The Night We Called It a Day by Matt Dennis

Overview

Key: G major · Chords used: 26 · Sections: 5

Form: Intro → A Section → A Section → B Section → C 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

• Em7 – Em7/D – C♯m7♭5 – Cm7 – Bm7 – B♭7 – Am7 – A♭7 – Gmaj7
  vi7 – vi⁴₂ – #ivø7 – iv7 – iii7 – bIII7 – ii7 – bII7 – Imaj7

A Section 1

• Am7♭5 – D7♭9 – Gmaj7 – F♯m7♭5 – B7♭9 – Em7 – Em7/D – C♯7 – C7 – Bm7 – B♭7 – Am7 – A♭7♯11 – Gmaj7
  iiø7 – V7b9 – Imaj7 – viiø7 – III7b9 – vi7 – vi⁴₂ – #IV7 – IV7 – iii7 – bIII7 – ii7 – bII7#11 – Imaj7

A Section 2

• Am7♭5 – D7♭9 – Gmaj7 – F♯m7♭5 – B7♭9 – Em7 – Em7/D – C♯7 – C7 – Bm7 – B♭7 – Am7 – A♭7♯11 – Gmaj7 – Dm7 – G7
  iiø7 – V7b9 – Imaj7 – viiø7 – III7b9 – vi7 – vi⁴₂ – #IV7 – IV7 – iii7 – bIII7 – ii7 – bII7#11 – Imaj7 – v7 – I7

B Section

• Cmaj7 – Cdim7 – Cmaj7 – Cm6 – B7♯9 – Em7 – F♯m7♭5 – B7 – Em7 – Em7♭5 – A7♭9 – Am7 – D7
  IVmaj7 – iv°7 – IVmaj7 – iv6 – III7#9 – vi7 – viiø7 – III7 – vi7 – viø7 – II7b9 – ii7 – V7

C Section

• Am7♭5 – D7♭9 – Gmaj7 – F♯m7♭5 – B7♭9 – Em7 – Em7/D – C♯m7♭5 – Cm7 – Bm7 – B♭7 – Am7 – A♭7 – Gmaj7
  iiø7 – V7b9 – Imaj7 – viiø7 – III7b9 – vi7 – vi⁴₂ – #ivø7 – iv7 – iii7 – bIII7 – ii7 – bII7 – Imaj7

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
Em7	vi7	In the key	Intro, A Section, B Section, C Section
Em7/D	vi⁴₂	In the key	Intro, A Section, C Section
C♯m7♭5	#ivø7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Intro, C Section
Cm7	iv7	Borrowed from G minor	Intro, C Section
Bm7	iii7	In the key	Intro, A Section, C Section
B♭7	bIII7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Intro, A Section, C Section
Am7	ii7	In the key	Intro, A Section, B Section, C Section
A♭7	bII7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Intro, C Section
Gmaj7	Imaj7	Home chord (tonic)	Intro, A Section, C Section
Am7♭5	iiø7	Borrowed from G minor	A Section, C Section
D7♭9	V7b9	Borrowed from G minor	A Section, C Section
F♯m7♭5	viiø7	In the key	A Section, B Section, C Section
B7♭9	III7b9	Secondary dominant (V/vi)	A Section, C Section
C♯7	#IV7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
C7	IV7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
A♭7♯11	bII7#11	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
Dm7	v7	Borrowed from G minor	A Section
G7	I7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
Cmaj7	IVmaj7	In the key	B Section
Cdim7	iv°7	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
Cm6	iv6	Borrowed from G minor	B Section
B7♯9	III7#9	Secondary dominant (V/vi)	B Section
B7	III7	Secondary dominant (V/vi)	B Section
Em7♭5	viø7	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
A7♭9	II7b9	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
D7	V7	In the key	B Section

Harmonic highlights

• Cm7 (iv7) is borrowed from the parallel key, G minor.
• Am7♭5 (iiø7) is borrowed from the parallel key, G minor.
• D7♭9 (V7b9) is borrowed from the parallel key, G minor.
• Dm7 (v7) is borrowed from the parallel key, G minor.
• Cm6 (iv6) is borrowed from the parallel key, G minor.
• B7♭9 acts as V/vi: it resolves to Em7.
• B7♯9 acts as V/vi: it resolves to Em7.
• B7 acts as V/vi: it resolves to Em7.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Night We Called It A Day, The” (credited “Dennis Matt”, style Slow 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 “Night We Called It A Day, The” (credited “Dennis Matt”, style Slow 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 88%).
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.