Zanzibar by Billy Joel

Overview

Key: C major · Chords used: 47 · Sections: 14

Form: Intro → A Section → B Section → C Section → A Section → B Section → C Section → D Section → A Section → B Section → C Section → Interlude → A Section → A Section

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

Intro

• Gaug – B7 – Eaug – Am9 (×2)
  V+ – VII7 – III+ – vi9

A Section 1

• Am9 – F9 – Am9 – B♭maj7 – C – F – C – Am7 – Bm7♭5 – Eaug7 – Eaug7/E
  vi9 – IV9 – vi9 – bVIImaj7 – I – IV – I – vi7 – viiø7 – III+7 – III+7

B Section 1

• Am9 – F9 – Am9 – B♭maj7 – C – F – E7 – Am – Bm7♭5 – G7
  vi9 – IV9 – vi9 – bVIImaj7 – I – IV – III7 – vi – viiø7 – V7

C Section 1

• C – Gaug – Gaug/G – Gaug/B – Cm7 – Fm9 – Fm9/F – Fm9/A♭ – B♭ – E♭maj9 – E♭maj9/E♭ – E♭maj9/G – A♭maj7 – Gm7 – Fm7 – Gm7 – A♭maj7 – A♭7♭5 – D7 – Gaug – B7 – Eaug – Am9 – E7♯9 – E7♭9
  I – V+ – V+ – V+⁶ – i7 – iv9 – iv9 – iv9 (bass A♭) – bVII – bIIImaj9 – bIIImaj9 – bIIImaj9 (bass G) – bVImaj7 – v7 – iv7 – v7 – bVImaj7 – bVI7♭5 – II7 – V+ – VII7 – III+ – vi9 – III7#9 – III7b9

A Section 2

Same chords as A Section 1.

B Section 2

Same chords as B Section 1.

C Section 2

• C – Gaug – Gaug/G – Gaug/B – Cm7 – Fm9 – Fm9/F – Fm9/A♭ – B♭ – E♭maj9 – E♭maj9/E♭ – E♭maj9/G – A♭maj7 – Gm7 – Fm7 – Gm7 – A♭maj7 – A♭7♭5 – D7 – Gaug
  I – V+ – V+ – V+⁶ – i7 – iv9 – iv9 – iv9 (bass A♭) – bVII – bIIImaj9 – bIIImaj9 – bIIImaj9 (bass G) – bVImaj7 – v7 – iv7 – v7 – bVImaj7 – bVI7♭5 – II7 – V+

D Section

• C69 – A69 – G♭69 – E♭69 – D69 – B69 – A♭69 – Em69 – B/D♯ – D6 – A/C♯ – C6 – B7♭9
  I69 – VI69 – bV69 – bIII69 – II69 – VII69 – bVI69 – iii69 – VII⁶ – II6 – VI⁶ – I6 – VII7b9
• E7♭9 – Am9 (×2)
  III7b9 – vi9

A Section 3

• Am9 – F9 – Am9 – B♭maj7 – Cmaj7 – F – Cmaj7 – E7 – Am7 – Bm7♭5 – E7 – E7/E
  vi9 – IV9 – vi9 – bVIImaj7 – Imaj7 – IV – Imaj7 – III7 – vi7 – viiø7 – III7 – III7

B Section 3

Same chords as B Section 1.

C Section 3

• C – Gaug – Gaug/G – Gaug/B – Cm7 – Fm9 – Fm9/F – Fm9/A♭ – B♭ – E♭maj9 – E♭maj9/E♭ – E♭maj9/G – A♭maj7 – Gm7 – Fm7 – Gm7 – A♭maj7 – A♭7♭5 – D7
  I – V+ – V+ – V+⁶ – i7 – iv9 – iv9 – iv9 (bass A♭) – bVII – bIIImaj9 – bIIImaj9 – bIIImaj9 (bass G) – bVImaj7 – v7 – iv7 – v7 – bVImaj7 – bVI7♭5 – II7

Interlude

• Gaug – Am9 (×2)
  V+ – vi9

A Section 4

• Am9 – F9 – Am9 – B♭maj7
  vi9 – IV9 – vi9 – bVIImaj7

A Section 5

Same chords as A Section 4.

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

• Gaug (V+) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.
• Gaug/G (V+) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.
• Gaug/B (V+⁶) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.
• Cm7 (i7) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.
• Fm9 (iv9) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.
• Fm9/F (iv9) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.
• Fm9/A♭ (iv9 (bass A♭)) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.
• B♭ (bVII) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.
• E♭maj9 (bIIImaj9) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.
• E♭maj9/E♭ (bIIImaj9) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.
• E♭maj9/G (bIIImaj9 (bass G)) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.
• A♭maj7 (bVImaj7) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.
• Gm7 (v7) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.
• Fm7 (iv7) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.
• E♭69 (bIII69) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.
• A♭69 (bVI69) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.
• E7 acts as V/vi: it resolves to Am.
• E7♭9 acts as V/vi: it resolves to Am9.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Zanzibar (full)” (credited “Joel Billy”, style Samba) 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).
• 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.
• Not verified: only one chart of this song is available, so it hasn't been cross-checked.
• Rhythm and chord durations aren't shown; each step is one chord change.