Taylor Swift - The Black Dog - Chord

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

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Capo 0

C                      Em
I am someone who until recent events
                F
You shared your secrets with
           G                             C
And your location, you forgot to turn it off
                  Em
And so I watch as you walk
                         F
Into some bar called The Black Dog
                        G
And pierce new holes in my heart
                      Am  G
You forgot to turn it off

       F
And it hits me
  Am         G    F
I just don't understand

              C
How you don't miss me
       G               Em                F
In The Black Dog, when someone plays The Starting Line
        C                  G                 Em
And you jump up, but she's too young to know this song
         F                  C            G      Em      F
That was intertwined in the magic fabric of our dreaming
C     G        Em  F  C
Old habits die screaming

  C                                   Em
I move through the world with a heart broken
                   F
My longing state unspoken
                G                         C
And I may never open up thе way I did for you
                      Em
And all of those best laid plans
                    F
You said I needed a bravе man
                  G
Then proceeded to play him
                    Am  G
Until I believed it too

       F
And it kills me
  Am         G    F
I just don't understand

              C
How you don't miss me
       G             Em            F
In the shower, and remember how my rain soaked body
    C               G
Was shaking, do you hate me
       Em           F
Was it hazing for a cruel fraternity
C              G       Em     F
I pledged, and I still mean it
C     G        Em  F  Am
Old habits die screaming

             F
Six weeks of breathing clean air
                 C
I still miss the smoke
                       G
Were you making fun of me
                   Am
With some esoteric joke
                    F
Now I wanna sell my house
                       C
And set fire to all my clothes
           G                            F        G
And hire a priest to come and exorcise my demons

              C  G  Em  F  C    G  Em  F
Even if I die screaaaaaaaamingging
              C  G  Em  F  C  G  Em  F
And I hope you  hear       it it it
                C             G
And I hope it's shitty in The Black Dog
     Em                F                     C
When someone plays the starting line and you jump up
          G                 Em
But she's too young to know this song
         F                  C             G     Em  F
That was intertwined in the tragic fabric of my dreaming
     C                 G            Em  F
This tail between your legs, you're leaving

C       G       Em      F
I still can't believe it
       C     G        Em  F
'Cause old habits die screaming

End of song Play again?

Taylor Swift - The Black Dog Tabs

NotesX

Harmony analysis

Taylor Swift – The Black Dog: key and chord analysis

The song opens on C and ends on F. 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 opens on C and C is heard 25 times against 6 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	25×
ii	Dm	Supertonic — prepares the dominant	D · F · A	—
iii	Em	Mediant — a tonic-family shade	E · G · B	22×
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	29×
vi	Am	Relative minor — the melancholy side	A · C · E	6×
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	6×
ii°	Bdim	Supertonic — prepares the dominant	B · D · F	—
III	C	Relative major — the bright side	C · E · G	25×
iv	Dm	Subdominant — moves away from home	D · F · A	—
v	Em	Minor dominant — soft pull	E · G · B	22×
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	29×

Analysis

The key pair is C major and its relative A minor (no sharps or flats). 5 different chords appear 111 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

F C CIV → Iplagal cadence AmVI → III ×20
F G CIV → VIV → V AmVI → VIIVI → VII ×5
G C CV → Iauthentic cadence AmVII → III ×3
G Am CV → videceptive cadence AmVII → iAeolian arrival ×3
F Am CIV → vi AmVI → iVI → i ×3

The move to watch is F → C, heard 20 times. From the C side it reads IV → I (plagal cadence: the soft 'amen' ending); from the Am side it is VI → 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 F, land on F, A, C — 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 C, land on C, E, G — 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

The song's harmonic story

The opening C lays a solid floor for everything that follows. The backbone is F, G, C, Em — IV–V–I–iii from the C side, VI–VII–III–v from the Am side. No chord leaves the shared scale, so a single pentatonic shape works over the whole song. Keep an ear on F → C (IV → I in C, VI → III in Am): plagal cadence — the soft 'amen' ending. It closes on F, letting the C side have the last word.

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.