Sweet Lorraine by Cliff Burwell

Overview

Key: G major · Chords used: 17 · Sections: 7

Form: A Section → A Section → B Section → A Section → A Section → B Section → 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

A Section 1

• G6 – E7 – A7 – D7 – Em7 – C7 – B7 – E7 – A7 – D7 – Bm7 – E7 – Am7 – Daug7
  I6 – VI7 – II7 – V7 – vi7 – IV7 – III7 – VI7 – II7 – V7 – iii7 – VI7 – ii7 – V+7

A Section 2

• G6 – E7 – A7 – D7 – Em7 – C7 – B7 – E7 – A7 – D7 – G6 – Dm7 – G7
  I6 – VI7 – II7 – V7 – vi7 – IV7 – III7 – VI7 – II7 – V7 – I6 – v7 – I7

B Section 1

• C6
  IV6
• E7 – Am7 – C7 – Fmaj7 (×2)
  VI7 – ii7 – IV7 – bVIImaj7
• E7 – E♭7♯11 – D7 – Fmaj7 – E7 – E♭7♯11 – D7
  VI7 – bVI7#11 – V7 – bVIImaj7 – VI7 – bVI7#11 – V7

A Section 3

• G6 – E7 – A7 – D7 – Em7 – C7 – B7 – E7 – A7 – D7 – G6 – C7 – C♯dim – G6/D – D7
  I6 – VI7 – II7 – V7 – vi7 – IV7 – III7 – VI7 – II7 – V7 – I6 – IV7 – #iv° – I6 (bass D) – V7

A Section 4

Same chords as A Section 2.

B Section 2

Same chords as B Section 1.

A Section 5

Same chords as A Section 3.

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
G6	I6	Home chord (tonic)	A Section
E7	VI7	Secondary dominant (V/ii)	A Section, B Section
A7	II7	Secondary dominant (V/V)	A Section
D7	V7	In the key	A Section, B Section
Em7	vi7	In the key	A Section
C7	IV7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section, B Section
B7	III7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
Bm7	iii7	In the key	A Section
Am7	ii7	In the key	A Section, B Section
Daug7	V+7	Borrowed from G minor	A Section
Dm7	v7	Borrowed from G minor	A Section
G7	I7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
C6	IV6	In the key	B Section
Fmaj7	bVIImaj7	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
E♭7♯11	bVI7#11	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
C♯dim	#iv°	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
G6/D	I6 (bass D)	Home chord (tonic)	A Section

Harmonic highlights

• Daug7 (V+7) is borrowed from the parallel key, G minor.
• Dm7 (v7) is borrowed from the parallel key, G minor.
• E7 acts as V/ii: it resolves to Am7.
• A7 acts as V/V: it resolves to D7.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Sweet Lorraine 1” (credited “Burwell Cliff”, style Medium Swing) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Performer/songwriter confirmed from Wikidata.
• 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 “Sweet Lorraine” (credited “Burwell Cliff”, style Medium Swing) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Performer/songwriter confirmed from Wikidata. A separately posted chart of the same song; its chords match this page's closely when both are read in the same key (similarity 73%).
• 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.
• About the song: Wikipedia.
• 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.