Back in the High Life Again by Steve Winwood

Overview

Key: D major · Chords used: 16 · Sections: 12

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

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.

Section by section

Intro

• D – Dsus4 (×2)
  I – Isus4
• D – G/D – D – Asus4 (×2)
  I – IV⁶₄ – I – Vsus4

Verse 1

• D – G/D – D – Asus4 (×4)
  I – IV⁶₄ – I – Vsus4

Chorus 1

• D – A7/E – D/F♯ – G – D/A
  I – V⁴₃ – I⁶ – IV – I⁶₄
• A7sus4 – D (×2)
  V7sus4 – I
• A7/E – D/F – G – D/A – A7sus4
  V⁴₃ – I (bass F) – IV – I⁶₄ – V7sus4

Interlude 1

• D – Dsus4 (×2)
  I – Isus4
• D – G/D – D – Asus4
  I – IV⁶₄ – I – Vsus4

Verse 2

Same chords as Verse 1.

Chorus 2

• D – A7/E – D/F♯ – G – D/A
  I – V⁴₃ – I⁶ – IV – I⁶₄
• A7sus4 – D (×2)
  V7sus4 – I
• A7/E – D/F♯ – G – D/A – A7sus4 – D
  V⁴₃ – I⁶ – IV – I⁶₄ – V7sus4 – I

Bridge 1

• G – D – A – D – G – D – D/F♯ – G – D/A – A7sus4
  IV – I – V – I – IV – I – I⁶ – IV – I⁶₄ – V7sus4

Interlude 2

• D – D/F♯ – G – F/A – B♭ – F – F/A – B♭ – E♭/B♭ – C (×2)
  I – I⁶ – IV – bIII⁶ – bVI – bIII – bIII⁶ – bVI – bII⁶₄ – bVII

Solo

• D – G/D – D – Asus4 (×4)
  I – IV⁶₄ – I – Vsus4

Chorus 3

Same chords as Chorus 2.

Bridge 2

Same chords as Bridge 1.

Outro

• D – Dsus4 (×2)
  I – Isus4
• D – G/D (×8)
  I – IV⁶₄

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

• F/A (bIII⁶) is borrowed from the parallel key, D minor.
• B♭ (bVI) is borrowed from the parallel key, D minor.
• F (bIII) is borrowed from the parallel key, D minor.
• C (bVII) is borrowed from the parallel key, D minor.
• D/F acts as V/IV: it resolves to G.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). Expert transcription by trained musicians (song 0207, 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.