Coldplay - Paradise - Chord

Key F major – D minor Chords C, F, Bb, Gm, Dm Easy key G

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Capo 0

Gm  C   Dm  F
Bb  F   C
Gm  Bb  F   C

Dm                  Bb
When she was just a girl
F                C
She expected the world
       Dm                 Bb
But it flew away from her reach
       F               C
So she ran away in her sleep

           Gm        Bb
Dreamed of para-para-paradise
F         C
Para-para-paradise
Gm        Bb
Para-para-paradise
F                         C
Every time she closed her eyes

Gm  Bb  F  C

Bb                  F
When she was just a girl
F            C
She expected the world
Bb                         Dm
But it flew away from her reach
Dm                       C
And bullets catch in her teeth

Gm
Life goes on
   Bb
It gets so heavy
    F                C
The wheel breaks the butterfly
Gm            Bb
Every tear, a waterfall

Bb                F
In the night, the stormy night
               C
She closed her eyes
       Bb         F
In the night, the stormy night
         C
Away she flied

               Gm        Bb
And dreamed of para-para-paradise
F         C
Para-para-paradise
Gm        Bb
Para-para-paradise
F           C
Whoa-oh-oh oh-oooh oh-oh-oh

Gm  C  Dm  F

      Bb          F               C
Still lying underneath the stormy skies
         Bb          F
She said oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
           C
I know the sun's set to rise

               Gm        Bb
And dreamed of para-para-paradise
F         C
Para-para-paradise
Gm        Bb
Para-para-paradise
F           C
Whoa-oh-oh oh-oooh oh-oh-oh

End of song Play again?

Coldplay - Paradise Tabs

NotesX

Harmony analysis

Coldplay – Paradise: key and chord analysis

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

Major view

F major

Brightness rank 2/7 (bright)

Characteristic notes

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

Minor view

D minor

Brightness rank 5/7 (leaning dark)

Characteristic notes

b6 = Bb (the minor's melancholy)
b7 = C (natural-minor colour)

Which side does the ear lean to?

Our reading: to us the song feels closer to the F major side because F is heard 20 times against 6 for Dm. That is an interpretation, not a rule — hearing the same chords from D minor is just as valid and teaches you something different.

Chord degrees: major and relative minor

Show the degrees above the chords — relative to F or to Dm; 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 F major
Degree	Chord	Role	Notes	In song
I	F	Tonic — home	F · A · C	20×
ii	Gm	Supertonic — prepares the dominant	G · Bb · D	12×
iii	Am	Mediant — a tonic-family shade	A · C · E	—
V/vi	A	Secondary dominant V/vi — leads to Dmsecondary dominant	A · C# · E	—
IV	Bb	Subdominant — moves away from home	Bb · D · F	19×
V	C	Dominant — strongest pull home	C · E · G	20×
vi	Dm	Relative minor — the melancholy side	D · F · A	6×
vii°	Edim	Leading-tone chord — tension	E · G · Bb	—

Seen from D minor
Degree	Chord	Role	Notes	In song
i	Dm	Tonic — home	D · F · A	6×
ii°	Edim	Supertonic — prepares the dominant	E · G · Bb	—
III	F	Relative major — the bright side	F · A · C	20×
iv	Gm	Subdominant — moves away from home	G · Bb · D	12×
v	Am	Minor dominant — soft pull	A · C · E	—
V	A	Dominant — borrowed from harmonic minor, pulls hard to the tonicharmonic minor	A · C# · E	—
VI	Bb	Submediant — warm colour	Bb · D · F	19×
VII	C	Subtonic — steps back to the tonic	C · E · G	20×

Analysis

The key pair is F major and its relative D minor (1 flat). 5 different chords appear 77 times in total; 5 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

Bb F FIV → Iplagal cadence DmVI → III ×17
C Dm FV → videceptive cadence DmVII → iAeolian arrival ×4
Gm C Fii → Vii → V Dmiv → VII ×2
Bb Dm FIV → vi DmVI → iVI → i ×1

The move to watch is Bb → F, heard 17 times. From the F side it reads IV → I (plagal cadence: the soft 'amen' ending); from the Dm side it is VI → III. Knowing where these arrivals fall helps you feel the phrasing and anticipate the next chord.

Improvisation tips

F major pentatonic and D minor pentatonic are the same five notes (F – G – A – C – D): start from F for a brighter phrase, from D for a bluesier one.
Over C, land on C, E, G — 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.
Over Bb, land on Bb, D, F — 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 F major shapes

Capo 1 + E shapes
Capo 3 + D shapes
Capo 5 + C shapes

With D minor shapes

No capo — open Dm shapes
Capo 5 + Am shapes

Easiest keys on guitar

2 semitones up
3 semitones down · capo 3 keeps the original pitch

The song's harmonic story

The opening Gm lays a solid floor for everything that follows. The chords that keep coming back are C, F, Bb, Gm; read them as V–I–IV–ii in F or VII–III–VI–iv in Dm. No chord leaves the shared scale, so a single pentatonic shape works over the whole song. Keep an ear on Bb → F (IV → I in F, VI → III in Dm): plagal cadence — the soft 'amen' ending. The final chord is C; the ear comes to rest in F.

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.