Ellie Goulding - Love Me Like You Do - Chord

Key Ab major – F minor Chords Fm7, Ab, Eb, Db, Cm, Bbm, Bbm7 Easy key G (capo 1)

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Capo 0

Ab  Ab  Fm7  Db  Eb  Fm7

            Ab
You're the light, you're the night
             Cm
You're the color of my blood
            Fm7
You're the cure, you're the pain
            Db 
You're the only thing I wanna touch
      Eb 
Never knew that 
                 Fm7
It could mean so much, so much

            Ab
You're the fear, I don't care
            Cm  
Cause I've never been so high
        Fm7
Follow me to the dark
       Db 
Let me take you past our satellites
         Eb 
You can see the world 
                Fm7
You brought to life, to life

    Ab
So love me like you do
       Cm  
Lo lo love me like you do
 Fm7
Love me like you do
       Db 
Lo lo love me like you do
 Bbm
Touch me like you do
       Fm7                 Eb 
To to touch me like you do

What are you waiting for

       Ab
Fading in, fading out
       Cm  
On the edge of paradise
      Fm7
Every inch of your skin is a holy grail 
             Db 
I've got to find
      Eb 
Only you can set 
             Fm7
My heart on fire, on fire, yeah

      Ab              Cm  
I'll let you set the pace
      Fm7
Cause I'm not thinking straight
    Db 
My head spinning around 
   Eb                 Fm7
I can't see clear no more

What are you waiting for

 Ab
Love me like you do
       Cm  
Lo lo love me like you do
 Fm7
Love me like you do
       Db 
Lo lo love me like you do
 Bbm
Touch me like you do
       Fm7                 Eb 
To to touch me like you do

What are you waiting for

 Ab
Love me like you do
       Ab  
Lo lo love me like you do
 Fm7
Love me like you do
       Db 
Lo lo love me like you do
 Bbm7
Touch me like you do
       Fm7                 Eb 
To to touch me like you do
              Eb
What are you waiting for

 Ab
Love me like you do
       Ab  
Lo lo love me like you do
 Fm7
Love me like you do
       Db 
Lo lo love me like you do
 Bbm7
Touch me like you do
       Fm7                 Eb 
To to touch me like you do
              Eb
What are you waiting for

End of song Play again?

Ellie Goulding - Love Me Like You Do Tabs

NotesX

Harmony analysis

Ellie Goulding – Love Me Like You Do: key and chord analysis

The song opens on Ab and ends on Eb. Its chords belong to both Ab major and Fm, so every chord below is read both ways.

Major view

Ab major

Brightness rank 2/7 (bright)

Characteristic notes

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

Minor view

F minor

Brightness rank 5/7 (leaning dark)

Characteristic notes

b6 = Db (the minor's melancholy)
b7 = Eb (natural-minor colour)

Which side does the ear lean to?

Our reading: we can't honestly pick a side here — the song moves freely between Ab major and F minor because it opens on Ab and Fm is heard 18 times against 12 for Ab. 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 Ab or to Fm; 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 Ab major
Degree	Chord	Role	Notes	In song
I	Ab	Tonic — home	Ab · C · Eb	12×
ii	Bbm	Supertonic — prepares the dominant	Bb · Db · F	2×
ii7	Bbm7	Supertonic — prepares the dominant	Bb · Db · F · Ab	2×
iii	Cm	Mediant — a tonic-family shade	C · Eb · G	6×
V/vi	C	Secondary dominant V/vi — leads to Fmsecondary dominant	C · E · G	—
IV	Db	Subdominant — moves away from home	Db · F · Ab	9×
V	Eb	Dominant — strongest pull home	Eb · G · Bb	11×
vi7	Fm7	Relative minor — the melancholy side	F · Ab · C · Eb	18×
vii°	Gdim	Leading-tone chord — tension	G · Bb · Db	—

Seen from F minor
Degree	Chord	Role	Notes	In song
i7	Fm7	Tonic — home	F · Ab · C · Eb	18×
ii°	Gdim	Supertonic — prepares the dominant	G · Bb · Db	—
III	Ab	Relative major — the bright side	Ab · C · Eb	12×
iv	Bbm	Subdominant — moves away from home	Bb · Db · F	2×
iv7	Bbm7	Subdominant — moves away from home	Bb · Db · F · Ab	2×
v	Cm	Minor dominant — soft pull	C · Eb · G	6×
V	C	Dominant — borrowed from harmonic minor, pulls hard to the tonicharmonic minor	C · E · G	—
VI	Db	Submediant — warm colour	Db · F · Ab	9×
VII	Eb	Subtonic — steps back to the tonic	Eb · G · Bb	11×

Analysis

The key pair is Ab major and its relative F minor (4 flats). 7 different chords appear 60 times in total; 7 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

Cm Fm7 Abiii → vi7 Fmv → i7natural-minor cadence ×6
Eb Fm7 AbV → vi7deceptive cadence FmVII → i7Aeolian arrival ×5
Db Eb AbIV → VIV → V FmVI → VIIVI → VII ×5
Eb Ab AbV → Iauthentic cadence FmVII → III ×3
Bbm Fm7 Abii → vi7 Fmiv → i7minor plagal ×2
Bbm7 Fm7 Abii7 → vi7 Fmiv7 → i7minor plagal ×2

The move to watch is Cm → Fm7, heard 6 times. From the Ab side it reads iii → vi7; from the Fm side it is v → i7 (natural-minor cadence: gentle, modal arrival). Knowing where these arrivals fall helps you feel the phrasing and anticipate the next chord.

Improvisation tips

Ab major pentatonic and F minor pentatonic are the same five notes (Ab – Bb – C – Eb – F): start from Ab for a brighter phrase, from F for a bluesier one.
Over Fm7, land on F, Ab, C — the chord's own tones always sound right on strong beats.
Over Ab, land on Ab, C, Eb — the chord's own tones always sound right on strong beats.
Over Eb, land on Eb, G, Bb — 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 Ab major shapes

Capo 1 + G shapes
Capo 4 + E shapes
Capo 6 + D shapes

With F minor shapes

Capo 1 + Em shapes
Capo 3 + Dm shapes

Easiest keys on guitar

1 semitone down · capo 1 keeps the original pitch
4 semitones up

The song's harmonic story

The opening Ab lays a solid floor for everything that follows. The backbone is Fm7, Ab, Eb, Db — vi7–I–V–IV from the Ab side, i7–III–VII–VI from the Fm side. No chord leaves the shared scale, so a single pentatonic shape works over the whole song. Keep an ear on Cm → Fm7 (iii → vi7 in Ab, v → i7 in Fm): natural-minor cadence — gentle, modal arrival. The final chord is Eb; the ear comes to rest in Ab.

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.