Sunrise by Eric Carmen

Overview

Key: A♭ major · Chords used: 49 · Sections: 10

Form: Intro → Transition → Verse → Transition → Verse → Transition → Bridge → Verse → Transition → 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.

Key changes

• Transition 1 moves to C major.

Section by section

Intro

• A♭5 – A♭m/C♭ – D♭sus2 – F♭maj7(no5) – A♭5/E♭ – A♭5 – A♭m/C♭ – D♭sus2 – A♭5/G♭ – F♭maj7(no5) – A♭5/G♭ – B♭m7 – E♭maj7 – B♭m7 – G♭/F♭ – E♭m7 – B7 – Emaj7 – G7
  I5 – i⁶ – IVsus2 – bVImaj7(no5) – I5 (bass E♭) – I5 – i⁶ – IVsus2 – I5 (bass G♭) – bVImaj7(no5) – I5 (bass G♭) – ii7 – Vmaj7 – ii7 – bVII (bass F♭) – v7 – #II7 – #Vmaj7 – VII7

Transition 1

• C
  I

Verse 1

• C – Em7 – F – Dm7 – G7 – C – Em7 – F – Bm7♭5 – E7 – Am – Gm – C7 – Fmaj7 – D7 – C/G – A7 – Dm7♭5 – G7♭9
  I – iii7 – IV – ii7 – V7 – I – iii7 – IV – viiø7 – III7 – vi – v – I7 – IVmaj7 – II7 – I⁶₄ – VI7 – iiø7 – V7b9

Transition 2

• C – G/C – F/C
  I – V (bass C) – IV⁶₄

Verse 2

Same chords as Verse 1.

Transition 3

• C – A♭
  I – bVI

Bridge

• B♭m – E♭maj7 – B♭m7 – E♭/D♭ – Cm – Fm – Fm/E♭ – D♭ – D♭/C♭ – G♭/B♭ – A – G – G/F – G/E – G/D
  bvii – bIIImaj7 – bvii7 – bIII (bass D♭) – i – iv – iv (bass E♭) – bII – bII (bass C♭) – bV⁶ – VI – V – V (bass F) – V (bass E) – V⁶₄

Verse 3

Same chords as Verse 1.

Transition 4

• A♭ – A♭/G♭ – A♭/F – A♭/E♭ (×2)
  bVI – bVI (bass G♭) – bVI (bass F) – bVI⁶₄

Outro

• C – E♭ – B♭ – F (×8)
  I – bIII – bVII – IV
• E♭ – B♭ – F – C (×7)
  bIII – bVII – IV – I
• E♭ – B♭ – F
  bIII – bVII – IV

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

• A♭m/C♭ (i⁶) is borrowed from the parallel key, A♭ minor.
• F♭maj7(no5) (bVImaj7(no5)) is borrowed from the parallel key, A♭ minor.
• A♭5/G♭ (I5 (bass G♭)) is borrowed from the parallel key, A♭ minor.
• G♭/F♭ (bVII (bass F♭)) is borrowed from the parallel key, A♭ minor.
• E♭m7 (v7) is borrowed from the parallel key, A♭ minor.
• Emaj7 (#Vmaj7) is borrowed from the parallel key, A♭ minor.
• Gm (v) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.
• Dm7♭5 (iiø7) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.
• G7♭9 (V7b9) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.
• A♭ (bVI) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.
• G/E (V (bass E)) is borrowed from the parallel key, C major.
• A♭/F (bVI (bass F)) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.
• A♭/E♭ (bVI⁶₄) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.
• E♭ (bIII) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.
• B♭ (bVII) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.
• E7 acts as V/vi: it resolves to Am.
• C7 acts as V/IV: it resolves to Fmaj7.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). Expert transcription by trained musicians (song 0655, CC0), via ChoCo.
• Not verified: only one expert transcription of this song is available so far.
• 1 chord was 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.