They Can't Take That Away From Me by George Gershwin

Overview

Key: E♭ major · Chords used: 18 · Sections: 5

Form: Intro → A Section → A Section → Bridge → 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

Intro

• G7 – C7 – F7 – B♭7 – E♭6 – B♭7sus4
  III7 – VI7 – II7 – V7 – I6 – V7sus4

A Section 1

• E♭maj7 – Fm7 – Gm7 – G♭dim7 – Fm7 – B♭7sus4 – B♭m7 – E♭7 – A♭maj7 – Gm7 – C7 – Fm7 – B♭7sus4
  Imaj7 – ii7 – iii7 – biii°7 – ii7 – V7sus4 – v7 – I7 – IVmaj7 – iii7 – VI7 – ii7 – V7sus4

A Section 2

• E♭maj7 – Fm7 – Gm7 – G♭dim7 – Fm7 – B♭7sus4 – B♭m7 – E♭7 – A♭maj7 – B♭7 – E♭6 – Am7♭5 – D7
  Imaj7 – ii7 – iii7 – biii°7 – ii7 – V7sus4 – v7 – I7 – IVmaj7 – V7 – I6 – #ivø7 – VII7

Bridge

• Gm7 – D7♭9 (×2)
  iii7 – VII7b9
• Gm7 – Em7♭5 – Am7♭5
  iii7 – #iø7 – #ivø7
• D7♭9 – Gm7 (×2)
  VII7b9 – iii7
• C7 – F7 – B♭7sus4
  VI7 – II7 – V7sus4

A Section 3

• E♭maj7 – Fm7 – Gm7 – G♭dim7 – Fm7 – B♭7sus4 – B♭m7 – E♭7 – A♭maj7 – B♭7 – E♭6 – A♭m6 – G7 – C7 – F7 – B♭7 – E♭6 – B♭7sus4
  Imaj7 – ii7 – iii7 – biii°7 – ii7 – V7sus4 – v7 – I7 – IVmaj7 – V7 – I6 – iv6 – III7 – VI7 – II7 – V7 – I6 – V7sus4

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
G7	III7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Intro, A Section
C7	VI7	Secondary dominant (V/ii)	A Section, Bridge
F7	II7	Secondary dominant (V/V)	Intro, Bridge, A Section
B♭7	V7	In the key	Intro, A Section
E♭6	I6	Home chord (tonic)	Intro, A Section
B♭7sus4	V7sus4	In the key	Intro, A Section, Bridge
E♭maj7	Imaj7	Home chord (tonic)	A Section
Fm7	ii7	In the key	A Section
Gm7	iii7	In the key	A Section, Bridge
G♭dim7	biii°7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
B♭m7	v7	Borrowed from E♭ minor	A Section
E♭7	I7	Secondary dominant (V/IV)	A Section
A♭maj7	IVmaj7	In the key	A Section
Am7♭5	#ivø7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section, Bridge
D7	VII7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
D7♭9	VII7b9	Secondary dominant (V/iii)	Bridge
Em7♭5	#iø7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Bridge
A♭m6	iv6	Borrowed from E♭ minor	A Section

Harmonic highlights

• B♭m7 (v7) is borrowed from the parallel key, E♭ minor.
• A♭m6 (iv6) is borrowed from the parallel key, E♭ minor.
• C7 acts as V/ii: it resolves to Fm7.
• F7 acts as V/V: it resolves to B♭7.
• E♭7 acts as V/IV: it resolves to A♭maj7.
• D7♭9 acts as V/iii: it resolves to Gm7.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “They Can't Take That Away From Me” (credited “Gershwin George”, 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 “They Can't Take That Away From Me” (credited “Gershwin George”, 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 100%).
• 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.
• Rhythm and chord durations aren't shown; each step is one chord change.