The Lady In My Life by Michael Jackson

Overview

Key: A minor · Chords used: 14 · Sections: 9

Form: Intro → A Section → A Section → B Section → C Section → D Section → C Section → Vamp → Vamp

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

• Amaj7 – Dm7 – Em7 (×2)
  Imaj7 – iv7 – v7
• Am7 – Bm7/A (×2)
  i7 – ii⁴₂

A Section 1

• Am7 – Bm7/A – Am7 – Em7 – Dm7 – G/D – Em7 – Dm7 – G
  i7 – ii⁴₂ – i7 – v7 – iv7 – bVII⁶₄ – v7 – iv7 – bVII

A Section 2

• Am7 – Bm7/A – Am7 – Em7
  i7 – ii⁴₂ – i7 – v7
• Dm7 – G/D (×2)
  iv7 – bVII⁶₄

B Section

• G – Fmaj7 – G – D/E
  bVII – bVImaj7 – bVII – IV (bass E)

C Section 1

• Amaj7 – Dm7 – G7sus4 – Cmaj7 – Fmaj7 – Bm7 – D/E – Amaj7 – Dm – Amaj7 – Dm7 – G7sus4 – Cmaj7 – Fmaj7 – Bm7 – D/E – Amaj7 – Dm7 – Em7
  Imaj7 – iv7 – bVII7sus4 – bIIImaj7 – bVImaj7 – ii7 – IV (bass E) – Imaj7 – iv – Imaj7 – iv7 – bVII7sus4 – bIIImaj7 – bVImaj7 – ii7 – IV (bass E) – Imaj7 – iv7 – v7

D Section

• Dm7 – Em (×2)
  iv7 – v
• Am7 – G
  i7 – bVII
• Dm7 – Em (×2)
  iv7 – v
• Am7
  i7

C Section 2

• Amaj7 – Dm7 – G7sus4 – Cmaj7 – Fmaj7 – Bm7 – D/E – Amaj7 – Dm – Amaj7 – Dm7 – G7sus4 – Cmaj7 – Fmaj7 – Bm7 – D/E
  Imaj7 – iv7 – bVII7sus4 – bIIImaj7 – bVImaj7 – ii7 – IV (bass E) – Imaj7 – iv – Imaj7 – iv7 – bVII7sus4 – bIIImaj7 – bVImaj7 – ii7 – IV (bass E)

Vamp 1

• Amaj7 – Dm7 – Em7
  Imaj7 – iv7 – v7

Vamp 2

Same chords as Vamp 1.

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
Amaj7	Imaj7	Borrowed from A major	Intro, C Section, Vamp
Dm7	iv7	In the key	Intro, A Section, C Section, D Section, Vamp
Em7	v7	In the key	Intro, A Section, C Section, Vamp
Am7	i7	Home chord (tonic)	Intro, A Section, D Section
Bm7/A	ii⁴₂	Borrowed from A major	Intro, A Section
G/D	bVII⁶₄	In the key	A Section
G	bVII	In the key	A Section, B Section, D Section
Fmaj7	bVImaj7	In the key	B Section, C Section
D/E	IV (bass E)	Borrowed from A major	B Section, C Section
G7sus4	bVII7sus4	In the key	C Section
Cmaj7	bIIImaj7	In the key	C Section
Bm7	ii7	Borrowed from A major	C Section
Dm	iv	In the key	C Section
Em	v	In the key	D Section

Harmonic highlights

• Amaj7 (Imaj7) is borrowed from the parallel key, A major.
• Bm7/A (ii⁴₂) is borrowed from the parallel key, A major.
• D/E (IV (bass E)) is borrowed from the parallel key, A major.
• Bm7 (ii7) is borrowed from the parallel key, A major.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Lady In My Life, The” (credited “Michael Jackson (Rod Temperton)”, 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 “09 - The Lady in My Life” (credited “Temperton Rod”, 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 74%).
• 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.