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)
Twenty One Pilots - Car Radio - Chord
Key C major – A minor Chords G, F, Am Easy key G (capo 5)
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Key: C | Am
Capo: 0
F F G Am G
F
I ponder of something great
G
My lungs will fill and then deflate
Am
They fill with fire
Exhale desire
G
I know it's dire
My time today
F
I have these thoughts
So often I ought
To replace that slot
G Am
With what I once bought
'Cause somebody stole
G
My car radio
F
And now I just sit in silence
F G
Sometimes quiet is violent
Am
I find it hard to hide it
G
My pride is no longer inside
F
It's on my sleeve
My skin will scream
Reminding me of
G Am
Who I killed inside my dream
G
I hate this car that I'm driving
F
There's no hiding for me
I'm forced to deal with what I feel
G Am
There is no distraction to mask what is real
G
I could pull the steering wheel
F
I have these thoughts
F
So often I ought
To replace that slot
G Am
With what I once bought
'Cause somebody stole
G
My car radio
F
And now I just sit in silence
F F G Am G
F
I ponder of something terrifying
G
'Cause this time there's no sound to hide behind
Am
I find over the course of our human existence
G
One thing consists of consistence
F
And it's that we're all battling fear
G
Oh dear, I don't know if we know why we're here
Am
Oh my, too deep
Please stop thinking
G
I liked it better when my car had sound
F
There are things we can do
G
But from the things that work there are only two
Am
And from the two that we choose to do
G
Peace will win
And fear will lose
F
There's faith and there's sleep
G
We need to pick one please because
Am
Faith is to be awake
G
And to be awake is for us to think
F
And for us to think is to be alive
And I will try with every rhyme
G Am
To come across like I am dying
G F
To let you know you need to try to think
I have these thoughts
So often I ought
To replace that slot
G Am
With what I once bought
'Cause somebody stole
G
My car radio
F
And now I just sit in silence
F F G Am G
F
I ponder of something great
F G
My lungs will fill and then deflate
Am
They fill with fire
Exhale desire
G
I know it's dire
My time today
F
I have these thoughts
F
So often I ought
To replace that slot
G Am
With what I once bought
'Cause somebody stole
G
My car radio
F
And now I just sit in silence
End of song Play again?
Twenty One Pilots - Car Radio Tabs
NotesX
Harmony analysis
Twenty One Pilots – Car Radio: key and chord analysis
The song opens on F and ends on F. Its chords belong to both C major and Am, so every chord below is read both ways.
Minor view
A minor
Brightness rank 5/7 (leaning dark)
Characteristic notes
- b6 = F (the minor's melancholy)
- b7 = G (natural-minor colour)
Which side does the ear lean to?
Our reading: to us the song feels closer to the A minor side because Am is heard 17 times while C never appears. That is an interpretation, not a rule — the same chords are just as valid seen from C 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 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.
| Degree | Chord | Role | Notes | In song |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I | C | Tonic — home | C · E · G | — |
| 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 | — |
| IV | F | Subdominant — moves away from home | F · A · C | 27× |
| V | G | Dominant — strongest pull home | G · B · D | 34× |
| vi | Am | Relative minor — the melancholy side | A · C · E | 17× |
| vii° | Bdim | Leading-tone chord — tension | B · D · F | — |
| Degree | Chord | Role | Notes | In song |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| i | Am | Tonic — home | A · C · E | 17× |
| ii° | Bdim | Supertonic — prepares the dominant | B · D · F | — |
| III | C | Relative major — the bright side | C · E · G | — |
| 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 | — |
| VI | F | Submediant — warm colour | F · A · C | 27× |
| VII | G | Subtonic — steps back to the tonic | G · B · D | 34× |
Analysis
The key pair is C major and its relative A minor (no sharps or flats). 3 different chords appear 78 times in total; 3 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
- G Am CV → videceptive cadence AmVII → iAeolian arrival ×17
- F G CIV → VIV → V AmVI → VIIVI → VII ×17
The move to watch is G → Am, heard 17 times. From the Am side it is VII → i (Aeolian arrival: rises a whole tone into home); from the C side it reads V → vi (deceptive cadence: expected C, lands on Am). 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 G, land on G, B, D — the chord's own tones always sound right on strong beats.
- Over F, land on F, A, C — 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.
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
- 5 semitones down · capo 5 keeps the original pitch
- 2 semitones up
The song's harmonic story
Starting on F, the song gives away its key from the very first bar. G, F, Am carry the song: V–IV–vi relative to C, VII–VI–i relative to Am. No chord leaves the shared scale, so a single pentatonic shape works over the whole song. Keep an ear on G → Am (V → vi in C, VII → i in Am): Aeolian arrival — rises a whole tone into home. It closes on F, letting the C 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.
Twenty One Pilots - Car Radio Chords on Guitar, Ukulele and Piano
Hover over or tap a chord in the lyrics for its shapes, its degree in both keys and a listen button. Here you have every chord of the song side by side.
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