Is this just in G with some accidentals?

[BAG]

I was just playing around with this today and like the sound of the Eb they have in there. As far as i can work out that would be a bVI which I assume is out of key.
Then, in the bridge it goes from the V to the bVI then to a bVII before resolving back to the I.

So, is it simply in the key of G with those accidentals or something else?

 

[Rev J]

It's G with a few secondary dominants.

C/S,
Rev J

 

[Whousedtoplay]

It's G with a few secondary dominants.

C/S,
Rev J

With my morning coffee, I started looking for those (1) Dominant 7 chords and (2) for those "few secondary dominants", but...
Let's take a look at the harmonized G major scale.

G major scale:
G A B C D E F#
Harmonized chords in the G major scale: G Am Bm C D Em F#dim

The only chord from the song that is not(!) from the G major scale is Eb.

As always, let's start with the G minor scale.

As you can see, we have Eb triad with G minor.
To sum up.
I would call it a "borrowed chord" (mode mixture, modal interchange)
- a chord borrowed from the parallel key (minor or major scale with the same tonic). Borrowed chords are typically used as "color chords", providing harmonic variety through contrasting scale forms, which are major scales and the three forms of minor scales.

Borrowed chord - Wikipedia

 

[BAG]

With my morning coffee, I started looking for those (1) Dominant 7 chords and (2) for those "few secondary dominants", but...
Let's take a look at the harmonized G major scale.

G major scale:
G A B C D E F#
Harmonized chords in the G major scale: G Am Bm C D Em F#dim

The only chord from the song that is not(!) from the G major scale is Eb.

As always, let's start with the G minor scale.

View attachment 3110059

As you can see, we have Eb triad with G minor.
To sum up.
I would call it a "borrowed chord" (mode mixture, modal interchange)
- a chord borrowed from the parallel key (minor or major scale with the same tonic). Borrowed chords are typically used as "color chords", providing harmonic variety through contrasting scale forms, which are major scales and the three forms of minor scales.

Borrowed chord - Wikipedia

Don't forget the F in the bridge..... but looking at your answer it is also from the G minor. Thanks for chiming in.

 

[Whousedtoplay]

Don't forget the F in the bridge..... but looking at your answer it is also from the G minor. Thanks for chiming in.

That F to G / bVIi - I progression/cadence is so profoundly used especially in Rock music that there's a term created for it - a backdoor cadence.
Google it.

How to Master the "Backdoor" Jazz Chord Progression - Learn Jazz Standards

Back Door Progression - Jazz Theory Notes

 

[dreamadream99]

So, is it simply in the key of G with those accidentals or something else?

Pretty much. It is very clearly in the key of G. Everything points to it. It just diverts to a cool sounding Eb in the intro, and at the end of the Verse. Then it also throws in a quick F major passing chord in the bridge.

 

[bfields]

Modal interchange: Borrowed chord - Wikipedia

As usual with music theory, hard to say if it *explains* anything, but, hey, at least you've got a name for it.

(Whoops, @Whousedtoplay already covered that, better. Oh well! I swear, I do know how to read....)

 

[Rev J]

I was looking at the Eb to D. The V of D is A which is a V of V. Eb is a tritone sub for A. I really didn't look much beyond that I'm sorry.

C/S,
Rev J