Taylor Swift - Nothing New - Chord

Key C major – A minor Chords F, G, C, Am, G/B, Em Easy key G (capo 5)

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Capo 0

                           C
They tell you while you’re young
                            Am
Girls, go out and have your fun
                            Em
Then they hunt and slay the ones
     F          G
Who actually do it
                      C
Criticize the way you fly
                                Am
When you’re soaring through the sky
                             Em
Shoot you down and then they sigh
              F                     G
And say, “She looks like she’s been through it”

                          F
Lord what will become of me
                   G
Once I’ve lost my novelty

F         G             C
  I’ve had too much to drink tonight
      G/B               Am
And I know it’s sad but this is what I think about
     F       G                         C
And I wake up in the middle of the night
         G/B    Am
It’s like I can feel time moving
F                       G
 How can a person know everything at 18
    C      G/B Am
But nothing at 22
             F
And will you still want me
G
When I’m nothing new?

C
   How long will it be cute
                      Am
All this crying in my room
                              Em
When you can’t blame it on my youth
              F             G
And roll your eyes with affection
                          C
And my cheeks are growing tired
                            Am
From turning red and faking smiles
                   Em          F              G
Are we only biding time till I lose your attention?

                                  F
And someone else lights up the room
                G
People love an ingénue

F         G             C
  I’ve had too much to drink tonight
     G/B                Am
How did I go from growing up to breaking down?
     F       G                         C
And I wake up in the middle of the night
         G/B    Am
It’s like I can feel time moving
F                       G
 How can a person know everything at 18
    C      G/B Am
But nothing at 22
             F
And will you still want me
G
When I’m nothing new?
 
C

F
 I know someday I’m gonna meet her
       G     F
It’s a fever dream
                                      G    F
The kind of radiance you only have at seventeen
                                                    G        F
She’ll know the way and then she’ll say she got the map from me
                                           G       C
I’ll say I’m happy for her then I’ll cry myself to sleep
 
  Am   Em     F
Oooh  Oooh Oooh
 C    Am   Em    F
Oooh  Oooh Oooh Oooh

F         G             C
  I’ve had too much to drink tonight
     G/B                Am
How did I go from growing up to breaking down?
     F       G                         C
And I wake up in the middle of the night
         G/B    Am
It’s like I can feel time moving
F                       G
 How can a person know everything at 18
    C      G/B Am
But nothing at 22
             F
And will you still want me
G
When I’m nothing new?

End of song Play again?

Taylor Swift - Nothing New Tabs

NotesX

Harmony analysis

Taylor Swift – Nothing New: key and chord analysis

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

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)

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 C major side because it opens on C and C is heard 16 times against 15 for Am. That is an interpretation, not a rule — hearing the same chords from A minor is just as valid and teaches you something different.

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.

Seen from C major
Degree	Chord	Role	Notes	In song
I	C	Tonic — home	C · E · G	16×
ii	Dm	Supertonic — prepares the dominant	D · F · A	—
iii	Em	Mediant — a tonic-family shade	E · G · B	6×
V/vi	E	Secondary dominant V/vi — leads to Amsecondary dominant	E · G# · B	—
IV	F	Subdominant — moves away from home	F · A · C	24×
V	G	Dominant — strongest pull home	G · B · D	22×
V	G/B	Dominant — strongest pull home	G · B · D	9×
vi	Am	Relative minor — the melancholy side	A · C · E	15×
vii°	Bdim	Leading-tone chord — tension	B · D · F	—

Seen from A minor
Degree	Chord	Role	Notes	In song
i	Am	Tonic — home	A · C · E	15×
ii°	Bdim	Supertonic — prepares the dominant	B · D · F	—
III	C	Relative major — the bright side	C · E · G	16×
iv	Dm	Subdominant — moves away from home	D · F · A	—
v	Em	Minor dominant — soft pull	E · G · B	6×
V	E	Dominant — borrowed from harmonic minor, pulls hard to the tonicharmonic minor	E · G# · B	—
VI	F	Submediant — warm colour	F · A · C	24×
VII	G	Subtonic — steps back to the tonic	G · B · D	22×
VII	G/B	Subtonic — steps back to the tonic	G · B · D	9×

Analysis

The key pair is C major and its relative A minor (no sharps or flats). 6 different chords appear 92 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

F G CIV → VIV → V AmVI → VIIVI → VII ×22
G C CV → Iauthentic cadence AmVII → III ×14
G/B Am CV → videceptive cadence AmVII → iAeolian arrival ×9
F C CIV → Iplagal cadence AmVI → III ×1

The move to watch is F → G, heard 22 times. From the C side it reads IV → V (IV → V: the lift that builds tension before home); from the Am 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

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 F, land on F, A, C — 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.
Over C, land on C, E, G — 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

The song's harmonic story

The opening C lays a solid floor for everything that follows. The chords that keep coming back are F, G, C, Am; read them as IV–V–I–vi in C or VI–VII–III–i in Am. No chord leaves the shared scale, so a single pentatonic shape works over the whole song. Keep an ear on F → G (IV → V in C, VI → VII in Am): IV → V — the lift that builds tension before home. Ending on G, the song seals C 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.