Rebel Yell by Billy Idol

Overview

Key: B minor · Chords used: 10 · Sections: 15

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

• Bm7
  i7

Interlude 1

• Gmaj7 – F♯m7 – E7sus2 (×2)
  bVImaj7 – v7 – IV7sus2
• D – Asus2
  bIII – bVIIsus2

Transition 1

• Bm7
  i7

Verse 1

• Bm – Asus4 – Gmaj7 – Em7 (×2)
  i – bVIIsus4 – bVImaj7 – iv7

Chorus 1

• Bm – D/A – Gmaj7 – Em7 (×2)
  i – bIII⁶₄ – bVImaj7 – iv7

Transition 2

Same chords as Transition 1.

Verse 2

• Bm – D/A – Gmaj7 – Em7 (×2)
  i – bIII⁶₄ – bVImaj7 – iv7

Chorus 2

• Bm – D/A – Gmaj7 – Em7 – Bm – D/A – Gmaj7
  i – bIII⁶₄ – bVImaj7 – iv7 – i – bIII⁶₄ – bVImaj7

Interlude 2

• Gmaj7 – F♯m7 – E7sus2 (×4)
  bVImaj7 – v7 – IV7sus2
• D – Asus2
  bIII – bVIIsus2

Transition 3

• Bm – Bm7
  i – i7

Solo 1

• Bm – D/A – Gmaj7 – Em7 (×2)
  i – bIII⁶₄ – bVImaj7 – iv7

Bridge

• Bm – D/A – Gmaj7 – Em7 – Bm – D/A – Gmaj7
  i – bIII⁶₄ – bVImaj7 – iv7 – i – bIII⁶₄ – bVImaj7

Chorus 3

Same chords as Chorus 2.

Solo 2

• Bm7 – D/A – Gmaj7 – Em7 (×2)
  i7 – bIII⁶₄ – bVImaj7 – iv7

Outro

• Bm7
  i7

Chord vocabulary

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). Expert transcription by trained musicians (song 1167, 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.