Taylor Swift - Cardigan - Chord

Key Eb major – C minor Chords A, G, D, Em, Bm Easy key Ab (capo 7)

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Capo 0

Em                          A
   Vintage tee, brand new phone
                      G
High heels on cobblestones
                             
When you are young they assume 
          A
You know nothing
Em                            A  
   Sequined smile, black lipstick
             G
Sensual politics
                   
When you are young
                      A
They assume you know nothing
 
D                                  
  But I knew you
                 A
Dancin' in your Levi's
                             G
Drunk under a streetlight, I
                            A
I knew you, hand under my sweatshirt
 
Baby, kiss it better, I

Em                      
   And when I felt like 
              A
I was an old cardigan
                    G
Under someone's bed
                       
You put me on and said 
            A
I was your favorite
 
Em                
   A friend to all
                A
Is a friend to none
                          G
Chase two girls, lose the one

When you are young
                      A
They assume you know nothing
 
D
  But I knew you
                  A
Playing hide and seek and
                         
Giving me your weekends, I
G
  I knew you
                       A
Your heartbeat on the High Line

Once in twenty lifetimes, I
 
G                     
  And when I felt like 
              Bm
I was an old cardigan
                    D
Under someone's bed
                       
You put me on and said 
            G
I was your favorite
 
            G
To kiss in cars, in downtown bars
           Bm
Was all I needed
           A
You drew stars around my scars
              G
But now I'm bleedin'

D
  'Cause I knew you
                 A
Steppin' on the last train
                              
Marked me like a bloodstain, I
G
  I knew you
                    A
Tried to change the ending
 
Peter losin' Wendy, I

D
  I knew you
                A    
Leavin' like a father
                    G
Runnin' like water, I
                  
When you are young
                      A
They assume you know nothing
 
                  D
But I knew you'd linger 

Like a tattoo kiss
              A
I knew you'd haunt 

All of my what ifs
               G
The smell of smoke 

Would hang around this long
              A
'Cause I knew everything 

When I was young

            D
I knew I'd curse 

You for the longest time
          A
Chasin' shadows in the grocery line
              G
I knew you'd miss me 

Once the thrill expired
               A
And you'd be standin' 

In my front porch light 

                       Em
And I knew you'd come back to me
                A
And you'd come back to me
                G
And you'd come back to me
                A
And you'd come back
 
G                      
  And when I felt like 
              Bm
I was an old cardigan
                    D
Under someone's bed
                       
You put me on and said 
            G
I was your favorite

End of song Play again?

Taylor Swift - Cardigan Tabs

NotesX

Harmony analysis

Taylor Swift – Cardigan: key and chord analysis

The song opens on Em and ends on G. Its chords belong to both Eb major and Cm, so every chord below is read both ways.

Major view

Eb major

Brightness rank 2/7 (bright)

Characteristic notes

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

Minor view

C minor

Brightness rank 5/7 (leaning dark)

Characteristic notes

b6 = Ab (the minor's melancholy)
b7 = Bb (natural-minor colour)
#7 = B (harmonic-minor leading tone from the V chord)

Which side does the ear lean to?

Our reading: to us the song feels closer to the C minor side because the major V chord points straight at Cm. That is an interpretation, not a rule — the same chords are just as valid seen from Eb major, and switching between the two views is exactly where the practice value lies.

Chord degrees: major and relative minor

Show the degrees above the chords — relative to Eb or to Cm; 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 Eb major
Degree	Chord	Role	Notes	In song
I	Eb	Tonic — home	Eb · G · Bb	—
bii	Em	Chromatic colour chordoutside the key	E · G · B	5×
ii	Fm	Supertonic — prepares the dominant	F · Ab · C	—
iii	Gm	Mediant — a tonic-family shade	G · Bb · D	—
III	G	Chromatic colour chordoutside the key	G · B · D	17×
IV	Ab	Subdominant — moves away from home	Ab · C · Eb	—
#IV	A	Chromatic colour chordoutside the key	A · C# · E	23×
V	Bb	Dominant — strongest pull home	Bb · D · F	—
bvi	Bm	Chromatic colour chordoutside the key	B · D · F#	3×
vi	Cm	Relative minor — the melancholy side	C · Eb · G	—
vii°	Ddim	Leading-tone chord — tension	D · F · Ab	—
V/iii	D	Secondary dominant V/iii — leads to Gmsecondary dominant	D · F# · A	8×

Seen from C minor
Degree	Chord	Role	Notes	In song
i	Cm	Tonic — home	C · Eb · G	—
ii°	Ddim	Supertonic — prepares the dominant	D · F · Ab	—
V/v	D	Secondary dominant V/v — leads to Gmsecondary dominant	D · F# · A	8×
III	Eb	Relative major — the bright side	Eb · G · Bb	—
#iii	Em	Chromatic colour chordoutside the key	E · G · B	5×
iv	Fm	Subdominant — moves away from home	F · Ab · C	—
v	Gm	Minor dominant — soft pull	G · Bb · D	—
V	G	Dominant — borrowed from harmonic minor, pulls hard to the tonicharmonic minor	G · B · D	17×
VI	Ab	Submediant — warm colour	Ab · C · Eb	—
#VI	A	Chromatic colour chordoutside the key	A · C# · E	23×
VII	Bb	Subtonic — steps back to the tonic	Bb · D · F	—
#vii	Bm	Chromatic colour chordoutside the key	B · D · F#	3×

Analysis

The key pair is Eb major and its relative C minor (3 flats). 5 different chords appear 56 times in total; 0 of them sit naturally inside the shared scale. The major V of Cm brings the harmonic-minor leading tone, giving the minor side a sharper, more dramatic pull. D acts as a secondary dominant, briefly pointing at another chord of the key.

Chord movement

There's no textbook cadence here; the chords circle around each other in a loop, so the song feels more like a groove than a series of arrivals.

Improvisation tips

Eb major pentatonic and C minor pentatonic are the same five notes (Eb – F – G – Bb – C): start from Eb for a brighter phrase, from C for a bluesier one.
Over A, land on A, C#, E — 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 D, land on D, F#, A — the chord's own tones always sound right on strong beats.
When G comes, swap the scale's Bb for B: that single note is the harmonic-minor sound of the chord.

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 Eb major shapes

Capo 1 + D shapes
Capo 3 + C shapes
Capo 6 + A shapes

With C minor shapes

Capo 3 + Am shapes

Easiest keys on guitar

5 semitones up · capo 7 keeps the original pitch

The song's harmonic story

Starting on Em, the song gives away its key from the very first bar. The backbone is A, G, D, Em — #IV–III–V/iii–bii from the Eb side, #VI–V–V/v–#iii from the Cm side. G is the interesting twist: in Eb it is a chromatic chord (III), while in Cm it becomes the dominant (V) that makes the minor side sound so determined. Ending on G, the song seals Eb 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.