Undercover Angel by Alan O'Day

Overview

Key: B♭ major · Chords used: 33 · Sections: 15

Form: Intro → Verse → Pre-Chorus → Chorus → Transition → Verse → Pre-Chorus → Chorus → Transition → Verse → Pre-Chorus → Pre-Chorus → Chorus → Pre-Chorus → 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.

Key changes

• Chorus 3 moves to C major.

Section by section

Intro

• E♭/B♭ – B♭ – F/B♭ – B♭ – E♭/B♭ – B♭maj7 – E♭m/B♭ – B♭
  IV⁶₄ – I – V (bass B♭) – I – IV⁶₄ – Imaj7 – iv⁶₄ – I

Verse 1

• E♭/B♭ – B♭ – F/B♭ – B♭ – E♭/B♭ – B♭maj7 – E♭m/B♭ – B♭ (×2)
  IV⁶₄ – I – V (bass B♭) – I – IV⁶₄ – Imaj7 – iv⁶₄ – I

Pre-Chorus 1

• B♭7 – A♭sus2 – Gm7 – G♭ – A♭7sus2 – B♭ – Gm7 – F
  I7 – bVIIsus2 – vi7 – bVI – bVII7sus2 – I – vi7 – V

Chorus 1

• B♭ – F/A – Gm – A♭6 – E♭ – B♭/D – C7 – F – Faug – B♭ – F/A – Gm – A♭6 – E♭ – B♭/D – D♭dim – Cm7
  I – V⁶ – vi – bVII6 – IV – I⁶ – II7 – V – V+ – I – V⁶ – vi – bVII6 – IV – I⁶ – biii° – ii7

Transition 1

• B♭7 – A♭sus2 – Gm7 – G♭ – A♭7sus2 – B♭ – Fmaj7/B♭ – F
  I7 – bVIIsus2 – vi7 – bVI – bVII7sus2 – I – Vmaj7 (bass B♭) – V

Verse 2

Same chords as Verse 1.

Pre-Chorus 2

Same chords as Pre-Chorus 1.

Chorus 2

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Transition 2

Same chords as Transition 1.

Verse 3

• E♭/B♭ – B♭ – F/B♭ – B♭ – E♭/B♭ – B♭maj7 – E♭m/B♭ – B♭ – E♭/B♭ – B♭ – F/B♭ – B♭ – E♭/B♭ – B♭maj7 – B♭
  IV⁶₄ – I – V (bass B♭) – I – IV⁶₄ – Imaj7 – iv⁶₄ – I – IV⁶₄ – I – V (bass B♭) – I – IV⁶₄ – Imaj7 – I

Pre-Chorus 3

• B♭7 – A♭sus2 – Gm7 (×2)
  I7 – bVIIsus2 – vi7

Pre-Chorus 4

• B♭7 – A♭sus2 – Gm7 – G♭ – A♭7sus2 – B♭ – G7
  I7 – bVIIsus2 – vi7 – bVI – bVII7sus2 – I – VI7

Chorus 3

• C – G/B – Am – B♭6 – F – C/E – D7 – G – Gaug – C – G/B – Am – B♭6 – F – C/E – E♭dim – Dm7 – C – G7 – Gaug7
  I – V⁶ – vi – bVII6 – IV – I⁶ – II7 – V – V+ – I – V⁶ – vi – bVII6 – IV – I⁶ – biii° – ii7 – I – V7 – V+7

Pre-Chorus 5

• C – Am – G
  I – vi – V

Chorus 4

• C – G/B – Am – B♭6 – F – C/E – D7 – G – Gaug – C – G/B – Am – B♭6
  I – V⁶ – vi – bVII6 – IV – I⁶ – II7 – V – V+ – I – V⁶ – vi – bVII6

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

• E♭m/B♭ (iv⁶₄) is borrowed from the parallel key, B♭ minor.
• A♭sus2 (bVIIsus2) is borrowed from the parallel key, B♭ minor.
• G♭ (bVI) is borrowed from the parallel key, B♭ minor.
• A♭7sus2 (bVII7sus2) is borrowed from the parallel key, B♭ minor.
• A♭6 (bVII6) is borrowed from the parallel key, B♭ minor.
• Faug (V+) is borrowed from the parallel key, B♭ minor.
• B♭6 (bVII6) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.
• Gaug (V+) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.
• Gaug7 (V+7) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.
• C7 acts as V/V: it resolves to F.
• D7 acts as V/V: it resolves to G.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). Expert transcription by trained musicians (song 0367, 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.