That's the Way of the World by Earth, Wind & Fire

Overview

Key: D♭ major · Chords used: 15 · Sections: 14

Form: Intro → A Section → B Section → C Section → Chorus → D Section → Solo → D Section → D Section → B Section → C Section → Chorus → D Section → Outro

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

• D♭maj7 – D♭11 – G♭6/D♭ – G♭m6/D♭ (×3)
  Imaj7 – I11 – IV6 (bass D♭) – iv6 (bass D♭)

A Section

• D♭maj7 – D♭11
  Imaj7 – I11
• G♭6/D♭ – G♭m6/D♭ (×2)
  IV6 (bass D♭) – iv6 (bass D♭)

B Section 1

• D♭maj7 – D♭11
  Imaj7 – I11
• G♭6/D♭ – G♭m6/D♭ (×2)
  IV6 (bass D♭) – iv6 (bass D♭)
• D♭maj7 – G7♭5
  Imaj7 – #IV7♭5

C Section 1

• G♭maj7 – Fm7 (×3)
  IVmaj7 – iii7
• B♭m7 – E♭9
  vi7 – II9

Chorus 1

• A♭7sus4
  V7sus4

D Section 1

• D♭maj7 – G7♭5 – G♭6 – B9 – B9/A – D♭maj7 – D♭11 – G7♭5 – G♭6 – Fm7 – B♭m7 – E♭m7 – A♭7sus4 – D♭maj7 – D♭11 – G♭6/D♭
  Imaj7 – #IV7♭5 – IV6 – #VI9 – #VI9 (bass A) – Imaj7 – I11 – #IV7♭5 – IV6 – iii7 – vi7 – ii7 – V7sus4 – Imaj7 – I11 – IV6 (bass D♭)

Solo

• G♭m6/D♭
  iv6 (bass D♭)

D Section 2

• D♭maj7 – G7♭5 – G♭6
  Imaj7 – #IV7♭5 – IV6
• B9 – B9/A – D♭maj7/A♭ – D♭11 – G7♭5 – G♭maj7 (×2)
  #VI9 – #VI9 (bass A) – Imaj⁴₃ – I11 – #IV7♭5 – IVmaj7
• B9 – B9/A
  #VI9 – #VI9 (bass A)

D Section 3

• D♭maj7 – G7♭5 – G♭6
  Imaj7 – #IV7♭5 – IV6
• B9 – B9/A – D♭maj7/A♭ – D♭11 – G7♭5 – G♭maj7 (×2)
  #VI9 – #VI9 (bass A) – Imaj⁴₃ – I11 – #IV7♭5 – IVmaj7
• Fm7 – B♭m7
  iii7 – vi7

B Section 2

Same chords as B Section 1.

C Section 2

Same chords as C Section 1.

Chorus 2

Same chords as Chorus 1.

D Section 4

• D♭maj7 – G7♭5 – G♭6 – B9 – B9/A – D♭maj7 – D♭11 – G7♭5 – G♭6 – Fm7 – B♭m7 – E♭m7 – A♭7sus4
  Imaj7 – #IV7♭5 – IV6 – #VI9 – #VI9 (bass A) – Imaj7 – I11 – #IV7♭5 – IV6 – iii7 – vi7 – ii7 – V7sus4

Outro

• D♭maj7 – G7♭5 – G♭6 – B9 – B9/A (×2)
  Imaj7 – #IV7♭5 – IV6 – #VI9 – #VI9 (bass A)

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
D♭maj7	Imaj7	Home chord (tonic)	Intro, A Section, B Section, D Section, Outro
D♭11	I11	Secondary dominant (V/IV)	Intro, A Section, B Section, D Section
G♭6/D♭	IV6 (bass D♭)	In the key	Intro, A Section, B Section, D Section
G♭m6/D♭	iv6 (bass D♭)	Borrowed from D♭ minor	Intro, A Section, B Section, Solo
G7♭5	#IV7♭5	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section, D Section, Outro
G♭maj7	IVmaj7	In the key	C Section, D Section
Fm7	iii7	In the key	C Section, D Section
B♭m7	vi7	In the key	C Section, D Section
E♭9	II9	Outside the key (chromatic)	C Section
A♭7sus4	V7sus4	In the key	Chorus, D Section
G♭6	IV6	In the key	D Section, Outro
B9	#VI9	Borrowed from D♭ minor	D Section, Outro
B9/A	#VI9 (bass A)	Borrowed from D♭ minor	D Section, Outro
E♭m7	ii7	In the key	D Section
D♭maj7/A♭	Imaj⁴₃	Home chord (tonic)	D Section

Harmonic highlights

• G♭m6/D♭ (iv6 (bass D♭)) is borrowed from the parallel key, D♭ minor.
• B9 (#VI9) is borrowed from the parallel key, D♭ minor.
• B9/A (#VI9 (bass A)) is borrowed from the parallel key, D♭ minor.
• D♭11 acts as V/IV: it resolves to G♭6/D♭.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “That's The Way Of The World” (credited “Earth, Wind and Fire (White-Stepney-White)”, style Funk) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Performer confirmed from the Billboard year-end charts.
• 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).
• Cross-check: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “That's The Way Of The World” (credited “Earth, Wind and Fire (White-Stepney-White)”, style Funk) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Performer confirmed from the Billboard year-end charts. A separately posted chart of the same song; its chords match this page's closely when both are read in the same key (similarity 91%).
• 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.
• Verified: two community charts of this song, posted in different forum threads, agree on its harmony. They're still charts, not transcriptions checked against the recording.
• Rhythm and chord durations aren't shown; each step is one chord change.