You Keep Coming Back Like a Song by Irving Berlin

Overview

Key: B♭ major · Chords used: 40 · Sections: 7

Form: A Section → B Section → A Section → B Section → A Section → B Section → Outro

Where these chords come from: a chord chart of this song written by a musician and shared on the iReal Pro forums, archived in the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). It's one musician's reading of the song, not a transcription checked against the recording. This page shows that chart 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

A Section 1

• B♭maj7 – Gm7 – Cm7 – F7 – Dm7 – G7 – Cm7 – B7 – B♭maj7 – Bdim7 – Cm7 – B7 – B♭maj7 – Fm7 – E7 – E♭maj7 – Edim7 – B♭maj7/F – Gm7 – Cm7 – B7 – B♭maj7 – Gm7 – C7 – F7 – Gm7 – A♭dim – F7/A – B7
  Imaj7 – vi7 – ii7 – V7 – iii7 – VI7 – ii7 – #I7 – Imaj7 – #i°7 – ii7 – #I7 – Imaj7 – v7 – #IV7 – IVmaj7 – #iv°7 – Imaj⁴₃ – vi7 – ii7 – #I7 – Imaj7 – vi7 – II7 – V7 – vi7 – bvii° – V⁶₅ – #I7

B Section 1

• B♭maj7 – Gm7 – Cm7 – F7 – Dm7 – G7 – Cm7 – B7 – B♭maj7 – Bdim7 – Cm7 – B7 – D7 – E♭7 – D7 – E♭maj7 – Edim7 – B♭maj7/F – Gm7 – Fm7 – E7 – E♭maj7 – A♭7 – Dm7 – Gm7 – Cm7 – B7 – B♭maj7 – G7 – Cm7 – B7
  Imaj7 – vi7 – ii7 – V7 – iii7 – VI7 – ii7 – #I7 – Imaj7 – #i°7 – ii7 – #I7 – III7 – IV7 – III7 – IVmaj7 – #iv°7 – Imaj⁴₃ – vi7 – v7 – #IV7 – IVmaj7 – bVII7 – iii7 – vi7 – ii7 – #I7 – Imaj7 – VI7 – ii7 – #I7

A Section 2

• B♭maj7 – A – G7 – B♭ – Cm7 – G – F7 – E♭ – Dm7 – F – G7 – B – Cm7 – E♭ – F7 – B7 – B♭maj7 – F – Bdim/D – B – Cm7 – E♭ – F7 – B7 – B♭maj7 – D – E♭ – E – Fm7 – C – E7/G♯ – E – E♭maj7 – B♭ – Edim – C – B♭maj7/F – D – G7 – B♭ – Cm7 – E♭ – F7 – B7 – B♭maj7 – D – B♭ – D7/A – Gm7 – F – D – B♭ – C7 – G – C – G – Cm7 – D – E♭ – E – F7 – B7
  Imaj7 – VII – VI7 – I – ii7 – VI – V7 – IV – iii7 – V – VI7 – #I – ii7 – IV – V7 – #I7 – Imaj7 – V – #i°⁶ – #I – ii7 – IV – V7 – #I7 – Imaj7 – III – IV – #IV – v7 – II – #IV⁶₅ – #IV – IVmaj7 – I – #iv° – II – Imaj⁴₃ – III – VI7 – I – ii7 – IV – V7 – #I7 – Imaj7 – III – I – III⁴₃ – vi7 – V – III – I – II7 – VI – II – VI – ii7 – III – IV – #IV – V7 – #I7

B Section 2

• B♭maj7 – A – G7 – B♭ – Cm7 – G – F7 – E♭ – Dm7 – F – G7 – B – Cm7 – E♭ – F7 – B7 – B♭maj7 – F – Bdim/D – B – Cm7 – G – F7 – E♭ – D7 – F♯ – A – D – E♭7 – A – D7 – F♯ – E♭maj7 – B♭ – Edim – C – B♭maj7/F – D – Gm7 – G♭7 – Fm7 – C – E7/G♯ – E – E♭maj7 – G – A♭7 – E♭ – Dm7 – F – G7 – B – Cm7 – E♭ – F7 – B7 – B♭maj7/F – G7/F
  Imaj7 – VII – VI7 – I – ii7 – VI – V7 – IV – iii7 – V – VI7 – #I – ii7 – IV – V7 – #I7 – Imaj7 – V – #i°⁶ – #I – ii7 – VI – V7 – IV – III7 – #V – VII – III – IV7 – VII – III7 – #V – IVmaj7 – I – #iv° – II – Imaj⁴₃ – III – vi7 – bVI7 – v7 – II – #IV⁶₅ – #IV – IVmaj7 – VI – bVII7 – IV – iii7 – V – VI7 – #I – ii7 – IV – V7 – #I7 – Imaj⁴₃ – VI⁴₂

A Section 3

Same chords as A Section 1.

B Section 3

• B♭maj7 – Gm7 – Cm7 – F7 – Dm7 – G7 – Cm7 – B7 – B♭maj7 – Bdim7 – Cm7 – B7 – D7 – E♭7 – D7 – E♭maj7 – Edim7 – B♭maj7/F – Gm7 – Fm7 – E7 – E♭maj7 – A♭7 – Dm7 – Gm7 – Cm7 – B7
  Imaj7 – vi7 – ii7 – V7 – iii7 – VI7 – ii7 – #I7 – Imaj7 – #i°7 – ii7 – #I7 – III7 – IV7 – III7 – IVmaj7 – #iv°7 – Imaj⁴₃ – vi7 – v7 – #IV7 – IVmaj7 – bVII7 – iii7 – vi7 – ii7 – #I7

Outro

• Em7♭5 – E♭m7 – Dm7 – D♭7 – Cm7 – Bmaj7 – B♭6
  #ivø7 – iv7 – iii7 – bIII7 – ii7 – #Imaj7 – I6

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
B♭maj7	Imaj7	Home chord (tonic)	A Section, B Section
Gm7	vi7	In the key	A Section, B Section
Cm7	ii7	In the key	A Section, B Section, Outro
F7	V7	In the key	A Section, B Section
Dm7	iii7	In the key	A Section, B Section, Outro
G7	VI7	Secondary dominant (V/ii)	A Section, B Section
B7	#I7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section, B Section
Bdim7	#i°7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section, B Section
Fm7	v7	Borrowed from B♭ minor	A Section, B Section
E7	#IV7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section, B Section
E♭maj7	IVmaj7	In the key	A Section, B Section
Edim7	#iv°7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section, B Section
B♭maj7/F	Imaj⁴₃	Home chord (tonic)	A Section, B Section
C7	II7	Secondary dominant (V/V)	A Section
A♭dim	bvii°	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
F7/A	V⁶₅	In the key	A Section
D7	III7	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
E♭7	IV7	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
A♭7	bVII7	Borrowed from B♭ minor	B Section
A	VII	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section, B Section
B♭	I	Home chord (tonic)	A Section, B Section
G	VI	Secondary dominant (V/ii)	A Section, B Section
E♭	IV	In the key	A Section, B Section
F	V	In the key	A Section, B Section
B	#I	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section, B Section
Bdim/D	#i°⁶	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section, B Section
D	III	Secondary dominant (V/vi)	B Section
E	#IV	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section, B Section
C	II	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section, B Section
E7/G♯	#IV⁶₅	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section, B Section
Edim	#iv°	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section, B Section
D7/A	III⁴₃	Secondary dominant (V/vi)	A Section
F♯	#V	Borrowed from B♭ minor	B Section
G♭7	bVI7	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
G7/F	VI⁴₂	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
Em7♭5	#ivø7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Outro
E♭m7	iv7	Borrowed from B♭ minor	Outro
D♭7	bIII7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Outro
Bmaj7	#Imaj7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Outro
B♭6	I6	Home chord (tonic)	Outro

Harmonic highlights

• Fm7 (v7) is borrowed from the parallel key, B♭ minor.
• A♭7 (bVII7) is borrowed from the parallel key, B♭ minor.
• F♯ (#V) is borrowed from the parallel key, B♭ minor.
• E♭m7 (iv7) is borrowed from the parallel key, B♭ minor.
• G7 acts as V/ii: it resolves to Cm7.
• C7 acts as V/V: it resolves to F7.
• G acts as V/ii: it resolves to Cm7.
• D acts as V/vi: it resolves to Gm7.
• D7/A acts as V/vi: it resolves to Gm7.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “You Keep Coming Back Like a Song - JE arr.” (credited “Irving Berlin; Jerry Engelbach, arr.”, style Ballad Even) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Performer/songwriter confirmed from Wikidata.
• Section names: from the chart's own markings: section names written on the chart (Intro, Verse, Chorus…) are kept, and rehearsal letters are shown as “A Section”, “B Section” and so on (the B of an AABA song is called the Bridge).
• Cross-check: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “You Keep Coming Back Like A Song-Rev JE” (credited “Berlin Irving”, style Medium Swing) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Performer/songwriter confirmed from Wikidata. A separately posted chart of the same song; its chords match this page's closely when both are read in the same key (similarity 65%).
• Chord charts are often written in a key that suits a particular singer or band, so this may not be the key of the original recording.
• The chart's D.S./D.C./coda jumps have been written out in playing order.
• About the song: Wikipedia.
• Verified: two community charts of this song, posted in different forum threads, agree on its harmony. They're still charts, not transcriptions checked against the recording.
• Rhythm and chord durations aren't shown; each step is one chord change.