Sabrina Carpenter - Thumbs - Chord

Key Eb major – C minor Chords Cm7, Abmaj7, Bb, Fm, Fm7 Easy key G

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Capo 0

Cm7  Cm7  Ab7M   Fm7  Bb

Cm7
Somewhere in the world 

there is a father and a mother
         Cm7
And the father is a son who has a mother
                  Abmaj7
The mother has a daughter who gets married to the brother of a mother
         Fm                                 Bb
And they all just try to multiply with one another

        Cm7
'Cause that's just the way of the world
 Cm7
It never ends till the end, then you start again
  Abmaj7
That's just the way of the world
  Fm                       Bb
That's just the way of the world

Cm7
Somewhere in the world
                
they think they work all for themselves
         Cm7
They get up everyday to go to work for someone else
     Abmaj7
Somebody works for them and so they think they've got it made
      Fm                             Bb
But they're all just working to get paid the very same

             Cm7
And so they keep on twiddlin' them thumbs, 
     Cm7
skiddly dee da dum
           Abmaj7
They gonna keep on twiddlin' them thumbs, 
        Fm             Bb
skiddly dee da dum dum
             Cm7
And so they keep on twiddlin' them thumbs, 
     Cm7
skiddly dee da dum
           Abmaj7
They gonna keep on twiddlin' them thumbs, 
        Fm             Bb
skiddly dee da dum dum

Cm7
Somewhere in the world you got a robber at a bank

And the bank robbed the people 
       Cm7
so the people rob the bank
        Abmaj7
And the police came to get him, but they let him get away
        Fm                             Bb
'Cause they're all just working to get paid the very same

        Cm7
'Cause that's just the way of the world
 Cm7
It never ends till the end, then you start again
  Abmaj7
That's just the way of the world
  Fm                       Bb
That's just the way of the world

             Cm7
And so they keep on twiddlin' them thumbs, 
     Cm7
skiddly dee da dum
           Abmaj7
They gonna keep on twiddlin' them thumbs, 
        Fm             Bb
skiddly dee da dum dum
             Cm7
And so they keep on twiddlin' them thumbs, 
     Cm7
skiddly dee da dum
           Abmaj7
They gonna keep on twiddlin' them thumbs, 
        Fm             Bb
skiddly dee da dum dum

Cm7
Don't believe everything that you hear
Cm7
Let it go through your left and right ear
Abmaj7
Don't just march to the beat of that drum
         Fm7                       Bb
Don't be one of them people just twiddlin' them thumbs

        Cm7
'Cause that's just the way of the world
 Cm7
It never ends till the end, then you start again
  Abmaj7
That's just the way of the world
  Fm                       Bb
That's just the way of the world

             Cm7
And so they keep on twiddlin' them thumbs, 
    Cm7
skiddly dee da dum
           Abmaj7
They gonna keep on twiddlin' them thumbs, 
        Fm             Bb
skiddly dee da dum dum
             Cm7
And so they keep on twiddlin' them thumbs, 
     Cm7
skiddly dee da dum
           Abmaj7
They gonna keep on twiddlin' them thumbs, 
        Fm             Bb
skiddly dee da dum dum

             Cm7
And so they keep on twiddlin' them thumbs, skiddly dee da dum
            Abmaj7
They gonna keep on twiddlin' them thumbs 
         Fm7                        Bb   Cm7
'Cause that's just the way of the world

End of song Play again?

Sabrina Carpenter - Thumbs Tabs

NotesX

Harmony analysis

Sabrina Carpenter – Thumbs: key and chord analysis

The song opens on Cm7 and ends on Cm7. 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)

Which side does the ear lean to?

Our reading: to us the song feels closer to the C minor side because it both starts and finishes on Cm and Cm is heard 28 times while Eb never appears. 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	—
ii	Fm	Supertonic — prepares the dominant	F · Ab · C	12×
ii7	Fm7	Supertonic — prepares the dominant	F · Ab · C · Eb	2×
iii	Gm	Mediant — a tonic-family shade	G · Bb · D	—
V/vi	G	Secondary dominant V/vi — leads to Cmsecondary dominant	G · B · D	—
IVmaj7	Abmaj7	Subdominant — moves away from home	Ab · C · Eb · G	14×
V	Bb	Dominant — strongest pull home	Bb · D · F	14×
vi7	Cm7	Relative minor — the melancholy side	C · Eb · G · Bb	28×
vii°	Ddim	Leading-tone chord — tension	D · F · Ab	—

Seen from C minor
Degree	Chord	Role	Notes	In song
i7	Cm7	Tonic — home	C · Eb · G · Bb	28×
ii°	Ddim	Supertonic — prepares the dominant	D · F · Ab	—
III	Eb	Relative major — the bright side	Eb · G · Bb	—
iv	Fm	Subdominant — moves away from home	F · Ab · C	12×
iv7	Fm7	Subdominant — moves away from home	F · Ab · C · Eb	2×
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	—
VImaj7	Abmaj7	Submediant — warm colour	Ab · C · Eb · G	14×
VII	Bb	Subtonic — steps back to the tonic	Bb · D · F	14×

Analysis

The key pair is Eb major and its relative C minor (3 flats). 5 different chords appear 70 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 Cm7 EbV → vi7deceptive cadence CmVII → i7Aeolian arrival ×14
Fm Bb Ebii → Vii → V Cmiv → VII ×12
Fm7 Bb Ebii7 → Vii → V Cmiv7 → VII ×2

The move to watch is Bb → Cm7, heard 14 times. From the Cm side it is VII → i7 (Aeolian arrival: rises a whole tone into home); from the Eb side it reads V → vi7 (deceptive cadence: expected Eb, lands on Cm). Knowing where these arrivals fall helps you feel the phrasing and anticipate the next chord.

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 Cm7, land on C, Eb, G — the chord's own tones always sound right on strong beats.
Over Abmaj7, land on Ab, C, Eb — 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 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

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

The song's harmonic story

The opening Cm7 lays a solid floor for everything that follows. Cm7, Abmaj7, Bb, Fm carry the song: vi7–IVmaj7–V–ii relative to Eb, i7–VImaj7–VII–iv relative to Cm. No chord leaves the shared scale, so a single pentatonic shape works over the whole song. Keep an ear on Bb → Cm7 (V → vi7 in Eb, VII → i7 in Cm): Aeolian arrival — rises a whole tone into home. It closes on Cm7, letting the Cm 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.