Sunday Morning Sunshine by Harry Chapin

Overview

Key: E major · Chords used: 13 · Sections: 9

Form: Intro → Verse → Pre-Chorus → Chorus → Verse → Pre-Chorus → Chorus → Chorus → 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.

Section by section

Intro

• E
  I

Verse 1

• E69 – G♯m7 – F♯m7 – B7 – C♯m – E/B – A – G♯m7 – F♯m7 – B7 (×2)
  I69 – iii7 – ii7 – V7 – vi – I⁶₄ – IV – iii7 – ii7 – V7

Pre-Chorus 1

• A – B – G♯m – C♯m – F♯m – B – A
  IV – V – iii – vi – ii – V – IV

Chorus 1

• E – F♯11 – D – A (×2)
  I – II11 – bVII – IV
• E
  I

Verse 2

Same chords as Verse 1.

Pre-Chorus 2

• A – B – G♯m – C♯m
  IV – V – iii – vi
• F♯m – B (×2)
  ii – V

Chorus 2

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Chorus 3

• E – F♯11 – D – A – E – B (×2)
  I – II11 – bVII – IV – I – V

Chorus 4

• E – F♯11 – D – A – E – B – E – F♯11 – D – A – E
  I – II11 – bVII – IV – I – V – I – II11 – bVII – IV – I

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

• D (bVII) is borrowed from the parallel key, E minor.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). Expert transcription by trained musicians (song 0412, 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.