Sea of Heartbreak by Don Gibson

Overview

Key: G major · Chords used: 6 · Sections: 8

Form: Intro → Verse → Chorus → Verse → Chorus → Bridge → Verse → Chorus

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

• G – D7
  I – V7

Verse 1

• G – Em – C – D7 (×2)
  I – vi – IV – V7

Chorus 1

• G – D7 – G7 – C – G – D7 – G – C – D7
  I – V7 – I7 – IV – I – V7 – I – IV – V7

Verse 2

Same chords as Verse 1.

Chorus 2

• G – D7 – G7 – C – G – D7 – G – G7
  I – V7 – I7 – IV – I – V7 – I – I7

Bridge

• C – G – G7 – C – B7
  IV – I – I7 – IV – III7

Verse 3

Same chords as Verse 1.

Chorus 3

• G – D7 – G7 – C – G
  I – V7 – I7 – IV – I
• D7 – G – C (×2)
  V7 – I – IV
• D7
  V7

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

• G7 acts as V/IV: it resolves to C.
• The Verse 1 loops G – Em – C – D7 (I – vi – IV – V7), a rotation of the ’50s progression (I–vi–IV–V family).

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). Expert transcription by trained musicians (song 0169, 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.