Dua Lipa - These Walls - Chord

Key Bb major – G minor Chords G, C, Am, Gmaj7, Cm, Em, D, Bm Difficulty already in its easiest key

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Capo 0

G  Gmaj7  C  Cm

G
Maybe we should switch careers
                       C
'Cause, baby, you know no one beats our poker faces
    G
And when the night ends up in tears
               C
Wake up and we blame it all on being wasted

Em G             C
Oh, this love is fading
Em G                C
So   much we're not saying

                         G
But if these walls could talk
         Gmaj7
 "Enough"
           C
 "Give up"
                     G
If these walls could talk
            Gmaj7
 "You know"
                C
 "You're fucked"
                               Am
It's not supposed to hurt this much
    D                    Am
Oh, if these walls could talk
       Cm               G
They'd tell us to break up

     G
They tell us: "Go and face your fears"
                       C
It's getting worse the longer that we stay together
   G
We call it love, but hate it here
              C
Did we really mean it when we said forever

Em G             C
Oh, this love is fading
Em G                C
So   much we're not saying

                         G
But if these walls could talk
          Gmaj7
 "Enough"
           C
 "Give up"
                     G
If these walls could talk
                  Gmaj7
 "You know"
                     C
 "You're fucked"
                               Am
It's not supposed to hurt this much
    D                    Am
Oh, if these walls could talk
       Cm               G
They'd tell us to break up

                     Cm     Am
 They'd tell us to break up

                Bm
You don't wanna go 
            C
Don't wanna stop 
             Am
Heaven knows I 
            Bm                   C
Don't wanna be the one to cut it off

                         G
But if these walls could talk
               Gmaj7
 "Enough"
                   C
 "Give up" 
                     G
If these walls could talk
            Gmaj7
 "You know"
                C
 "You're fucked"

                               Am
It's not supposed to hurt this much
    D                    Am
Oh, if these walls could talk
       Cm               G
They'd tell us to break up

End of song Play again?

Dua Lipa - These Walls Tabs

NotesX

Harmony analysis

Dua Lipa – These Walls: key and chord analysis

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

Major view

Bb major

Brightness rank 2/7 (bright)

Characteristic notes

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

Minor view

G minor

Brightness rank 5/7 (leaning dark)

Characteristic notes

b6 = Eb (the minor's melancholy)
b7 = F (natural-minor colour)
#7 = F# (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 G minor side because the major V chord points straight at Gm. That is an interpretation, not a rule — the same chords are just as valid seen from Bb 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 Bb or to Gm; 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 Bb major
Degree	Chord	Role	Notes	In song
I	Bb	Tonic — home	Bb · D · F	—
bii	Bm	Chromatic colour chordoutside the key	B · D · F#	2×
ii	Cm	Supertonic — prepares the dominant	C · Eb · G	5×
II	C	Chromatic colour chordoutside the key	C · E · G	17×
iii	Dm	Mediant — a tonic-family shade	D · F · A	—
V/vi	D	Secondary dominant V/vi — leads to Gmsecondary dominant	D · F# · A	3×
IV	Eb	Subdominant — moves away from home	Eb · G · Bb	—
#iv	Em	Chromatic colour chordoutside the key	E · G · B	4×
V	F	Dominant — strongest pull home	F · A · C	—
vi	Gm	Relative minor — the melancholy side	G · Bb · D	—
V/ii	G	Secondary dominant V/ii — leads to Cmsecondary dominant	G · B · D	18×
V/ii	Gmaj7	Secondary dominant V/ii — leads to Cmsecondary dominant	G · B · D · F#	7×
vii°	Adim	Leading-tone chord — tension	A · C · Eb	—
vii	Am	Chromatic colour chordoutside the key	A · C · E	8×

Seen from G minor
Degree	Chord	Role	Notes	In song
i	Gm	Tonic — home	G · Bb · D	—
V/iv	G	Secondary dominant V/iv — leads to Cmsecondary dominant	G · B · D	18×
V/iv	Gmaj7	Secondary dominant V/iv — leads to Cmsecondary dominant	G · B · D · F#	7×
ii°	Adim	Supertonic — prepares the dominant	A · C · Eb	—
ii	Am	Chromatic colour chordoutside the key	A · C · E	8×
III	Bb	Relative major — the bright side	Bb · D · F	—
#iii	Bm	Chromatic colour chordoutside the key	B · D · F#	2×
iv	Cm	Subdominant — moves away from home	C · Eb · G	5×
IV	C	Major IV — Dorian / melodic-minor colourmodal colour	C · E · G	17×
v	Dm	Minor dominant — soft pull	D · F · A	—
V	D	Dominant — borrowed from harmonic minor, pulls hard to the tonicharmonic minor	D · F# · A	3×
VI	Eb	Submediant — warm colour	Eb · G · Bb	—
#vi	Em	Chromatic colour chordoutside the key	E · G · B	4×
VII	F	Subtonic — steps back to the tonic	F · A · C	—

Analysis

The key pair is Bb major and its relative G minor (2 flats). 8 different chords appear 64 times in total; 1 of them sit naturally inside the shared scale. The major V of Gm brings the harmonic-minor leading tone, giving the minor side a sharper, more dramatic pull; seen from Bb, the same D is V/vi, a secondary dominant heading for Gm. G, Gmaj7 act as secondary dominants, 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

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

Capo 1 + A shapes
Capo 3 + G shapes
Capo 6 + E shapes

With G minor shapes

Capo 3 + Em shapes
Capo 5 + Dm shapes

Easiest keys on guitar

The song is already written in its easiest key for guitar.

The song's harmonic story

The first chord is G; the ear learns where home is within a second. The backbone is G, C, Am, Gmaj7 — V/ii–II–vii–V/ii from the Bb side, V/iv–IV–ii–V/iv from the Gm side. G is the interesting twist: in Bb it is a chromatic chord (V/ii), while in Gm it becomes the dominant (V/iv) that makes the minor side sound so determined. It closes on G, letting the Bb 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.