Pure Imagination by Anthony Newley

Overview

Key: E♭ major · Chords used: 18 · Sections: 5

Form: Intro → A Section → A Section → Bridge → A 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

• Fm7 – B♭9sus4
  ii7 – V9sus4
• E♭dim7 – E♭maj7 (×2)
  i°7 – Imaj7

A Section 1

• Fm7 – B♭9sus4 – E♭maj7 – Fm7 – F♯dim – E♭/G – Cm7 – Fm7 – B♭9sus4
  ii7 – V9sus4 – Imaj7 – ii7 – #ii° – I⁶ – vi7 – ii7 – V9sus4
• E♭dim7 – E♭maj7 (×2)
  i°7 – Imaj7

A Section 2

• Fm7 – B♭9sus4 – E♭maj7 – Fm7 – F♯dim – E♭/G – Cm7 – Fm7 – B♭9sus4 – Gmaj7
  ii7 – V9sus4 – Imaj7 – ii7 – #ii° – I⁶ – vi7 – ii7 – V9sus4 – IIImaj7

Bridge

• A♭maj7 – Gm7 – C7♭9 – Fm7 – B♭9sus4 – E♭maj7 – Am7♭5 – D7 – Gm7 – C7 – F7 – B♭7
  IVmaj7 – iii7 – VI7b9 – ii7 – V9sus4 – Imaj7 – #ivø7 – VII7 – iii7 – VI7 – II7 – V7

A Section 3

• Fm7 – B♭9sus4 – E♭maj7 – Fm7 – F♯dim – E♭/G – Cm7 – Fm7 – B♭9sus4 – Gmaj7 – D♭7 – D7 – E♭69
  ii7 – V9sus4 – Imaj7 – ii7 – #ii° – I⁶ – vi7 – ii7 – V9sus4 – IIImaj7 – bVII7 – VII7 – I69

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
Fm7	ii7	In the key	Intro, A Section, Bridge
B♭9sus4	V9sus4	In the key	Intro, A Section, Bridge
E♭dim7	i°7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Intro, A Section
E♭maj7	Imaj7	Home chord (tonic)	Intro, A Section, Bridge
F♯dim	#ii°	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
E♭/G	I⁶	Home chord (tonic)	A Section
Cm7	vi7	In the key	A Section
Gmaj7	IIImaj7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
A♭maj7	IVmaj7	In the key	Bridge
Gm7	iii7	In the key	Bridge
C7♭9	VI7b9	Secondary dominant (V/ii)	Bridge
Am7♭5	#ivø7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Bridge
D7	VII7	Secondary dominant (V/iii)	Bridge, A Section
C7	VI7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Bridge
F7	II7	Secondary dominant (V/V)	Bridge
B♭7	V7	In the key	Bridge
D♭7	bVII7	Borrowed from E♭ minor	A Section
E♭69	I69	Home chord (tonic)	A Section

Harmonic highlights

• D♭7 (bVII7) is borrowed from the parallel key, E♭ minor.
• C7♭9 acts as V/ii: it resolves to Fm7.
• D7 acts as V/iii: it resolves to Gm7.
• 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 “Pure Imagination” (credited “Newley Anthony”, style Ballad) 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 “Pure Imagination” (credited “Newley Anthony”, style Ballad) 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.
• 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.
• Rhythm and chord durations aren't shown; each step is one chord change.