That's The Way It's Gonna Be

Words and Music by Phil Ochs
Sung by John Denver
on Beginnings (1988)


Em        C9             B7        Em
If you say all the good times are gone,
          C9               B7          Em
If you say this rain will keep rainin' on--
A           D            Em              
I'll walk along with my head held high;
Am           D             G              Em
I'll find a song and I'll sing it to the sky--
Am         D             G           Em
I may be wrong but I'll live 'til I die.
 C                        Am
That's the way it's gonna be.
         B
Wait and see.

                Em       C9      B7         Em
Even though you say hard times knock at my door,
                     C9     B7       Em
Though you say I'll never smile any more--
A           D            Em              
I just imagine that I'm ten feet tall,
Am           D             G              Em
Then if I try I can climb the highest wall,
Am         D             G           Em
It doesn't matter if I slip down and fall:
 C                        Am
That's the way it's gonna be.
Wait and see.
         B
    Just you wait and see.

Em        C9             B7        Em
Even though you say I've reached the end of the row,
          C9               B7          Em
Though you say my times are all running low--
A           D            Em              
It's been so long since I tried to frown,
Am           D             G              Em
That Old Man Trouble will never get me down.
Am         D             G           Em
It's all that easy when you know where you're bound.
 C                        Am
That's the way it's gonna be.
         B
Wait and see.

Em        C9             B7        Em
Even though you say all the good times are gone,
          C9               B7          Em
Though you say this rain will keep rainin' on--
A           D            Em              
I'll walk along with my head held high;
Am           D             G              Em
I'll find a song and I'll sing it to the sky--
Am         D             G           Em
Maybe I'm wrong but I'll live 'til I die.
 C                        Am
That's the way it's gonna be.
         B
Wait and see.
         B
    Just you wait and see.

this song ends on an Em chord