You're My Best Friend by Queen

Overview

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

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

Where these chords come from: an expert transcription of the original recording made for the Isophonics reference annotations (Centre for Digital Music, Queen Mary University of London). 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

• F/C – C
  IV⁶₄ – I

Verse 1

• Dm7/C – C – F/C
  ii⁴₂ – I – IV⁶₄
• C – Dm7/C (×3)
  I – ii⁴₂

Chorus 1

• C – G – Am – D – F – G (×2)
  I – V – vi – II – IV – V
• E – Am – G – F – Fm – C
  III – vi – V – IV – iv – I

Verse 2

• Dm7/C – C – E/G♯ – Am – C7/B♭ – F – Fm6 – G – E/G♯ – Am – D – G6 – G – C
  ii⁴₂ – I – III⁶ – vi – I⁴₂ – IV – iv6 – V – III⁶ – vi – II – V6 – V – I

Verse 3

Same chords as Verse 1.

Chorus 2

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Solo

• Dm7/C – C – E/G♯ – Am – C7/B♭ – F – Fm6 – G – E/G♯ – Am – D – G
  ii⁴₂ – I – III⁶ – vi – I⁴₂ – IV – iv6 – V – III⁶ – vi – II – V
• C – Fm6 (×2)
  I – iv6
• C
  I

Outro

• Dm7/C – C (×2)
  ii⁴₂ – I
• G/B – C (×3)
  V⁶ – I
• G/C – C/E
  V (bass C) – I⁶

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

• Fm (iv) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.
• Fm6 (iv6) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.
• D acts as V/V: it resolves to G6.
• E acts as V/vi: it resolves to Am.
• E/G♯ acts as V/vi: it resolves to Am.
• C7/B♭ acts as V/IV: it resolves to F.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the Isophonics reference annotations (Centre for Digital Music, Queen Mary University of London). Expert chord and structure annotation of the original recording (CC BY 4.0 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.