Unchained Melody by The Righteous Brothers

Overview

Key: C major · Chords used: 8 · Sections: 5

Form: Verse → Chorus → Bridge → Verse → Chorus

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

Verse 1

• C – Am – F – G – C – Am – G (×2)
  I – vi – IV – V – I – vi – V

Chorus 1

• C – G – Am – Em – F – G – C – C7
  I – V – vi – iii – IV – V – I – I7

Bridge

• F – G – F – E♭ – F – G – C (×2)
  IV – V – IV – bIII – IV – V – I

Verse 2

Same chords as Verse 1.

Chorus 2

• C – G – Am – Em – F – G – C – Am – F – Fm – C
  I – V – vi – iii – IV – V – I – vi – IV – iv – I

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

• E♭ (bIII) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.
• Fm (iv) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). Expert transcription by trained musicians (song 0587, 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.