Someone to Light Up My Life by Frank Sinatra

Overview

Key: A major · Chords used: 57 · Sections: 4

Form: A Section → B Section → C Section → Outro

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

• E9 – F♯9/E – E9 – Amaj13 – D♯m7♭5 – G♯13 – G♯aug7 – C♯9 – C♯7♭9 – F♯mmaj7 – F♯m7 – Daug7/A – Daug7/D – D9 – Gmaj13 – G♯m7♭5 – C♯7♭9 – F♯maj7 – Gdim7 – G♯m7 – Bm7 – E7♭9
  V9 – VI9 (bass E) – V9 – Imaj13 – #ivø7 – VII13 – VII+7 – III9 – III7b9 – vimaj7 – vi7 – IV+7 (bass A) – IV+7 – IV9 – bVIImaj13 – viiø7 – III7b9 – VImaj7 – bvii°7 – vii7 – ii7 – V7b9

B Section

• Amaj13 – G♯m7♭5 – C♯7♭9 – F♯mmaj7 – B9/F♯ – Emmaj7 – A9 – Dmaj13 – G6/D – F♯7♭9 – Bm7 – E9 – E13 – Eaug7 – Amaj7
  Imaj13 – viiø7 – III7b9 – vimaj7 – II9 (bass F♯) – vmaj7 – I9 – IVmaj13 – bVII6 (bass D) – VI7b9 – ii7 – V9 – V13 – V+7 – Imaj7
• F♯m69/D♯ – F♯m69/G♯ (×2)
  vi69 (bass D♯) – vi69 (bass G♯)
• G♯13 – G♯13/D – C♯m7 – Am6 – Gmaj7/D – E13
  VII13 – VII13 (bass D) – iii7 – i6 – bVIImaj⁴₃ – V13

C Section

• A9sus4 – A7♭9 – D6/A – D6/D – Ddim/A – Ddim/D – Amaj13 – A9sus4 – A13 – Dmaj13 – G6/D – F♯7♭9 – Dmaj13 – D♯m7♭5 – Dm6 – Aadd9/C♯ – C7sus4 – C13 – B13 – E9sus4
  I9sus4 – I7b9 – IV6 (bass A) – IV6 – iv° (bass A) – iv° – Imaj13 – I9sus4 – I13 – IVmaj13 – bVII6 (bass D) – VI7b9 – IVmaj13 – #ivø7 – iv6 – Iadd9 (bass C♯) – bIII7sus4 – bIII13 – II13 – V9sus4

Outro

• E7♭9
  V7b9
• F/E♭ – F/A (×4)
  bVI (bass E♭) – bVI⁶
• G9/D – G9/G (×4)
  bVII9 (bass D) – bVII9
• E♭/D♭ – E♭/G (×4)
  bV (bass D♭) – bV⁶
• F9/C – F9/F (×4)
  bVI9 (bass C) – bVI9
• Amaj13 – A69
  Imaj13 – I69

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

• E7♭9 (V7b9) is borrowed from the parallel key, A minor.
• G6/D (bVII6 (bass D)) is borrowed from the parallel key, A minor.
• Eaug7 (V+7) is borrowed from the parallel key, A minor.
• A9sus4 (I9sus4) is borrowed from the parallel key, A minor.
• Dm6 (iv6) is borrowed from the parallel key, A minor.
• F/A (bVI⁶) is borrowed from the parallel key, A minor.
• G9/D (bVII9 (bass D)) is borrowed from the parallel key, A minor.
• G9/G (bVII9) is borrowed from the parallel key, A minor.
• A9 acts as V/IV: it resolves to Dmaj13.
• F♯7♭9 acts as V/ii: it resolves to Bm7.
• G♯13/D acts as V/iii: it resolves to C♯m7.
• A7♭9 acts as V/IV: it resolves to D6/A.
• A13 acts as V/IV: it resolves to Dmaj13.
• B13 acts as V/V: it resolves to E9sus4.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Someone To Light Up My Life (Se Todos Fossem Iguais A Voce)” (credited “Antonio Carlos Jobim”, style Samba) 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).
• 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.
• Not verified: only one chart of this song is available, so it hasn't been cross-checked.
• 3 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.