St. Judy's Comet by Paul Simon

Overview

Key: E major · Chords used: 15 · Sections: 5

Form: Intro → A Section → A Section → Bridge → A Section

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

Intro

• E9
  I9

A Section 1

• E9 – Amaj9 – Am6 – E/G♯ – F♯m7 – B9 – E – A – E9
  I9 – IVmaj9 – iv6 – I⁶ – ii7 – V9 – I – IV – I9

A Section 2

Same chords as A Section 1.

Bridge

• Amaj7 – Am6 – E/G♯ – E9 (×2)
  IVmaj7 – iv6 – I⁶ – I9
• G♯aug7 – G♯7 – C♯m7 – Cm7 – Bm7 – B♭m7 – Amaj7 – E9
  III+7 – III7 – vi7 – bvi7 – v7 – bv7 – IVmaj7 – I9

A Section 3

Same chords as A Section 1.

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
E9	I9	Secondary dominant (V/IV)	A Section, Bridge
Amaj9	IVmaj9	In the key	A Section
Am6	iv6	Borrowed from E minor	A Section, Bridge
E/G♯	I⁶	Home chord (tonic)	A Section, Bridge
F♯m7	ii7	In the key	A Section
B9	V9	In the key	A Section
E	I	Home chord (tonic)	A Section
A	IV	In the key	A Section
Amaj7	IVmaj7	In the key	Bridge
G♯aug7	III+7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Bridge
G♯7	III7	Secondary dominant (V/vi)	Bridge
C♯m7	vi7	In the key	Bridge
Cm7	bvi7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Bridge
Bm7	v7	Borrowed from E minor	Bridge
B♭m7	bv7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Bridge

Harmonic highlights

• Am6 (iv6) is borrowed from the parallel key, E minor.
• Bm7 (v7) is borrowed from the parallel key, E minor.
• E9 acts as V/IV: it resolves to Amaj9.
• G♯7 acts as V/vi: it resolves to C♯m7.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “St. Judy's Comet (96 bpm)” (credited “Simon Paul”, style Medium Ballad) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Artist as credited on the chart.
• 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).
• Cross-check: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “St. Judy's Comet” (credited “Simon Paul”, style Even 8th's) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Artist as credited on the chart. A separately posted chart of the same song; its chords match this page's closely when both are read in the same key (similarity 75%).
• 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.
• The chart's D.S./D.C./coda jumps have been written out in playing order.
• Verified: two community charts of this song, posted in different forum threads, agree on its harmony. They're still charts, not transcriptions checked against the recording.
• Rhythm and chord durations aren't shown; each step is one chord change.