Chords for Stevie Wonder - Songs In The Key Of Life - Ghetto Village Land
Tempo:
117.4 bpm
Chords used:
Ab
Eb
Gb
Bbm
Db
Tuning:Standard Tuning (EADGBE)Capo:+0fret
Start Jamming...
[Gm] [Eb] Now we had between John, Gary and myself, we came up with a simulated [Gm]
string sound to
give us the feeling of an orchestra doing a kind of a
[F] [Bb]
[F]
[Bb] [Eb] And he played this classical arrangement through the phone which had just him humming some
of the lyrical dimensions to it.
And I said, what is that?
He said, it's called Village Ghettoland.
And I asked him to explain the concept that he had in mind.
He began to talk about this whole idea of people who were at the bottom and the sort
of dichotomy of people at the top in another world while reality was occurring all around [Bbm] them.
Would you [Eb] like to [Ab] go with me [Bbm] down [Eb] my dead end [Ab] street?
[Gb]
Would you like to come with me [Ab] to Village Ghettoland?
[Db] [N] The night I finished the last draft, I went to work on the all night show.
At 5.20, he called me in the studio and said, I'm ready for the song.
We had not talked in that three-month period.
So I said, I don't have it with me, but it's at home.
When I get home, I'll call you in the studio.
It was in Los Angeles.
I called him.
I read him the lyrics.
He said, man, that's fantastic.
That's exactly what I wanted.
That's it.
Give it to my secretary.
So I gave her the lyrics.
Now I'm really excited now.
I hang up the phone.
I'm saying, yes.
The phone rings 15 minutes later and he says, oh, I forgot to tell you.
I added another verse to the arrangement.
So write the other verse and call me back in 10 minutes.
I'm recording it now.
And it took me three months to get the drafts right.
He wants this verse in 10 minutes.
I said, OK.
So I got up and I wrote something, you know, thinking that maybe this is in the flavor
of what we're talking about.
And he called back.
He called back in 10 minutes.
He said, you got it?
I said, yeah, I read it.
He says, that's it.
And pow, there it was.
There was a great lyric written by Gary [G] Bird because I knew what I wanted the song to say,
to kind of not only make mockery of a condition, of a situation, unfortunately, that still
exists in certain parts of the world, but pretty much so throughout the world.
So as much as the world has gotten smaller because of mass communication, we still have
people starving, living in very, very bad conditions.
We still have people who do have enough to give, not giving anything at all.
I wonder what happened to them.
But anyway, Gary had written a great lyric for the song, Gary Bird.
And it really worked for that emotion, that feeling that I wanted to get [Db] across.
[Eb] Families buying dog [Cm] food now.
That was a very distressing line to a lot of [Gb] people, families eating dog food.
But that's a reality.
I think it's a reality [Gb] today in ghettos.
Some things haven't changed in [Ab] 20 years.
[Gb] But again, I think just the dryness and the intimacy of the piece lends itself [G] to what
Steve is [Ab] trying to say.
Be [Bbm] glad for [Eb] what we [Ab]
have.
[Gb] Tell me, would you be happy?
[Ab]
Village [Db] ghetto man.
[Bbm] Families buying [Eb] dog food now.
Starvation [Ab] roams the street.
Babies die before they're [Bbm] born, infected by the grief.
[Eb] Some people say that we should [Ab] be glad for what we have.
Tell me, [Gb] would you be happy in 1996, 7, 8, 9, 2000?
[Ab] Village ghetto [Db] man.
[Ab] [Db]
string sound to
give us the feeling of an orchestra doing a kind of a
[F] [Bb]
[F]
[Bb] [Eb] And he played this classical arrangement through the phone which had just him humming some
of the lyrical dimensions to it.
And I said, what is that?
He said, it's called Village Ghettoland.
And I asked him to explain the concept that he had in mind.
He began to talk about this whole idea of people who were at the bottom and the sort
of dichotomy of people at the top in another world while reality was occurring all around [Bbm] them.
Would you [Eb] like to [Ab] go with me [Bbm] down [Eb] my dead end [Ab] street?
[Gb]
Would you like to come with me [Ab] to Village Ghettoland?
[Db] [N] The night I finished the last draft, I went to work on the all night show.
At 5.20, he called me in the studio and said, I'm ready for the song.
We had not talked in that three-month period.
So I said, I don't have it with me, but it's at home.
When I get home, I'll call you in the studio.
It was in Los Angeles.
I called him.
I read him the lyrics.
He said, man, that's fantastic.
That's exactly what I wanted.
That's it.
Give it to my secretary.
So I gave her the lyrics.
Now I'm really excited now.
I hang up the phone.
I'm saying, yes.
The phone rings 15 minutes later and he says, oh, I forgot to tell you.
I added another verse to the arrangement.
So write the other verse and call me back in 10 minutes.
I'm recording it now.
And it took me three months to get the drafts right.
He wants this verse in 10 minutes.
I said, OK.
So I got up and I wrote something, you know, thinking that maybe this is in the flavor
of what we're talking about.
And he called back.
He called back in 10 minutes.
He said, you got it?
I said, yeah, I read it.
He says, that's it.
And pow, there it was.
There was a great lyric written by Gary [G] Bird because I knew what I wanted the song to say,
to kind of not only make mockery of a condition, of a situation, unfortunately, that still
exists in certain parts of the world, but pretty much so throughout the world.
So as much as the world has gotten smaller because of mass communication, we still have
people starving, living in very, very bad conditions.
We still have people who do have enough to give, not giving anything at all.
I wonder what happened to them.
But anyway, Gary had written a great lyric for the song, Gary Bird.
And it really worked for that emotion, that feeling that I wanted to get [Db] across.
[Eb] Families buying dog [Cm] food now.
That was a very distressing line to a lot of [Gb] people, families eating dog food.
But that's a reality.
I think it's a reality [Gb] today in ghettos.
Some things haven't changed in [Ab] 20 years.
[Gb] But again, I think just the dryness and the intimacy of the piece lends itself [G] to what
Steve is [Ab] trying to say.
Be [Bbm] glad for [Eb] what we [Ab]
have.
[Gb] Tell me, would you be happy?
[Ab]
Village [Db] ghetto man.
[Bbm] Families buying [Eb] dog food now.
Starvation [Ab] roams the street.
Babies die before they're [Bbm] born, infected by the grief.
[Eb] Some people say that we should [Ab] be glad for what we have.
Tell me, [Gb] would you be happy in 1996, 7, 8, 9, 2000?
[Ab] Village ghetto [Db] man.
[Ab] [Db]
Key:
Ab
Eb
Gb
Bbm
Db
Ab
Eb
Gb
_ _ _ _ [Gm] [Eb] Now we had _ between John, _ Gary and myself, we came up with a _ _ _ _ _ _ _ simulated [Gm] _ _ _ _
string sound to
give us the feeling of an _ orchestra doing a kind of a_
[F] _ _ [Bb] _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ [F] _
_ _ [Bb] _ _ _ _ [Eb] And he played this classical arrangement through the phone which had just him humming some
of the lyrical dimensions to it.
And I said, what is that?
He said, it's called Village Ghettoland.
And I asked him to explain the concept that he had in mind.
He began to talk about this whole idea of people who were at the bottom _ and the sort
of dichotomy of people at the top in another world while reality was occurring all around [Bbm] them.
Would you [Eb] like to [Ab] go with me [Bbm] down [Eb] my dead end [Ab] street?
_ _ _ [Gb]
Would you like to come with me [Ab] to Village _ Ghettoland? _
_ _ [Db] _ [N] The night I finished the last draft, I went to work on the all night show.
At 5.20, he called me in the studio and said, I'm ready for the song.
We had not talked in that three-month period.
So I said, I don't have it with me, but it's at home.
When I get home, I'll call you in the studio.
It was in Los Angeles.
I called him.
I read him the lyrics.
He said, man, that's fantastic.
That's exactly what I wanted.
That's it.
Give it to my secretary.
So I gave her the lyrics.
Now I'm really excited now.
I hang up the phone.
I'm saying, yes.
The phone rings 15 minutes later and he says, oh, I forgot to tell you.
I added another verse to the arrangement.
So write the other verse and call me back in 10 minutes.
I'm recording it now.
_ _ And it took me three months to get the drafts right.
He wants this verse in 10 minutes.
I said, OK.
So I got up and I wrote something, you know, thinking that maybe this is in the flavor
of what we're talking about.
And he called back.
He called back in 10 minutes.
He said, you got it?
I said, yeah, I read it.
He says, that's it.
And pow, there it was.
There was a great lyric written by _ Gary [G] Bird because I knew what I wanted the song to say,
to kind of not only make mockery of a condition, of a situation, unfortunately, that still
exists _ in certain parts of _ _ the world, but pretty much so throughout the world.
So as much as the world has gotten smaller because of mass communication, we still have
people starving, _ living in very, very bad conditions.
We still have people who do have enough to give, not giving anything at all.
I wonder what happened to them.
But anyway, _ _ _ Gary had written a great lyric for the song, Gary Bird.
And _ it really worked for that emotion, that feeling that I wanted to get [Db] across. _
[Eb] Families buying dog [Cm] food now.
That was a very distressing line to a lot of [Gb] people, families eating dog food.
But that's a reality.
I think it's a reality [Gb] today in ghettos.
_ Some things haven't changed in [Ab] 20 years. _
_ [Gb] But again, I think just the dryness and the intimacy of the piece lends itself [G] to what
Steve is [Ab] trying to say.
Be _ _ [Bbm] glad for [Eb] what we [Ab] _
have.
_ _ [Gb] Tell me, would you be happy?
_ _ [Ab] _
Village [Db] ghetto man. _ _ _
_ [Bbm] Families buying [Eb] dog food now.
Starvation [Ab] roams the street.
Babies die before they're [Bbm] born, infected by the grief.
[Eb] Some people say that we should [Ab] be glad for what we have.
Tell me, [Gb] would you be happy in 1996, 7, 8, 9, 2000?
[Ab] _ Village ghetto [Db] man.
_ [Ab] _ _ [Db] _ _ _ _
string sound to
give us the feeling of an _ orchestra doing a kind of a_
[F] _ _ [Bb] _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ [F] _
_ _ [Bb] _ _ _ _ [Eb] And he played this classical arrangement through the phone which had just him humming some
of the lyrical dimensions to it.
And I said, what is that?
He said, it's called Village Ghettoland.
And I asked him to explain the concept that he had in mind.
He began to talk about this whole idea of people who were at the bottom _ and the sort
of dichotomy of people at the top in another world while reality was occurring all around [Bbm] them.
Would you [Eb] like to [Ab] go with me [Bbm] down [Eb] my dead end [Ab] street?
_ _ _ [Gb]
Would you like to come with me [Ab] to Village _ Ghettoland? _
_ _ [Db] _ [N] The night I finished the last draft, I went to work on the all night show.
At 5.20, he called me in the studio and said, I'm ready for the song.
We had not talked in that three-month period.
So I said, I don't have it with me, but it's at home.
When I get home, I'll call you in the studio.
It was in Los Angeles.
I called him.
I read him the lyrics.
He said, man, that's fantastic.
That's exactly what I wanted.
That's it.
Give it to my secretary.
So I gave her the lyrics.
Now I'm really excited now.
I hang up the phone.
I'm saying, yes.
The phone rings 15 minutes later and he says, oh, I forgot to tell you.
I added another verse to the arrangement.
So write the other verse and call me back in 10 minutes.
I'm recording it now.
_ _ And it took me three months to get the drafts right.
He wants this verse in 10 minutes.
I said, OK.
So I got up and I wrote something, you know, thinking that maybe this is in the flavor
of what we're talking about.
And he called back.
He called back in 10 minutes.
He said, you got it?
I said, yeah, I read it.
He says, that's it.
And pow, there it was.
There was a great lyric written by _ Gary [G] Bird because I knew what I wanted the song to say,
to kind of not only make mockery of a condition, of a situation, unfortunately, that still
exists _ in certain parts of _ _ the world, but pretty much so throughout the world.
So as much as the world has gotten smaller because of mass communication, we still have
people starving, _ living in very, very bad conditions.
We still have people who do have enough to give, not giving anything at all.
I wonder what happened to them.
But anyway, _ _ _ Gary had written a great lyric for the song, Gary Bird.
And _ it really worked for that emotion, that feeling that I wanted to get [Db] across. _
[Eb] Families buying dog [Cm] food now.
That was a very distressing line to a lot of [Gb] people, families eating dog food.
But that's a reality.
I think it's a reality [Gb] today in ghettos.
_ Some things haven't changed in [Ab] 20 years. _
_ [Gb] But again, I think just the dryness and the intimacy of the piece lends itself [G] to what
Steve is [Ab] trying to say.
Be _ _ [Bbm] glad for [Eb] what we [Ab] _
have.
_ _ [Gb] Tell me, would you be happy?
_ _ [Ab] _
Village [Db] ghetto man. _ _ _
_ [Bbm] Families buying [Eb] dog food now.
Starvation [Ab] roams the street.
Babies die before they're [Bbm] born, infected by the grief.
[Eb] Some people say that we should [Ab] be glad for what we have.
Tell me, [Gb] would you be happy in 1996, 7, 8, 9, 2000?
[Ab] _ Village ghetto [Db] man.
_ [Ab] _ _ [Db] _ _ _ _
Facts about this song