There but for Fortune by Joan Baez

Overview

Key: B♭ major · Chords used: 8 · Sections: 9

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

Section by section

Intro

• B♭ – E♭m/B♭ (×2)
  I – iv⁶₄

Verse 1

• B♭ – E♭m/B♭ (×2)
  I – iv⁶₄
• B♭ – Gm – C – F – B♭ – Gm – E♭ – Cm – Dm – Gm – C – F
  I – vi – II – V – I – vi – IV – ii – iii – vi – II – V

Transition 1

• B♭ – E♭m/B♭ – B♭
  I – iv⁶₄ – I

Verse 2

Same chords as Verse 1.

Transition 2

Same chords as Transition 1.

Verse 3

Same chords as Verse 1.

Transition 3

Same chords as Transition 1.

Verse 4

Same chords as Verse 1.

Outro

• B♭ – E♭m/B♭ – B♭
  I – iv⁶₄ – I

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

• E♭m/B♭ (iv⁶₄) is borrowed from the parallel key, B♭ minor.
• C acts as V/V: it resolves to F.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). Expert transcription by trained musicians (song 1087, 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.