The Good Life

Words & Music by Jack Rearson & Sacha Distel
Recorded by Tony Bennett, 1963 (#18)


 G   G+  G      G6         G+7           G6      F#m7   B7   F#m7    B7
Oh, the good life, full of fun, seems to be the ideal;

         Em       B+            Em7   
Yes, the good life   let's you hide 

         Em6        C#m7-5    F#7     C#m7-5    F#7
All the sadness you feel.

           Am7           F7                  G                 B7
You won't really fall in love, for you can't take the chance;

       Em    B+        Em7 Em6              Am7      D7/9    Am7 alt   D7
So be honest with yourself,    don't try to fake romance.


 G                 G+        G6     G+7           F#m7   B7   F#m7    B7
It's the good life   to be free and explore the unknown,

      Em            B+
Like the heartaches 

          Em7            Em6      C#m7-5    F#7    C#m7-5    F#7
when you learn you must face them alone.

        Am7              F7                G       Gdim     E7
Please remember, I still love you, and in case you didn't know,

           Am7               Dsus4     D7-9   G
Well, just wake up, kiss the good life hel - lo.

Why the last two lines of this, the "actual" lyric to the song, read as they do here is a bit of a mystery to me. In my recollection, and in the recollection of the folks with whom I've discussed the issue, Bennett never sang the song that way -- ever. His version was "Please remember, I still love you, and in case you didn't know, well just wake up, kiss the good life hello." He has ALWAYS sung this passage as "Please remember, I still love you, and in case you WONDER WHY, Well, just wake up, kiss the good life GOOD-BYE."

The lyric and guitar chord transcriptions on this site are the work of The Guitarguy and are intended for private study, research, or educational purposes only. Individual transcriptions are inspired by and and based upon the recorded versions cited, but are not necessarily exact replications of those recorded versions.