Some Days Are Diamonds (Some Days Are Stone) by John Denver

Overview

Key: G major · Chords used: 18 · Sections: 8

Form: Intro → Verse → Chorus → Interlude → Verse → Chorus → Interlude → 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.

Key changes

• Interlude 2 moves to A major.

Section by section

Intro

• G – Gsus4 (×2)
  I – Isus4

Verse 1

• G – D7/F♯ – Em – D
  I – V⁶₅ – vi – V
• C – G (×2)
  IV – I
• Em – A7 – D7
  vi – II7 – V7

Chorus 1

• G – Cadd9 – G – Em – A7 – D7 – G – C – G – Em – C – G – D7 – G – G/B – C – C♯dim – D – D7
  I – IVadd9 – I – vi – II7 – V7 – I – IV – I – vi – IV – I – V7 – I – I⁶ – IV – #iv° – V – V7

Interlude 1

• G – Gsus4 (×2)
  I – Isus4

Verse 2

Same chords as Verse 1.

Chorus 2

• G – Cadd9 – G – Em – A7 – D7 – G – C – G – Em – C – G – D7 – G – D7sus4
  I – IVadd9 – I – vi – II7 – V7 – I – IV – I – vi – IV – I – V7 – I – V7sus4

Interlude 2

• A – D7sus4
  I – IV7sus4

Chorus 3

• A – Dadd9 – A – F♯m – B7 – E7 – A – D – A – F♯m – D – A – E7 – A – E7sus4 – A – Dadd9 – A – F♯m – B7 – E7
  I – IVadd9 – I – vi – II7 – V7 – I – IV – I – vi – IV – I – V7 – I – V7sus4 – I – IVadd9 – I – vi – II7 – V7

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

• D7sus4 (IV7sus4) is borrowed from the parallel key, A minor.
• A7 acts as V/V: it resolves to D7.
• B7 acts as V/V: it resolves to E7.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). Expert transcription by trained musicians (song 0711, 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.