Shawn Mendes - Show You - Chord

Key C major – A minor Chords F, C, E, Am, G Difficulty already in its easiest key

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Capo 0

C                             E
You can't walk the streets at night
                            Am
You're way too short to get on this ride
        F                                      C
No I'm not, no I'm not, you tryna tell me that I
                                         E
I gotta be home when the street lights glow
                          Am
You can't watch your Tv show
        F
I will watch what I wanna watch
 G                          F
No, I won't listen to you, do what I wanna do

C
And I will walk this road ahead
E                        Am
One hundred miles on my hands
               F
Do I need to show you

Guess I gotta show you
    C                        E
And if you don't believe me now
                                  Am
I'll flip the whole world upside down
               F
Do I need to show you

Guess I gotta show you

 C                         E
Watch me swim across this lake
                                    Am
Fly through the sky in my Superman cape
                           F
Watch me walk across this wire

Tip toe through the coals of a blazing fire
 C                             E
Watch me fly this kite in the rain
                                  Am
I'll jump rope with my ball and chain
                         F
Come by and knock on my house of cards
                                       G
If it falls I'll rebuild it from the start
                   F
I won't listen to you, do what I wanna do

C
And I will walk this road ahead
E                        Am
One hundred miles on my hands
               F
Do I need to show you

Guess I gotta show you
    C                        E
And if you don't believe me now
                                  Am
I'll flip the whole world upside down
               F
Do I need to show you

Guess I gotta show you

 C
Do I really gotta show you now? Really, really, gotta show you now
 E
Do I really gotta spell it out? I T, I spell it out
 Am
Do you really wanna see me now? Watch me walk across the clouds
F
I don't know what you heard about, listen to me yell it loud
 C
Do I really gotta show you now? Really, really, gotta show you now
 E
Do I really gotta spell it out? I T, I spell it out
 Am
Do you really wanna see me now? Watch me walk across the clouds
F
I don? t know what you heard about, see that door i'll knock it down

C
And I will walk this road ahead
E                        Am
One hundred miles on my hands
               F
Do I need to show you

Guess I gotta show you
    C                        E
And if you don't believe me now
                                  Am
I'll flip the whole world upside down
               F
Do I need to show you

Guess I gotta show you

 C
Do I really gotta show you now? Really, really, gotta show you now
 E
Do I really gotta spell it out? I T, I spell it out
 Am
Do you really wanna see me now? Watch me walk across the clouds
           F                               C
Do I need to show you? Guess I gotta show you

End of song Play again?

Shawn Mendes - Show You Tabs

NotesX

Harmony analysis

Shawn Mendes – Show You: key and chord analysis

The song opens on C and ends on C. 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)
#7 = G# (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 major side because it both starts and finishes on C, C is heard 14 times against 13 for Am and the major V chord points straight at 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	14×
ii	Dm	Supertonic — prepares the dominant	D · F · A	—
iii	Em	Mediant — a tonic-family shade	E · G · B	—
V/vi	E	Secondary dominant V/vi — leads to Amsecondary dominant	E · G# · B	13×
IV	F	Subdominant — moves away from home	F · A · C	15×
V	G	Dominant — strongest pull home	G · B · D	2×
vi	Am	Relative minor — the melancholy side	A · C · E	13×
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	13×
ii°	Bdim	Supertonic — prepares the dominant	B · D · F	—
III	C	Relative major — the bright side	C · E · G	14×
iv	Dm	Subdominant — moves away from home	D · F · A	—
v	Em	Minor dominant — soft pull	E · G · B	—
V	E	Dominant — borrowed from harmonic minor, pulls hard to the tonicharmonic minor	E · G# · B	13×
VI	F	Submediant — warm colour	F · A · C	15×
VII	G	Subtonic — steps back to the tonic	G · B · D	2×

Analysis

The key pair is C major and its relative A minor (no sharps or flats). 5 different chords appear 57 times in total; 4 of them sit naturally inside the shared scale. The major V of Am brings the harmonic-minor leading tone, giving the minor side a sharper, more dramatic pull; seen from C, the same E is V/vi, a secondary dominant heading for Am.

Chord movement

E Am CV/vi → vi AmV → iharmonic-minor cadence ×13
F C CIV → Iplagal cadence AmVI → III ×13
F G CIV → VIV → V AmVI → VIIVI → VII ×2

The move to watch is E → Am, heard 13 times. From the C side it reads V/vi → vi; from the Am side it is V → i (harmonic-minor cadence: the major V resolves dramatically). 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 C, land on C, E, G — the chord's own tones always sound right on strong beats.
Over E, land on E, G#, B — the chord's own tones always sound right on strong beats.
When E comes, swap the scale's G for G#: 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 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

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

The song's harmonic story

Starting on C, the song gives away its key from the very first bar. The backbone is F, C, E, Am — IV–I–V/vi–vi from the C side, VI–III–V–i from the Am side. E is the interesting twist: in C it is a chromatic chord (V/vi), while in Am it becomes the dominant (V) that makes the minor side sound so determined. Keep an ear on E → Am (V/vi → vi in C, V → i in Am): harmonic-minor cadence — the major V resolves dramatically. The final chord is C; the ear comes to rest in C.

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.