Promises in the Dark by Pat Benatar

Overview

Key: F major · Chords used: 9 · Sections: 14

Form: Intro → Verse → Chorus → Transition → Verse → Chorus → Transition → Bridge → Solo → Solo → Transition → Verse → Chorus → 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

• F
  I

Verse 1

• F – B♭ (×2)
  I – IV
• Dm7 – B♭ – C
  vi7 – IV – V

Chorus 1

• Dm7 – C – B♭ – F – B♭ – Gm – Am7
  vi7 – V – IV – I – IV – ii – iii7

Transition 1

• Dm – Am7 – B♭ (×3)
  vi – iii7 – IV

Verse 2

Same chords as Verse 1.

Chorus 2

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Transition 2

• Dm – Am7 – B♭ (×4)
  vi – iii7 – IV

Bridge

• B♭maj7 – C – G – B♭ – C – B♭maj7 – C – Dm – C – B♭ – C
  IVmaj7 – V – II – IV – V – IVmaj7 – V – vi – V – IV – V

Solo 1

• Dm – Am7 – B♭ (×8)
  vi – iii7 – IV

Solo 2

• B♭maj7 – C – Dm – C – B♭ – C
  IVmaj7 – V – vi – V – IV – V

Transition 3

Same chords as Transition 1.

Verse 3

Same chords as Verse 1.

Chorus 3

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Outro

• Dm – Am7 – B♭ (×8)
  vi – iii7 – IV
• Dm
  vi

Chord vocabulary

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). Expert transcription by trained musicians (song 0227, 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.