Wild Horses by The Rolling Stones

Overview

Key: G major · Chords used: 8 · Sections: 10

Form: Intro → Verse → Chorus → Verse → Chorus → Solo → Verse → Chorus → Solo → 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

Intro

• G – Am11 (×2)
  I – ii11
• G
  I

Verse 1

• Bm – G (×2)
  iii – I
• Am – C – D – G – D – C
  ii – IV – V – I – V – IV
• Bm – G (×2)
  iii – I
• Am – C – D – G – D
  ii – IV – V – I – V

Chorus 1

• Am – C – D – G – F – C – Bm – Am – C – D – G – F – C
  ii – IV – V – I – bVII – IV – iii – ii – IV – V – I – bVII – IV

Verse 2

Same chords as Verse 1.

Chorus 2

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Solo 1

• F – C (×2)
  bVII – IV
• D – G – Am/G – G
  V – I – ii (bass G) – I

Verse 3

Same chords as Verse 1.

Chorus 3

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Solo 2

• Bm – G (×2)
  iii – I
• Am – C – D – G – D
  ii – IV – V – I – V

Chorus 4

• Am – C – D – G – F – C – Bm – Am – C – D – G – F – C – G
  ii – IV – V – I – bVII – IV – iii – ii – IV – V – I – bVII – IV – I

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

• F (bVII) is borrowed from the parallel key, G minor.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). Expert transcription by trained musicians (song 0094, 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.