Rescue Me by Fontella Bass

Overview

Key: A major · Chords used: 6 · Sections: 9

Form: Intro → Verse → Chorus → Verse → Chorus → Interlude → Verse → Chorus ×2

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

• A – D/A (×2)
  I – IV⁶₄
• D – E9sus4
  IV – V9sus4

Verse 1

• A – D – G – Em7 (×2)
  I – IV – bVII – v7

Chorus 1

• A – D (×3)
  I – IV
• E9sus4
  V9sus4

Verse 2

Same chords as Verse 1.

Chorus 2

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Interlude

• A – D/A (×2)
  I – IV⁶₄
• D – E9sus4
  IV – V9sus4

Verse 3

Same chords as Verse 1.

Chorus 3

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Chorus 4

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

• G (bVII) is borrowed from the parallel key, A minor.
• Em7 (v7) is borrowed from the parallel key, A minor.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). Expert transcription by trained musicians (song 0777, 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.