Sail Away by Tom Harrell

Overview

Key: C major · Chords used: 48 · Sections: 3

Form: A Section → B Section → C 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

A Section

• Em7 – A7♯9 – Dm11 – G7sus4 – Fdim7/C – Am7 – D/F♯ – G7sus4 – Em7 – B♭m7 – E♭9 – Dm11 – G7sus4 – Fdim7/C – Am7 – Fm11 – B♭7sus4 – Gm7 – C7♭9 – Fm11 – B♭7sus4 – A♭dim7/E♭ – Cm7 – Am11 – D7♭9
  iii7 – VI7#9 – ii11 – V7sus4 – iv°7 (bass C) – vi7 – II⁶ – V7sus4 – iii7 – bvii7 – bIII9 – ii11 – V7sus4 – iv°7 (bass C) – vi7 – iv11 – bVII7sus4 – v7 – I7b9 – iv11 – bVII7sus4 – bvi°7 (bass E♭) – i7 – vi11 – II7b9

B Section

• Gmaj7/D – Dm7 – A/C♯ – A/B – B7 – Emaj7♯5 – Amaj7 – D♯m11 – G♯sus4 – Bsus4 – E♭9sus4 – E♭7♭9 – E9sus4 – E7 – Amaj7 – F♯m7 – Cmaj7/D – B♭maj7/C – A♭maj7/B♭ – G7
  Vmaj⁴₃ – ii7 – VI⁶ – VI (bass B) – VII7 – IIImaj7#5 – VImaj7 – #ii11 – #Vsus4 – VIIsus4 – bIII9sus4 – bIII7b9 – III9sus4 – III7 – VImaj7 – #iv7 – Imaj7 (bass D) – bVIImaj7 (bass C) – bVImaj7 (bass B♭) – V7

C Section

• Em7 – A7♯9 – Dm11 – G7sus4 – C69 – Am7 – F♯m7 – B7♯9 – Cadd9/B♭ – A7♯9 – Dm11 – Gsus4 – G7
  iii7 – VI7#9 – ii11 – V7sus4 – I69 – vi7 – #iv7 – VII7#9 – Iadd9 (bass B♭) – VI7#9 – ii11 – Vsus4 – V7
• Cmaj7/G – G7sus4 (×4)
  Imaj⁴₃ – V7sus4
• F – D/F♯ – Em/G – E/G♯ – F/A – B♭maj7 – G/B – Cm9
  IV – II⁶ – iii⁶ – III⁶ – IV⁶ – bVIImaj7 – V⁶ – i9

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
Em7	iii7	In the key	A Section, C Section
A7♯9	VI7#9	Secondary dominant (V/ii)	A Section, C Section
Dm11	ii11	In the key	A Section, C Section
G7sus4	V7sus4	In the key	A Section, C Section
Fdim7/C	iv°7 (bass C)	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
Am7	vi7	In the key	A Section, C Section
D/F♯	II⁶	Secondary dominant (V/V)	A Section, C Section
B♭m7	bvii7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
E♭9	bIII9	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
Fm11	iv11	Borrowed from C minor	A Section
B♭7sus4	bVII7sus4	Borrowed from C minor	A Section
Gm7	v7	Borrowed from C minor	A Section
C7♭9	I7b9	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
A♭dim7/E♭	bvi°7 (bass E♭)	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
Cm7	i7	Borrowed from C minor	A Section
Am11	vi11	In the key	A Section
D7♭9	II7b9	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
Gmaj7/D	Vmaj⁴₃	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
Dm7	ii7	In the key	B Section
A/C♯	VI⁶	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
A/B	VI (bass B)	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
B7	VII7	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
Emaj7♯5	IIImaj7#5	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
Amaj7	VImaj7	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
D♯m11	#ii11	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
G♯sus4	#Vsus4	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
Bsus4	VIIsus4	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
E♭9sus4	bIII9sus4	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
E♭7♭9	bIII7b9	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
E9sus4	III9sus4	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
E7	III7	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
F♯m7	#iv7	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section, C Section
Cmaj7/D	Imaj7 (bass D)	Home chord (tonic)	B Section
B♭maj7/C	bVIImaj7 (bass C)	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
A♭maj7/B♭	bVImaj7 (bass B♭)	Borrowed from C minor	B Section
G7	V7	In the key	B Section, C Section
C69	I69	Home chord (tonic)	C Section
B7♯9	VII7#9	Outside the key (chromatic)	C Section
Cadd9/B♭	Iadd9 (bass B♭)	Outside the key (chromatic)	C Section
Gsus4	Vsus4	In the key	C Section
Cmaj7/G	Imaj⁴₃	Home chord (tonic)	C Section
F	IV	In the key	C Section
Em/G	iii⁶	In the key	C Section
E/G♯	III⁶	Outside the key (chromatic)	C Section
F/A	IV⁶	In the key	C Section
B♭maj7	bVIImaj7	Outside the key (chromatic)	C Section
G/B	V⁶	In the key	C Section
Cm9	i9	Borrowed from C minor	C Section

Harmonic highlights

• Fm11 (iv11) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.
• B♭7sus4 (bVII7sus4) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.
• Gm7 (v7) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.
• Cm7 (i7) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.
• A♭maj7/B♭ (bVImaj7 (bass B♭)) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.
• Cm9 (i9) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.
• A7♯9 acts as V/ii: it resolves to Dm11.
• D/F♯ acts as V/V: it resolves to G7sus4.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Sail Away” (credited “Harrell Tom”, style Bossa Nova) 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 “Sail Away” (credited “Harrell Tom”, style Bossa Nova - 135) 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 72%).
• 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.
• 17 chords were 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.