Total Eclipse of the Heart by Bonnie Tyler

Overview

Key: A♭ major · Chords used: 22 · Sections: 29

Where these chords come from: an expert transcription of the original recording made for the Uspop2002 chord annotations (Music and Audio Research Lab, New York University). 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

Part 1 (0:00)

• B♭m
  ii

Part 2 (0:11)

• A♭ – B♭m
  I – ii

Part 3 (0:25)

• A♭ – D♭ – B – D♭
  I – IV – #II – IV

Part 4 (0:40)

• B
  #II
• E – Eadd11/A (×2)
  #V – #Vadd11 (bass A)

Part 5 (0:55)

• B♭m – A♭ (×2)
  ii – I

Part 6 (1:10)

• D♭ – B (×2)
  IV – #II

Part 7 (1:25)

• E – Eadd11/A (×2)
  #V – #Vadd11 (bass A)
• A♭ – Fm
  I – vi

Part 8 (1:40)

• D♭ – E♭7 – A♭ – Fm (×2)
  IV – V7 – I – vi

Part 9 (1:54)

• D♭ – E♭7 – D♭/F – E♭/G – Fm – B♭ – A♭
  IV – V7 – IV⁶ – V⁶ – vi – II – I

Part 10 (2:09)

• E♭/G – Fm – B♭ – A♭/C – E♭/B♭ – A♭/C – D♭ – E♭7
  V⁶ – vi – II – I⁶ – V⁶₄ – I⁶ – IV – V7

Part 11 (2:23)

• A♭/E♭ – Fm – C – D♭ – A♭/C – B♭m7 – E♭
  I⁶₄ – vi – III – IV – I⁶ – ii7 – V

Part 12 (2:37)

• A♭ – Fm – D♭ – E♭7 – E♭7/G – A♭ – Fm – C – D♭
  I – vi – IV – V7 – V⁶₅ – I – vi – III – IV

Part 13 (2:51)

• A♭/C – B♭m7 – E♭ – A♭ – Fm – D♭ – E♭7 – E♭7/G – A♭
  I⁶ – ii7 – V – I – vi – IV – V7 – V⁶₅ – I

Part 14 (3:06)

Same chords as Part 5 (0:55).

Part 15 (3:20)

Same chords as Part 6 (1:10).

Part 16 (3:35)

• E – Eadd11/A (×2)
  #V – #Vadd11 (bass A)
• B♭m
  ii

Part 17 (3:49)

• A♭ – B♭m – A♭ – D♭
  I – ii – I – IV

Part 18 (4:03)

• B – D♭ – B – E – Eadd11/A
  #II – IV – #II – #V – #Vadd11 (bass A)

Part 19 (4:18)

• E – Eadd11/A – A♭ – Fm – D♭ – E♭7
  #V – #Vadd11 (bass A) – I – vi – IV – V7

Part 20 (4:32)

• A♭ – Fm – D♭ – E♭7 (×2)
  I – vi – IV – V7

Part 21 (4:46)

• D♭/F – E♭/G – Fm – B♭ – A♭ – E♭/G – Fm
  IV⁶ – V⁶ – vi – II – I – V⁶ – vi

Part 22 (5:01)

• B♭ – A♭/C – E♭/B♭ – A♭/C – D♭ – E♭7 – A♭/E♭
  II – I⁶ – V⁶₄ – I⁶ – IV – V7 – I⁶₄

Part 23 (5:15)

• Fm – C – D♭ – A♭/C – B♭m7 – E♭ – A♭
  vi – III – IV – I⁶ – ii7 – V – I

Part 24 (5:29)

• Fm – D♭ – E♭7/B♭ – E♭7/G – A♭ – Fm – C – D♭ – A♭/C – B♭m7
  vi – IV – V⁴₃ – V⁶₅ – I – vi – III – IV – I⁶ – ii7

Part 25 (5:43)

• E♭ – A♭ – Fm – D♭ – E♭ – A♭ – Fm7 – D♭
  V – I – vi – IV – V – I – vi7 – IV

Part 26 (5:57)

• E♭7 – E♭7/G – A♭ – Fm7 – D♭ – E♭7 – A♭ – Fm – D♭
  V7 – V⁶₅ – I – vi7 – IV – V7 – I – vi – IV

Part 27 (6:12)

• E♭7 – A♭ – Fm – D♭ – E♭7 – A♭ – Fmadd9 – D♭add9
  V7 – I – vi – IV – V7 – I – viadd9 – IVadd9

Part 28 (6:26)

• E♭7 – A♭ – Fm – D♭ (×2)
  V7 – I – vi – IV

Part 29 (6:41)

• E♭7 – A♭ – Fm – D♭ – E♭7 – A♭
  V7 – I – vi – IV – V7 – I

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

• B (#II) is borrowed from the parallel key, A♭ minor.
• E (#V) is borrowed from the parallel key, A♭ minor.
• The Part 8 (1:40) loops D♭ – E♭7 – A♭ – Fm (IV – V7 – I – vi), a rotation of the ’50s progression (I–vi–IV–V family).

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the Uspop2002 chord annotations (Music and Audio Research Lab, New York University). Chord annotation of the original recording (Faster Than The Speed Of Night), time-stamped by researchers; CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo.
• Section names: this annotation doesn't name verses or choruses, so they aren't guessed. Instead, code used the chord timings to find the bars and cut the song into 8-bar parts. Each part is labelled with the time it starts in the annotated recording (Faster Than The Speed Of Night), and a part with exactly the same chords as an earlier one says so.
• The key was estimated by code from the chords; this annotation doesn't state it.
• Not verified: only one expert transcription of this song is available so far.
• 2 chords were 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.