Worried Guy by Johnny Tillotson

Overview

Key: G major · Chords used: 16 · Sections: 8

Form: Intro → Verse → Verse → Bridge → Verse → Verse → Bridge → Verse

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

• Verse 5 moves to A♭ major.

Section by section

Intro

• G – Em – C – D7
  I – vi – IV – V7

Verse 1

• G – Em7 – C – E♭ – D7 – C – A7 – G – E♭ – D7 – G – B♭ – C – D7
  I – vi7 – IV – bVI – V7 – IV – II7 – I – bVI – V7 – I – bIII – IV – V7

Verse 2

• G – Em7 – C – E♭ – D7 – C – A7 – G – E♭ – D7 – G
  I – vi7 – IV – bVI – V7 – IV – II7 – I – bVI – V7 – I

Bridge 1

• C – G – Em – Cm – D
  IV – I – vi – iv – V

Verse 3

• G – Em7 – C – E♭ – D7 – C – A7 – G – E♭ – D7
  I – vi7 – IV – bVI – V7 – IV – II7 – I – bVI – V7

Verse 4

• G – Em7 – C – D7 – C – A7 – G – E♭ – D7 – G
  I – vi7 – IV – V7 – IV – II7 – I – bVI – V7 – I

Bridge 2

Same chords as Bridge 1.

Verse 5

• A♭ – Fm7 – D♭ – E – E♭7 – D♭ – B♭7
  I – vi7 – IV – #V – V7 – IV – II7
• A♭ – E – E♭7 (×6)
  I – #V – V7

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

• E♭ (bVI) is borrowed from the parallel key, G minor.
• B♭ (bIII) is borrowed from the parallel key, G minor.
• Cm (iv) is borrowed from the parallel key, G minor.
• E (#V) is borrowed from the parallel key, A♭ minor.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). Expert transcription by trained musicians (song 0267, 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.