Space Oddity by David Bowie

Overview

Key: E minor · Chords used: 16 · Sections: 8

Form: Intro → Verse → Verse → Chorus → Instrumental → Chorus → Instrumental → Outro

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

• F/E – Em (×4)
  bII (bass E) – i

Verse 1

• C – Em (×2)
  bVI – i
• Am – Am/G – D/F♯
  iv – iv (bass G) – bVII⁶

Verse 2

• C – Em (×2)
  bVI – i
• Am – Am/G – D/F♯ – C7
  iv – iv (bass G) – bVII⁶ – bVI7

Chorus 1

• C – E7 – F – Fm – C – F – Fm – C – F (×2)
  bVI – I7 – bII – bii – bVI – bII – bii – bVI – bII
• Fmaj7 – Em – F/E – Em – B♭ – Am – G – F
  bIImaj7 – i – bII (bass E) – i – bV – iv – bIII – bII

Instrumental 1

• C – F – G – A (×2)
  bVI – bII – bIII – IV
• Fmaj7 – Em – A – C – D/E – E7
  bIImaj7 – i – IV – bVI – bVII (bass E) – I7

Chorus 2

• C – E7
  bVI – I7
• F – Fm – C (×2)
  bII – bii – bVI
• F – G – E7 – Am – Am/G – D/F♯ – C – G
  bII – bIII – I7 – iv – iv (bass G) – bVII⁶ – bVI – bIII
• Fmaj7 – Em (×2)
  bIImaj7 – i
• B♭ – Am – G – F
  bV – iv – bIII – bII

Instrumental 2

• C – F – G – A (×2)
  bVI – bII – bIII – IV
• Fmaj7 – Em – A – C – D/E
  bIImaj7 – i – IV – bVI – bVII (bass E)

Outro

• E
  I

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

• A (IV) is borrowed from the parallel key, E major.
• E (I) is borrowed from the parallel key, E major.
• E7 acts as V/iv: it resolves to Am.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). Expert transcription by trained musicians (song 0086, 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.