Shawn Mendes - Because I Had You - Chord

Key G major – E minor Chords C, Em, G, Bm, D Difficulty already in its easiest key

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Capo 0

Em                        C     G
   I think it's time that I be honest
Em                     C      G
   Should've told you not to go
Em        C              G
   Thought I knew just what I wanted
Em            C         G
   I didn't know myself at all

Bm                         C
   You're with somebody I can't be, yeah
Bm                             C
   But I can tell that you're happy

               Em                 C        G
It's time for me to finally meet somebody new
            Em                  C          G
Take her to all the places that I took us to
               Em              C          G                  D           Em
And she might help me forget  but loving her is something I could never do
 C         G
Because I had
           Em      C  G   Em  C  G
Because I had you

Em         C             G
   Hey, remember when I told you
                Em                    C    G
   That you and I will go down in history together, yeah
Em                   C        G
   And does your sister ask about me
          Em                     C      G
  You and I, what we had, is it gone forever

Bm                         C
   You're with somebody I can't be, yeah
Bm                             C
   But I can tell that you're happy

               Em                 C        G
It's time for me to finally meet somebody new
            Em                  C          G
Take her to all the places that I took us to
               Em              C          G                  D           Em
And she might help me forget  but loving her is something I could never do
 C         G
Because I had
           Em
Because I had you

               C       G
   There's nothin', oh
                            Em
   There's nothin' left to lose
C             G
   Because I had you, babe
Em             C    G
   There's nothin'
                         Em
   Nothin' that I could do
 C               G
   I wish I had you

                  Em             C              G
But I think it's time I finally found somebody new
            Em                           C        G
And tell myself that she's the one that get me through
               Em             C         G                D                Em
And she might help me forget but loving her is something I just couldn't do
C
Because I had you

End of song Play again?

Shawn Mendes - Because I Had You Tabs

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Harmony analysis

Shawn Mendes – Because I Had You: key and chord analysis

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

Major view

G major

Brightness rank 2/7 (bright)

Characteristic notes

7 = F# (leading tone, pulls home)
4 = C (the note that leans on the 3rd)

Minor view

E minor

Brightness rank 5/7 (leaning dark)

Characteristic notes

b6 = C (the minor's melancholy)
b7 = D (natural-minor colour)

Which side does the ear lean to?

Our reading: to us the song feels closer to the E minor side because it opens on Em and Em is heard 26 times against 25 for G. That is an interpretation, not a rule — the same chords are just as valid seen from G 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 G or to Em; 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 G major
Degree	Chord	Role	Notes	In song
I	G	Tonic — home	G · B · D	25×
ii	Am	Supertonic — prepares the dominant	A · C · E	—
iii	Bm	Mediant — a tonic-family shade	B · D · F#	4×
V/vi	B	Secondary dominant V/vi — leads to Emsecondary dominant	B · D# · F#	—
IV	C	Subdominant — moves away from home	C · E · G	30×
V	D	Dominant — strongest pull home	D · F# · A	3×
vi	Em	Relative minor — the melancholy side	E · G · B	26×
vii°	F#dim	Leading-tone chord — tension	F# · A · C	—

Seen from E minor
Degree	Chord	Role	Notes	In song
i	Em	Tonic — home	E · G · B	26×
ii°	F#dim	Supertonic — prepares the dominant	F# · A · C	—
III	G	Relative major — the bright side	G · B · D	25×
iv	Am	Subdominant — moves away from home	A · C · E	—
v	Bm	Minor dominant — soft pull	B · D · F#	4×
V	B	Dominant — borrowed from harmonic minor, pulls hard to the tonicharmonic minor	B · D# · F#	—
VI	C	Submediant — warm colour	C · E · G	30×
VII	D	Subtonic — steps back to the tonic	D · F# · A	3×

Analysis

The key pair is G major and its relative E minor (1 sharp). 5 different chords appear 88 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

C G GIV → Iplagal cadence EmVI → III ×25
D Em GV → videceptive cadence EmVII → iAeolian arrival ×3
C Em GIV → vi EmVI → iVI → i ×2

The move to watch is C → G, heard 25 times. From the Em side it is VI → III; from the G side it reads IV → I (plagal cadence: the soft 'amen' ending). Knowing where these arrivals fall helps you feel the phrasing and anticipate the next chord.

Improvisation tips

G major pentatonic and E minor pentatonic are the same five notes (G – A – B – D – E): start from G for a brighter phrase, from E for a bluesier one.
Over C, land on C, E, G — the chord's own tones always sound right on strong beats.
Over Em, land on E, G, B — 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.

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 G major shapes

No capo — open G shapes
Capo 3 + E shapes
Capo 5 + D shapes

With E minor shapes

No capo — open Em shapes
Capo 2 + Dm shapes
Capo 7 + Am 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 Em; the ear learns where home is within a second. The chords that keep coming back are C, Em, G, Bm; read them as IV–vi–I–iii in G or VI–i–III–v in Em. No chord leaves the shared scale, so a single pentatonic shape works over the whole song. Keep an ear on C → G (IV → I in G, VI → III in Em): plagal cadence — the soft 'amen' ending. The final chord is C; the ear comes to rest in G.

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.