Sam Smith - Palace - Chord

Key A major – F# minor Chords D, Gbm, E, A, Dbm, Db7 Easy key G (capo 2)

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Capo 0

A  D  A  Gbm  E  Gbm

     A      D          A
My head is filled with ruins
         Gbm       E         Gbm
Most of them are built with you
          D       Dbm     Gbm
Now the dust no longer moves
           D         E     Gbm
Don't disturb the ghost of you
Mmm

     A      D          A
They are empty, they are worn
         Gbm       E         Gbm
Tell me what we built this for
        D        E      Gbm
On my way to something more
              D    Dbm     Gbm
You're that one I can't ignore

D  A  Dbm  Gbm
 Mmm   Mmm

 D  E  Db7    Gbm
I'm gonna miss you
 D  E  Db7   Gbm  E
I still care
   D          E      Dbm               Gbm
Sometimes I wish we never built this palace
      D                            A  D  A
But real love is never a waste of time
 
D  A  Dbm  Gbm
 Mmm   Mmm

          A       D            A
Yeah I know just what you're saying
         Gbm   E         Gbm
And I regret ever complaining
             D       E           Gbm
About this heart and all its breaking
          D    E     Gbm
It was beauty we were making
Mmm

        A          D        A
And I know we'll both move on
         Gbm        E      Gbm
You'll forgive what I did wrong
            D       E      Gbm
They will love the better you
              D      E      Gbm
But I still own the ghost of you
Mmm

 D  E  Db7    Gbm
I'm gonna miss you
 D  E  Db7   Gbm  E
I'm still there
   D          E      Dbm               Gbm
Sometimes I wish we never built this palace
      D                            A  D  A
But real love is never a waste of time
Mmm

Gbm  E  Gbm
D  E  Gbm  D  E  Gbm

 D  E  Db7    Gbm
I'm gonna miss you
 D  E  Db7   Gbm  E
I'm still there
   D          E      Dbm               Gbm
Sometimes I wish we never built this palace
      D                            A  D  A
But real love is never a waste of time
      D                            A
But real love is never a waste of time

End of song Play again?

Sam Smith - Palace Tabs

NotesX

Harmony analysis

Sam Smith – Palace: key and chord analysis

The song opens on A and ends on A. Its chords belong to both A major and F#m, so every chord below is read both ways.

Major view

A major

Brightness rank 2/7 (bright)

Characteristic notes

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

Minor view

F# minor

Brightness rank 5/7 (leaning dark)

Characteristic notes

b6 = D (the minor's melancholy)
b7 = E (natural-minor colour)
#7 = E# (harmonic-minor leading tone from the V chord)

Which side does the ear lean to?

Our reading: we can't honestly pick a side here — the song moves freely between A major and F# minor because it both starts and finishes on A, F#m is heard 33 times against 19 for A and the major V chord points straight at F#m. Try reading the chords both ways and see which feels more like home to you.

Chord degrees: major and relative minor

Show the degrees above the chords — relative to A or to F#m; 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 A major
Degree	Chord	Role	Notes	In song
I	A	Tonic — home	A · C# · E	19×
ii	Bm	Supertonic — prepares the dominant	B · D · F#	—
iii	Dbm	Mediant — a tonic-family shade	Db · Fb · Ab	7×
V7/vi	Db7	Secondary dominant V/vi — leads to Gbmsecondary dominant	Db · F · Ab · Cb	6×
IV	D	Subdominant — moves away from home	D · F# · A	33×
V	E	Dominant — strongest pull home	E · G# · B	26×
vi	Gbm	Relative minor — the melancholy side	Gb · A · Db	33×
vii°	G#dim	Leading-tone chord — tension	G# · B · D	—

Seen from F# minor
Degree	Chord	Role	Notes	In song
i	Gbm	Tonic — home	Gb · A · Db	33×
ii°	G#dim	Supertonic — prepares the dominant	G# · B · D	—
III	A	Relative major — the bright side	A · C# · E	19×
iv	Bm	Subdominant — moves away from home	B · D · F#	—
v	Dbm	Minor dominant — soft pull	Db · Fb · Ab	7×
V7	Db7	Dominant — borrowed from harmonic minor, pulls hard to the tonicharmonic minor	Db · F · Ab · Cb	6×
VI	D	Submediant — warm colour	D · F# · A	33×
VII	E	Subtonic — steps back to the tonic	E · G# · B	26×

Analysis

The key pair is A major and its relative F# minor (3 sharps). 6 different chords appear 124 times in total; 5 of them sit naturally inside the shared scale. The major V of F#m brings the harmonic-minor leading tone, giving the minor side a sharper, more dramatic pull; seen from A, the same Db7 is V7/vi, a secondary dominant heading for F#m.

Chord movement

D E AIV → VIV → V F#mVI → VIIVI → VII ×17
D A AIV → Iplagal cadence F#mVI → III ×14
E Gbm AV → videceptive cadence F#mVII → iAeolian arrival ×14
Dbm Gbm Aiii → vi F#mv → inatural-minor cadence ×7
Db7 Gbm AV7/vi → visecondary resolution F#mV7 → iharmonic-minor cadence ×6

The move to watch is D → E, heard 17 times. From the A side it reads IV → V (IV → V: the lift that builds tension before home); from the F#m side it is VI → VII (VI → VII: the rising step that heads for the tonic). Knowing where these arrivals fall helps you feel the phrasing and anticipate the next chord.

Improvisation tips

A major pentatonic and F# minor pentatonic are the same five notes (A – B – C# – E – F#): start from A for a brighter phrase, from F# for a bluesier one.
Over D, land on D, F#, A — the chord's own tones always sound right on strong beats.
Over Gbm, land on Gb, A, Db — 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 Db7 comes, swap the scale's E for E#: 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 A major shapes

No capo — open A shapes
Capo 2 + G shapes
Capo 5 + E shapes

With F# minor shapes

Capo 2 + Em shapes
Capo 4 + Dm shapes

Easiest keys on guitar

2 semitones down · capo 2 keeps the original pitch
3 semitones up

The song's harmonic story

The opening A lays a solid floor for everything that follows. The chords that keep coming back are D, Gbm, E, A; read them as IV–vi–V–I in A or VI–i–VII–III in F#m. Db7 is the interesting twist: in A it is a chromatic chord (V7/vi), while in F#m it becomes the dominant (V7) that makes the minor side sound so determined. Keep an ear on D → E (IV → V in A, VI → VII in F#m): IV → V — the lift that builds tension before home. Ending on A, the song seals A as home.

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.