Madonna - Bad Girl - Chord

Key C major – A minor Chords Gbm, Dbm, D, E, B Easy key Eb

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Capo 0

Gbm
Something's missing
       Dbm
And I don't know why
Gbm                Dbm
I always feel the need
            D     E      GbM
To hide my feelings from you
Gbm         Dbm                  Gbm
Is it me or you that I'm afraid of
                   Dbm
I tell myself I'll show you
               D
What I'm made of
       E              GbM
Can't bring myself to let you go
Gbm   Dbm      Gbm           Dbm
Don't want to cause you any pain
       Gbm               Dbm
But I love you just the same
           D            E
And you'll always be my baby
Gbm    Dbm
In my heart
Gbm                    Dbm
I know we've come apart
       Gbm                 Dbm
And I don't know where to start
           Gbm
What can I do
B
I don't wanna feel blue
Gbm      Dbm          Gbm
Bad girl drunk by six
                Dbm         Gbm
Kissing someone else's lips
                Dbm
Smoked too many cigarettes today
D                    E
I'm not happy when I act this way
Gbm      Dbm         Gbm
Bad girl drunk by six

Kissing some
        Dbm          Gbm
Kind stranger's lips
                 Dbm
Smoked too many cigarettes today
D
I'm not happy
E
I'm not happy

Gbm                        Dbm
Something's happened and I can't go back
Gbm                Dbm
I fall apart every time
              D          E   GbM
You hand your heart out to me
Gbm
What happens now
Dbm
I know I don't deserve you
Gbm
I wonder how
Dbm                 D
I'm ever gonna hurt you
      E               GbM        Gbm
Can't bring myself to let you go
        Dbm     Gbm            Dbm
I don't want to cause you any pain
       Gbm              Dbm
But I love you just the same
           D            E
And you'll always be my baby
Gbm    Dbm
In my heart
  Gbm               Dbm
I know we've come apart
Gbm                         Dbm
And I don't know where to start
           Gbm
What can I do
B
I don't wanna feel blue
Gbm      Dbm          Gbm
Bad girl drunk by six
                Dbm         Gbm
Kissing someone else's lips
                Dbm
Smoked too many cigarettes today
D                    E            Gbm
I'm not happy when I act this way
         Dbm         Gbm
Bad girl drunk by six

Kissing some
     Dbm            Gbm
Kind stranger's lips
                Dbm
Smoked too many cigarettes today
D
I'm not happy
E
I'm not happy
Gbm
This way

End of song Play again?

Madonna - Bad Girl Tabs

NotesX

Harmony analysis

Madonna – Bad Girl: key and chord analysis

The song opens on Gbm and ends on Gbm. 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)
#7 = G# (harmonic-minor leading tone from the V chord)

Which side does the ear lean to?

Our reading: to us the song feels closer to the A minor side because the major V chord points straight at Am. 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.

Seen from C major
Degree	Chord	Role	Notes	In song
I	C	Tonic — home	C · E · G	—
bii	Dbm	Chromatic colour chordoutside the key	Db · Fb · Ab	32×
ii	Dm	Supertonic — prepares the dominant	D · F · A	—
II	D	Chromatic colour chordoutside the key	D · F# · A	8×
iii	Em	Mediant — a tonic-family shade	E · G · B	—
III	E	Chromatic colour chordoutside the key	E · G# · B	6×
IV	F	Subdominant — moves away from home	F · A · C	—
#iv	Gbm	Chromatic colour chordoutside the key	Gb · A · Db	34×
V	G	Dominant — strongest pull home	G · B · D	—
vi	Am	Relative minor — the melancholy side	A · C · E	—
vii°	Bdim	Leading-tone chord — tension	B · D · F	—
V/iii	B	Secondary dominant V/iii — leads to Emsecondary dominant	B · D# · F#	2×

Seen from A minor
Degree	Chord	Role	Notes	In song
i	Am	Tonic — home	A · C · E	—
ii°	Bdim	Supertonic — prepares the dominant	B · D · F	—
V/v	B	Secondary dominant V/v — leads to Emsecondary dominant	B · D# · F#	2×
III	C	Relative major — the bright side	C · E · G	—
#iii	Dbm	Chromatic colour chordoutside the key	Db · Fb · Ab	32×
iv	Dm	Subdominant — moves away from home	D · F · A	—
IV	D	Major IV — Dorian / melodic-minor colourmodal colour	D · F# · A	8×
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	6×
VI	F	Submediant — warm colour	F · A · C	—
#vi	Gbm	Chromatic colour chordoutside the key	Gb · A · Db	34×
VII	G	Subtonic — steps back to the tonic	G · B · D	—

Analysis

The key pair is C major and its relative A minor (no sharps or flats). 5 different chords appear 82 times in total; 0 of them sit naturally inside the shared scale. The major V of Am brings the harmonic-minor leading tone, giving the minor side a sharper, more dramatic pull. B acts as a secondary dominant, briefly pointing at another chord of the key.

Chord movement

There's no textbook cadence here; the chords circle around each other in a loop, so the song feels more like a groove than a series of arrivals.

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 Gbm, land on Gb, A, Db — the chord's own tones always sound right on strong beats.
Over Dbm, land on Db, Fb, Ab — the chord's own tones always sound right on strong beats.
Over D, land on D, F#, A — the chord's own tones always sound right on strong beats.
When E comes, swap the scale's G for G#: 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 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

3 semitones up
4 semitones down · capo 4 keeps the original pitch

The song's harmonic story

Starting on Gbm, the song gives away its key from the very first bar. The chords that keep coming back are Gbm, Dbm, D, E; read them as #iv–bii–II–III in C or #vi–#iii–IV–V in Am. E is the interesting twist: in C it is a chromatic chord (III), while in Am it becomes the dominant (V) that makes the minor side sound so determined. Ending on Gbm, 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.