The Good Life by Dionne Warwick

Overview

Key: F major · Chords used: 36 · Sections: 5

Form: Intro → A Section → B Section → A Section → B 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

• Fmaj7 – E♭7 – F/C – Gm7♭5 – Gdim – C7
  Imaj7 – bVII7 – I⁶₄ – iiø7 – ii° – V7

A Section 1

• Fmaj7 – Em7 – A7 – Dm7 – Dm/C♯ – Dm/C – Bm7♭5 – E7 – B♭maj7 – E♭7 – F/C – Fmaj7 – A7/E – Dm9 – Dmmaj7 – Dm7 – Dm6 – Gm7 – B♭m – C
  Imaj7 – vii7 – III7 – vi7 – vi (bass C♯) – vi (bass C) – #ivø7 – VII7 – IVmaj7 – bVII7 – I⁶₄ – Imaj7 – III⁴₃ – vi9 – vimaj7 – vi7 – vi6 – ii7 – iv – V

B Section 1

• Fmaj7 – Em7 – A7 – Dm7 – Dm/C♯ – Dm/C – Bm7♭5 – E7 – B♭maj7 – E♭7 – F/C – E♭6/B♭ – Am7♭5 – E♭ – D7 – Gm7 – Am7 – B♭ – C7sus4 – F6 – Fm7♭5/A♭ – Gm7 – F♯maj7
  Imaj7 – vii7 – III7 – vi7 – vi (bass C♯) – vi (bass C) – #ivø7 – VII7 – IVmaj7 – bVII7 – I⁶₄ – bVII6 (bass B♭) – iiiø7 – bVII – VI7 – ii7 – iii7 – IV – V7sus4 – I6 – iø⁶₅ – ii7 – #Imaj7

A Section 2

Same chords as A Section 1.

B Section 2

• Fmaj7 – Em7 – A7 – Dm7 – Dm/C♯ – Dm/C – Bm7♭5 – E7 – B♭maj7 – E♭7 – F/C – E♭6/B♭ – Am7♭5 – E♭ – D7 – Gm7 – Am7 – B♭ – C7sus4 – F6 – Fm7♭5/A♭ – Gm7 – F♯maj7 – Bm7♭5 – Adim – E♭ – D7 – D13 – Gm7 – Am7 – B♭ – Gm/C – C – F – E♭6 – F♯maj7 – F
  Imaj7 – vii7 – III7 – vi7 – vi (bass C♯) – vi (bass C) – #ivø7 – VII7 – IVmaj7 – bVII7 – I⁶₄ – bVII6 (bass B♭) – iiiø7 – bVII – VI7 – ii7 – iii7 – IV – V7sus4 – I6 – iø⁶₅ – ii7 – #Imaj7 – #ivø7 – iii° – bVII – VI7 – VI13 – ii7 – iii7 – IV – ii (bass C) – V – I – bVII6 – #Imaj7 – I

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
Fmaj7	Imaj7	Home chord (tonic)	Intro, A Section, B Section
E♭7	bVII7	Borrowed from F minor	Intro, A Section, B Section
F/C	I⁶₄	Home chord (tonic)	Intro, A Section, B Section
Gm7♭5	iiø7	Borrowed from F minor	Intro
Gdim	ii°	Borrowed from F minor	Intro
C7	V7	In the key	Intro
Em7	vii7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section, B Section
A7	III7	Secondary dominant (V/vi)	A Section, B Section
Dm7	vi7	In the key	A Section, B Section
Dm/C♯	vi (bass C♯)	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section, B Section
Dm/C	vi (bass C)	In the key	A Section, B Section
Bm7♭5	#ivø7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section, B Section
E7	VII7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section, B Section
B♭maj7	IVmaj7	In the key	A Section, B Section
A7/E	III⁴₃	Secondary dominant (V/vi)	A Section
Dm9	vi9	In the key	A Section
Dmmaj7	vimaj7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
Dm6	vi6	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
Gm7	ii7	In the key	A Section, B Section
B♭m	iv	Borrowed from F minor	A Section
C	V	In the key	A Section, B Section
E♭6/B♭	bVII6 (bass B♭)	Borrowed from F minor	B Section
Am7♭5	iiiø7	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
E♭	bVII	Borrowed from F minor	B Section
D7	VI7	Secondary dominant (V/ii)	B Section
Am7	iii7	In the key	B Section
B♭	IV	In the key	B Section
C7sus4	V7sus4	In the key	B Section
F6	I6	Home chord (tonic)	B Section
Fm7♭5/A♭	iø⁶₅	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
F♯maj7	#Imaj7	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
Adim	iii°	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
D13	VI13	Secondary dominant (V/ii)	B Section
Gm/C	ii (bass C)	In the key	B Section
F	I	Home chord (tonic)	B Section
E♭6	bVII6	Borrowed from F minor	B Section

Harmonic highlights

• E♭7 (bVII7) is borrowed from the parallel key, F minor.
• Gm7♭5 (iiø7) is borrowed from the parallel key, F minor.
• Gdim (ii°) is borrowed from the parallel key, F minor.
• B♭m (iv) is borrowed from the parallel key, F minor.
• E♭6/B♭ (bVII6 (bass B♭)) is borrowed from the parallel key, F minor.
• E♭ (bVII) is borrowed from the parallel key, F minor.
• E♭6 (bVII6) is borrowed from the parallel key, F minor.
• A7 acts as V/vi: it resolves to Dm7.
• A7/E acts as V/vi: it resolves to Dm9.
• D7 acts as V/ii: it resolves to Gm7.
• D13 acts as V/ii: it resolves to Gm7.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Good Life (Gig), The” (credited “Distel Sacha”, style Ballad) 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).
• Cross-check: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Good Life, The” (credited “Sacha Distel (ft. Dionne Warwick)”, style Ballad) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Performer/songwriter confirmed from Wikidata. A separately posted chart of the same song; its chords match this page's closely when both are read in the same key (similarity 61%).
• 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.
• 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.