Taylor Swift - Right Where You Left Me - Chord

Key Bb major – G minor Chords F, Bb, Eb, Gm, Cm, Dm Easy key G (capo 3)

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Capo 0

F
Friends break up, friends get married
Gm
Strangers get born, strangers get buried
Eb
Trends change, rumors fly through new skies
    Bb                  F
But I'm right where you left me

Matches burn after the other
Gm
Pages turn and stick to each other
Eb
Wages earned and lessons learned
       Bb                  F
But I, I'm right where you left me

F                            Gm
Help, I'm still at the restaurant
                            Eb
Still sitting in a corner I haunt
 
Cross-legged in the dim light
Bb                            F
They say, "What a sad sight", I
                                  Gm
I swear you could hear a hair pin drop
                             Eb
Right when I felt the moment stop
 
Glass shattered on the white cloth
Bb                  F
Everybody moved on, I

Cm
I stayed there
                     Bb
Dust collected on my pinnedup hair
F                   Cm
They expected me to find somewhere
                        Bb
Some perspective, but I sat and stared
F
Right where you left me

    Gm                  Eb
You left me no, oh, you left me no
    Bb                       F
You left me no choice but to stay here forever
                 Gm                  Eb
You left me, you left me no, oh, you left me no
    Bb                       F
You left me no choice but to stay here forever

Cm  Cm  Bb  F

Dm                                        Eb
 Did you ever hear about the girl who got frozen
 
Time went on for everybody else
          F                                            Eb
She won't know it, she's still twenty-three inside her fantasy
              Bb
How it was supposed to be
Dm                                          Eb
 Did you hear about the girl who lives in delusion
                                             F
Breakups happen every day, you don't have to lose it
                                    Eb
She's still twenty-three inside her fantasy
    Bb 
And you're sitting in front of me

             Gm                                Eb
At the restaurant when I was still the one you want
                              Bb                         F
Cross-legged in the dim light everything was just right, I
F                        Gm
I could feel the mascara run
                             Eb
You told me that you met someone
 
Glass shattered on the white cloth
Bb              F
Everybody moved on

F                            Gm
Help, I'm still at the restaurant
                            Eb
Still sitting in a corner I haunt
 
Cross-legged in the dim light
Bb                            F
They say, "What a sad sight", I
 
Cm
I stayed there
                     Bb
Dust collected on my pinned-up hair
F                       Cm
I'm sure that you got a wife out there
                            Bb
Kids and Christmas, but I'm unaware
          F             Cm
Cause I'm right where I cause no harm
 
Mind my business
       Bb
If our love died young
  F
I can't bear witness
         Cm
And it's been so long
                          Bb
But if you ever think you got it wrong
    F
I'm right where
         Bb  F
You left me

    Gm                  Eb
You left me no, oh, you left me no
    Bb                       F
You left me no choice but to stay here forever
                 Gm                  Eb
You left me, you left me no, oh, you left me no
    Bb                       F
You left me no choice but to stay here forever

End of song Play again?

Taylor Swift - Right Where You Left Me Tabs

NotesX

Harmony analysis

Taylor Swift – Right Where You Left Me: key and chord analysis

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

Major view

Bb major

Brightness rank 2/7 (bright)

Characteristic notes

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

Minor view

G minor

Brightness rank 5/7 (leaning dark)

Characteristic notes

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

Which side does the ear lean to?

Our reading: to us the song feels closer to the Bb major side because Bb is heard 21 times against 11 for Gm. That is an interpretation, not a rule — hearing the same chords from G minor is just as valid and teaches you something different.

Chord degrees: major and relative minor

Show the degrees above the chords — relative to Bb or to Gm; 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 Bb major
Degree	Chord	Role	Notes	In song
I	Bb	Tonic — home	Bb · D · F	21×
ii	Cm	Supertonic — prepares the dominant	C · Eb · G	8×
iii	Dm	Mediant — a tonic-family shade	D · F · A	2×
V/vi	D	Secondary dominant V/vi — leads to Gmsecondary dominant	D · F# · A	—
IV	Eb	Subdominant — moves away from home	Eb · G · Bb	15×
V	F	Dominant — strongest pull home	F · A · C	25×
vi	Gm	Relative minor — the melancholy side	G · Bb · D	11×
vii°	Adim	Leading-tone chord — tension	A · C · Eb	—

Seen from G minor
Degree	Chord	Role	Notes	In song
i	Gm	Tonic — home	G · Bb · D	11×
ii°	Adim	Supertonic — prepares the dominant	A · C · Eb	—
III	Bb	Relative major — the bright side	Bb · D · F	21×
iv	Cm	Subdominant — moves away from home	C · Eb · G	8×
v	Dm	Minor dominant — soft pull	D · F · A	2×
V	D	Dominant — borrowed from harmonic minor, pulls hard to the tonicharmonic minor	D · F# · A	—
VI	Eb	Submediant — warm colour	Eb · G · Bb	15×
VII	F	Subtonic — steps back to the tonic	F · A · C	25×

Analysis

The key pair is Bb major and its relative G minor (2 flats). 6 different chords appear 82 times in total; 6 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

Eb Bb BbIV → Iplagal cadence GmVI → III ×13
F Gm BbV → videceptive cadence GmVII → iAeolian arrival ×10
Eb F BbIV → VIV → V GmVI → VIIVI → VII ×2
F Bb BbV → Iauthentic cadence GmVII → III ×1

The move to watch is Eb → Bb, heard 13 times. From the Bb side it reads IV → I (plagal cadence: the soft 'amen' ending); from the Gm side it is VI → III. Knowing where these arrivals fall helps you feel the phrasing and anticipate the next chord.

Improvisation tips

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

Capo 1 + A shapes
Capo 3 + G shapes
Capo 6 + E shapes

With G minor shapes

Capo 3 + Em shapes
Capo 5 + Dm shapes

Easiest keys on guitar

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

The song's harmonic story

The first chord is F; the ear learns where home is within a second. The backbone is F, Bb, Eb, Gm — V–I–IV–vi from the Bb side, VII–III–VI–i from the Gm side. No chord leaves the shared scale, so a single pentatonic shape works over the whole song. Keep an ear on Eb → Bb (IV → I in Bb, VI → III in Gm): plagal cadence — the soft 'amen' ending. The final chord is F; the ear comes to rest in Bb.

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.