor	Intro, A Section
E♭7sus4	I7sus4	Borrowed from E♭ minor	Intro, A Section
E♭7	I7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Intro, A Section
E♭m6	i6	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
A♭m7	iv7	Borrowed from E♭ minor	A Section
A♭7	IV7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section, B Section
E♭6	I6	Home chord (tonic)	A Section
Edim7	#i°7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
Fm7	ii7	In the key	A Section
B♭aug7	V+7	Borrowed from E♭ minor	A Section
Dm7♭5	viiø7	In the key	A Section
G7♭9	III7b9	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
Cm6	vi6	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
Cdim7	vi°7	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
A♭7♯11	IV7#11	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
G7	III7	Secondary dominant (V/vi)	B Section
Cm	vi	In the key	B Section
C7	VI7	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
F7	II7	Secondary dominant (V/V)	B Section
B♭7	V7	In the key	B Section

Harmonic highlights

• B♭m/E♭ (v (bass E♭)) is borrowed from the parallel key, E♭ minor.
• E♭m7 (i7) is borrowed from the parallel key, E♭ minor.
• E♭7sus4 (I7sus4) is borrowed from the parallel key, E♭ minor.
• A♭m7 (iv7) is borrowed from the parallel key, E♭ minor.
• B♭aug7 (V+7) is borrowed from the parallel key, E♭ minor.
• G7 acts as V/vi: it resolves to Cm.
• F7 acts as V/V: it resolves to B♭7.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Out Of This World” (credited “Arlen Harold”, style Latin) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Performer/songwriter confirmed from Wikidata.
• Section names: from the chart's own markings: section names written on the chart (Intro, Verse, Chorus…) are kept, and rehearsal letters are shown as “A Section”, “B Section” and so on (the B of an AABA song is called the Bridge).
• Cross-check: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Out Of This World” (credited “Arlen Harold”, style Latin) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Performer/songwriter confirmed from Wikidata. A separately posted chart of the same song; its chords match this page's closely when both are read in the same key (similarity 100%).
• Chord charts are often written in a key that suits a particular singer or band, so this may not be the key of the original recording.
• The chart's D.S./D.C./coda jumps have been written out in playing order.
• About the song: Wikipedia.
• Verified: two community charts of this song, posted in different forum threads, agree on its harmony. They're still charts, not transcriptions checked against the recording.
• 1 chord was 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.