Heal the World by Michael Jackson

Overview

Key: F♯ minor · Chords used: 30 · Sections: 31

Where these chords come from: an expert transcription of the original recording made for the Uspop2002 chord annotations (Music and Audio Research Lab, New York University). 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

Part 1 (0:00)

• Dmaj7 – A/C♯ (×2)
  bVImaj7 – bIII⁶
• Amaj7/G♯
  bIIImaj⁴₂

Part 2 (0:13)

• F♯m11 – A7/G – A – Dmaj7
  i11 – bIII⁴₂ – bIII – bVImaj7

Part 3 (0:24)

• Amaj7/C♯ – Bm7 – A – Aadd11/D – A
  bIIImaj⁶₅ – iv7 – bIII – bIIIadd11 (bass D) – bIII

Part 4 (0:36)

• Aadd11/D – A – D/A – C♯m/G♯
  bIIIadd11 (bass D) – bIII – bVI⁶₄ – v⁶₄

Part 5 (1:01)

• D/A – A – D/A – C♯m/G♯ – E7 – A – Bm7 – C♯m7
  bVI⁶₄ – bIII – bVI⁶₄ – v⁶₄ – bVII7 – bIII – iv7 – v7

Part 6 (1:13)

• Dadd9/E – A – Bm7 – C♯m7 (×2)
  bVIadd9 (bass E) – bIII – iv7 – v7

Part 7 (1:25)

• Dadd9/E – A – Bm7 – C♯m7 – Dadd9/E – Bm7 – C♯m7 – D
  bVIadd9 (bass E) – bIII – iv7 – v7 – bVIadd9 (bass E) – iv7 – v7 – bVI

Part 8 (1:37)

• C♯m7 – Bm7 – Dadd9/E – A – Bm7
  v7 – iv7 – bVIadd9 (bass E) – bIII – iv7

Part 9 (1:49)

• Dadd9/E – A – C♯m7/G♯ – F♯m – C♯m7 – D
  bVIadd9 (bass E) – bIII – v⁴₃ – i – v7 – bVI

Part 10 (2:00)

• C♯m7 – Bm7 – Dadd9/E – A – D/A – C♯m/G♯ – Dadd9/E – A
  v7 – iv7 – bVIadd9 (bass E) – bIII – bVI⁶₄ – v⁶₄ – bVIadd9 (bass E) – bIII

Part 11 (2:12)

• Bm7 – C♯m7 – Dadd9/E – A (×2)
  iv7 – v7 – bVIadd9 (bass E) – bIII

Part 12 (2:24)

• Bm7 – C♯m7 – Dadd9/E – A – Bm7 – C♯m7 – Dadd9/E – Bm7
  iv7 – v7 – bVIadd9 (bass E) – bIII – iv7 – v7 – bVIadd9 (bass E) – iv7

Part 13 (2:36)

• C♯m7 – D – C♯m7 – Bm7 – Dadd9/E – A
  v7 – bVI – v7 – iv7 – bVIadd9 (bass E) – bIII

Part 14 (2:48)

• Bm7 – Dadd9/E – A – C♯m7/G♯ – F♯m
  iv7 – bVIadd9 (bass E) – bIII – v⁴₃ – i

Part 15 (3:00)

• C♯m7 – D – C♯m7 – Bm7 – Dadd9/E – A – G
  v7 – bVI – v7 – iv7 – bVIadd9 (bass E) – bIII – bII

Part 16 (3:12)

• A – G – A – F♯m
  bIII – bII – bIII – i

Part 17 (3:24)

Same chords as Part 13 (2:36).

Part 18 (3:35)

Same chords as Part 11 (2:12).

Part 19 (3:47)

Same chords as Part 12 (2:24).

Part 20 (3:59)

Same chords as Part 13 (2:36).

Part 21 (4:11)

Same chords as Part 14 (2:48).

Part 22 (4:23)

• C♯m7 – D – C♯m7 – Bm7 – Dadd9/E – A – B
  v7 – bVI – v7 – iv7 – bVIadd9 (bass E) – bIII – IV

Part 23 (4:35)

• C♯m7 – Eadd9/F♯ – B – D♯m7/A♯ – G♯m
  v7 – bVIIadd9 (bass F♯) – IV – vi⁴₃ – ii

Part 24 (4:47)

• D♯m7 – E – D♯m7 – C♯m7 – Eadd9/F♯ – B – C♯
  vi7 – bVII – vi7 – v7 – bVIIadd9 (bass F♯) – IV – V

Part 25 (4:58)

• D♯m7 – F♯add9/G♯ – C♯ – E♯m7/B♯ – A♯m
  vi7 – Iadd9 (bass G♯) – V – vii⁴₃ – iii

Part 26 (5:10)

• E♯m7 – F♯ – E♯m7 – D♯m7 – F♯add9/G♯ – C♯ – E♯m7/B♯ – A♯m
  vii7 – I – vii7 – vi7 – Iadd9 (bass G♯) – V – vii⁴₃ – iii

Part 27 (5:22)

Same chords as Part 26 (5:10).

Part 28 (5:34)

• E♯m7 – F♯ – E♯m7 – D♯m7
  vii7 – I – vii7 – vi7
• F♯add9/G♯ – C♯ (×2)
  Iadd9 (bass G♯) – V

Part 29 (5:46)

• F♯add9/G♯ – C♯ (×4)
  Iadd9 (bass G♯) – V

Part 30 (5:58)

Same chords as Part 29 (5:46).

Part 31 (6:10)

• F♯add9/G♯ – C♯ (×2)
  Iadd9 (bass G♯) – V

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

• B (IV) is borrowed from the parallel key, F♯ major.
• D♯m7/A♯ (vi⁴₃) is borrowed from the parallel key, F♯ major.
• G♯m (ii) is borrowed from the parallel key, F♯ major.
• D♯m7 (vi7) is borrowed from the parallel key, F♯ major.
• F♯add9/G♯ (Iadd9 (bass G♯)) is borrowed from the parallel key, F♯ major.
• A♯m (iii) is borrowed from the parallel key, F♯ major.
• F♯ (I) is borrowed from the parallel key, F♯ major.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the Uspop2002 chord annotations (Music and Audio Research Lab, New York University). Chord annotation of the original recording (Dangerous), time-stamped by researchers; CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo.
• Section names: this annotation doesn't name verses or choruses, so they aren't guessed. Instead, code used the chord timings to find the bars and cut the song into 8-bar parts. Each part is labelled with the time it starts in the annotated recording (Dangerous), and a part with exactly the same chords as an earlier one says so.
• The key was estimated by code from the chords; this annotation doesn't state it.
• 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.