Something Beautiful by Robbie Williams

Overview

Key: B♭ major · Chords used: 30 · Sections: 26

Where these chords come from: an expert transcription of the original recording made for the Robbie Williams chord annotations (Di Giorgi et al., Politecnico di Milano, 2013). 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)

• B♭
  I

Part 2 (0:04)

• Gm – Dm – Cm/E♭
  vi – iii – ii⁶

Part 3 (0:15)

• F – B♭ – Gm – Dm – F
  V – I – vi – iii – V

Part 4 (0:26)

• E♭ – G♭ – B♭ – B♭7
  IV – bVI – I – I7

Part 5 (0:38)

• E♭ – C/E – B♭/F – F
  IV – II⁶ – I⁶₄ – V

Part 6 (0:49)

• B♭ – B♭/D – E♭ – B♭
  I – I⁶ – IV – I

Part 7 (1:00)

• F – E♭ – B♭ – C – F
  V – IV – I – II – V

Part 8 (1:11)

• B♭ – D – Cm – Gm/B♭ – A♭
  I – III – ii – vi⁶ – bVII

Part 9 (1:22)

• B♭ – F – A♭ – E♭ – G♭ – A♭ – B♭
  I – V – bVII – IV – bVI – bVII – I

Part 10 (1:33)

Same chords as Part 2 (0:04).

Part 11 (1:45)

Same chords as Part 3 (0:15).

Part 12 (1:56)

Same chords as Part 4 (0:26).

Part 13 (2:07)

Same chords as Part 5 (0:38).

Part 14 (2:18)

Same chords as Part 6 (0:49).

Part 15 (2:29)

Same chords as Part 7 (1:00).

Part 16 (2:40)

Same chords as Part 8 (1:11).

Part 17 (2:51)

Same chords as Part 9 (1:22).

Part 18 (3:02)

• A♭ – F – B♭ – A♭ – F – C♯
  bVII – V – I – bVII – V – #II

Part 19 (3:13)

• B – G♯ – C♯ – A
  #I – #VI – #II – VII

Part 20 (3:23)

• E – Em/G – B – B7
  #IV – #iv⁶ – #I – #I7

Part 21 (3:35)

• E – C♯/E♯ – B/F♯ – F♯
  #IV – #II⁶ – #I⁶₄ – #V

Part 22 (3:46)

• B – B/D♯ – E – B
  #I – #I⁶ – #IV – #I

Part 23 (3:57)

• F♯ – E – B – C♯ – F♯ – B
  #V – #IV – #I – #II – #V – #I

Part 24 (4:09)

• E♭ – C♯m – G♯m/B – A – B
  IV – #ii – #vi⁶ – VII – #I

Part 25 (4:20)

• F♯ – A – E – G – A – B
  #V – VII – #IV – VI – VII – #I

Part 26 (4:31)

• F♯ – A – B – G – A – B
  #V – VII – #I – VI – VII – #I

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

• G♭ (bVI) is borrowed from the parallel key, B♭ minor.
• A♭ (bVII) is borrowed from the parallel key, B♭ minor.
• C♯ (#II) is borrowed from the parallel key, B♭ minor.
• G♯ (#VI) is borrowed from the parallel key, B♭ minor.
• C♯/E♯ (#II⁶) is borrowed from the parallel key, B♭ minor.
• F♯ (#V) is borrowed from the parallel key, B♭ minor.
• C acts as V/V: it resolves to F.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the Robbie Williams chord annotations (Di Giorgi et al., Politecnico di Milano, 2013). Chord annotation of the original recording (Escapology, 2002), 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 (Escapology, 2002), and a part with exactly the same chords as an earlier one says so.
• 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.