Wonderful World, Beautiful People by Jimmy Cliff

Overview

Key: D major · Chords used: 5 · Sections: 12

Form: Intro → Chorus → Transition → Verse → Pre-Chorus → Chorus → Transition → Verse → Pre-Chorus → Chorus → Transition → 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 – G (×4)
  I – IV

Chorus 1

• D – G (×4)
  I – IV
• A
  V

Transition 1

• D – C – G – D – C – A
  I – bVII – IV – I – bVII – V

Verse 1

• D – F♯m – G (×2)
  I – iii – IV
• A – D – F♯m – G – A
  V – I – iii – IV – V

Pre-Chorus 1

• D – G (×3)
  I – IV
• A
  V

Chorus 2

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Transition 2

Same chords as Transition 1.

Verse 2

Same chords as Verse 1.

Pre-Chorus 2

Same chords as Pre-Chorus 1.

Chorus 3

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Transition 3

Same chords as Transition 1.

Outro

• D – G (×12)
  I – IV

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

• C (bVII) is borrowed from the parallel key, D minor.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). Expert transcription by trained musicians (song 0203, 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.