Taylor Swift - It's Tme To Go - Chord

Key C major – A minor Chords C, G, F, Cadd9, Am, Dm Easy key G (capo 5)

Add to Repertoire

No ratings yet

or your user informations

Capo 0

C                      Cadd9                     F
  When the dinner gets cold and the chatter gets old
                G
You ask for the tab
C                Cadd9                    F
 Oh that moment again he's insisting that friends
                       G
Look at each other like that
C                    Cadd9               F
 When the words of a sister come back in whispers
                   G
That prove she was not
C                 Cadd9                        F 
 In fact what she seemed, not a twin from your dreams
                      G
She's a crook who was caught

     Cadd9        C
That old familiar body ache
     F                                            C
The snaps from the same little breaks in your soul

Am        F  G                      C
  You know     when it's time to go
  
Am  F  G

C                     Am
 Twenty years at your job
                    F      
Then the son of the boss gets 
                  G
the spot that was yours
C                          Am
 Or trying to stay for the kids
                       F      
When keeping it how it is will 
                       G
only break their hearts worse

     C           G
That old familiar body ache
     F                         F                  C
The snaps from the same little breaks in your soul

G          C  F
  You know     when it's time to go

G                 C
 Sometimes giving up is the strong thing
F             C
 Sometimes to run is the brave thing
G                  C 
 Sometimes walking out is the one thing
F         C
 That will find you the right thing

C        Am                     F 
 Fifteen years, fifteen million tears
                      G
Begging 'til my knees bled
C             Am                         F
 I gave it my all, he gave me nothing at all
                    G
Then wondered why I left
C                   Am                      F
 Now he sits on his throne in his palace of bones
               G
Praying to his greed
C             Am                 F
  He's got my past frozen behind glass
             G
But I've got me

     Am           G
That old familiar body ache
     C                         F                  C
The snaps from the same little breaks in your soul

G          F                      G                
  You know   when it's time to go

G                 C
 Sometimes giving up is the strong thing
F             C
 Sometimes to run is the brave thing
G                  C 
 Sometimes walking out is the one thing
F         C
 That will find you the right thing
 

Dm  Am  C           G                    Dm  Cadd9  C  G
          That will find you the right thing
            Dm  Cadd9  
And you know             
          C  G
in your soul
             Dm  Cadd9  
And you know             
          C  G
in your soul
                  G  C  F  C
When it's time go
     G            
You know, you know, 
     C             F  C
you know, you know
                     G  C  F  C
When it's time to go
               C
So then you go            
            F C
then you go
           G  Cadd9  F  C
You just go

G  Cadd9  F  C  Cadd9  G  F  C

End of song Play again?

Taylor Swift - It's Tme To Go Tabs

NotesX

Harmony analysis

Taylor Swift – It's Tme To Go: key and chord analysis

The song opens on C and ends on C. Its chords belong to both C major and Am, so every chord below is read both ways.

Major view

C major

Brightness rank 2/7 (bright)

Characteristic notes

7 = B (leading tone, pulls home)
4 = F (the note that leans on the 3rd)

Minor view

A minor

Brightness rank 5/7 (leaning dark)

Characteristic notes

b6 = F (the minor's melancholy)
b7 = G (natural-minor colour)

Which side does the ear lean to?

Our reading: to us the song feels closer to the C major side because it both starts and finishes on C and C is heard 52 times against 10 for Am. That is an interpretation, not a rule — hearing the same chords from A minor is just as valid and teaches you something different.

Chord degrees: major and relative minor

Show the degrees above the chords — relative to C or to Am; comparing both readings is a practice of its own.

Every chord of the key, listed 1 to 7 separately for each key. Chords played in the song show how often they appear; chords from outside the scale sit next to their own degree.

Seen from C major
Degree	Chord	Role	Notes	In song
I	C	Tonic — home	C · E · G	41×
I	Cadd9	Tonic — home	C · E · G · D	11×
ii	Dm	Supertonic — prepares the dominant	D · F · A	4×
iii	Em	Mediant — a tonic-family shade	E · G · B	—
V/vi	E	Secondary dominant V/vi — leads to Amsecondary dominant	E · G# · B	—
IV	F	Subdominant — moves away from home	F · A · C	29×
V	G	Dominant — strongest pull home	G · B · D	31×
vi	Am	Relative minor — the melancholy side	A · C · E	10×
vii°	Bdim	Leading-tone chord — tension	B · D · F	—

Seen from A minor
Degree	Chord	Role	Notes	In song
i	Am	Tonic — home	A · C · E	10×
ii°	Bdim	Supertonic — prepares the dominant	B · D · F	—
III	C	Relative major — the bright side	C · E · G	41×
III	Cadd9	Relative major — the bright side	C · E · G · D	11×
iv	Dm	Subdominant — moves away from home	D · F · A	4×
v	Em	Minor dominant — soft pull	E · G · B	—
V	E	Dominant — borrowed from harmonic minor, pulls hard to the tonicharmonic minor	E · G# · B	—
VI	F	Submediant — warm colour	F · A · C	29×
VII	G	Subtonic — steps back to the tonic	G · B · D	31×

Analysis

The key pair is C major and its relative A minor (no sharps or flats). 6 different chords appear 126 times in total; 6 of them sit naturally inside the shared scale. Everything stays inside one scale, which is why the song is easy to follow by ear.

Chord movement

G C CV → Iauthentic cadence AmVII → III ×19
F C CIV → Iplagal cadence AmVI → III ×14
F G CIV → VIV → V AmVI → VIIVI → VII ×14
G Cadd9 CV → Iauthentic cadence AmVII → III ×3
G Am CV → videceptive cadence AmVII → iAeolian arrival ×1
Dm Am Cii → vi Amiv → iminor plagal ×1

The move to watch is G → C, heard 19 times. From the C side it reads V → I (authentic cadence: the strongest arrival home); from the Am side it is VII → III. Knowing where these arrivals fall helps you feel the phrasing and anticipate the next chord.

Improvisation tips

C major pentatonic and A minor pentatonic are the same five notes (C – D – E – G – A): start from C for a brighter phrase, from A for a bluesier one.
Over C, land on C, E, G — the chord's own tones always sound right on strong beats.
Over G, land on G, B, D — the chord's own tones always sound right on strong beats.
Over F, land on F, A, C — the chord's own tones always sound right on strong beats.

The song on the circle of fifths

Played in the song — chord of the key
Played — the minor's harmonic V or a secondary dominant
Played — borrowed or outside chord
Home region: IV–I–V and ii–vi–iii

Empty slices are chords the song doesn't use.

Capo and easier keys

With C major shapes

No capo — open C shapes
Capo 3 + A shapes
Capo 5 + G shapes

With A minor shapes

No capo — open Am shapes
Capo 5 + Em shapes
Capo 7 + Dm shapes

Easiest keys on guitar

5 semitones down · capo 5 keeps the original pitch
2 semitones up

The song's harmonic story

The first chord is C; the ear learns where home is within a second. C, G, F, Cadd9 carry the song: I–V–IV–I relative to C, III–VII–VI–III relative to Am. No chord leaves the shared scale, so a single pentatonic shape works over the whole song. Keep an ear on G → C (V → I in C, VII → III in Am): authentic cadence — the strongest arrival home. Ending on C, the song seals C as home.

This analysis is generated from the song's chords by akorculuk's harmony engine using consistent rules. When you change key, the degrees stay the same; only the chord names change.