Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely by Backstreet Boys

Overview

Key: G♭ minor · Chords used: 16 · Sections: 21

Where these chords come from: an expert transcription of the original recording made for the Uspop2002 chord annotations (Music and Audio Research Lab, New York University). 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

Part 1 (0:00)

• G♭m – D – E
  i – #V – #VI

Part 2 (0:05)

• G♭m – D – E (×2)
  i – #V – #VI

Part 3 (0:17)

• G♭m – D – E – D – D♭sus4 – D♭7
  i – #V – #VI – #V – Vsus4 – V7

Part 4 (0:28)

• G♭m – D – E7 (×2)
  i – #V – #VI7

Part 5 (0:39)

• D – D♭11 – D♭7 – G♭m – D – E
  #V – V11 – V7 – i – #V – #VI

Part 6 (0:50)

• G♭m – D – E – A – D♭7
  i – #V – #VI – #II – V7

Part 7 (1:02)

• G♭m – D – E – G♭m – D – E7
  i – #V – #VI – i – #V – #VI7

Part 8 (1:13)

Same chords as Part 2 (0:05).

Part 9 (1:25)

• D – D♭11 – D♭7 – G♭m – D – E7
  #V – V11 – V7 – i – #V – #VI7

Part 10 (1:36)

• G♭m – D – E7 – E – D – D♭sus4
  i – #V – #VI7 – #VI – #V – Vsus4

Part 11 (1:46)

• D♭7 – G♭m – D – E – G♭m – D
  V7 – i – #V – #VI – i – #V

Part 12 (1:58)

• E – A – D♭7 – G♭m – D
  #VI – #II – V7 – i – #V

Part 13 (2:10)

• E – A♭m – E – G♭ – A♭m – E
  #VI – ii – #VI – I – ii – #VI

Part 14 (2:21)

• G♭ – B – E – B♭7/E♭ – E♭7 – A♭m – E
  I – #III – #VI – III7 (bass E♭) – VI7 – ii – #VI

Part 15 (2:33)

• G♭ – A♭m – E – G♭7 – A♭m – E
  I – ii – #VI – I7 – ii – #VI

Part 16 (2:44)

• G♭ – A♭m – E♭7/G – B/F♯ – E – G♭ – B – E♭7
  I – ii – VI⁶₅ – #III⁶₄ – #VI – I – #III – VI7

Part 17 (2:55)

• A♭m – E – G♭ – A♭m – E
  ii – #VI – I – ii – #VI

Part 18 (3:07)

• G♭ – A♭m – E – G♭ – B – E♭7
  I – ii – #VI – I – #III – VI7

Part 19 (3:18)

Same chords as Part 17 (2:55).

Part 20 (3:30)

Same chords as Part 18 (3:07).

Part 21 (3:41)

• A♭m – E – G♭ – A♭m
  ii – #VI – I – ii

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

• D♭11 (V11) is borrowed from the parallel key, G♭ major.
• A♭m (ii) is borrowed from the parallel key, G♭ major.
• G♭ (I) is borrowed from the parallel key, G♭ major.
• B (#III) is borrowed from the parallel key, G♭ major.
• B/F♯ (#III⁶₄) is borrowed from the parallel key, G♭ major.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the Uspop2002 chord annotations (Music and Audio Research Lab, New York University). Chord annotation of the original recording (Millennium), time-stamped by researchers; CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo.
• Section names: this annotation doesn't name verses or choruses, so they aren't guessed. Instead, code used the chord timings to find the bars and cut the song into 8-bar parts. Each part is labelled with the time it starts in the annotated recording (Millennium), and a part with exactly the same chords as an earlier one says so.
• The key was estimated by code from the chords; this annotation doesn't state it.
• Not verified: only one expert transcription of this song is available so far.
• 1 chord was 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.