Taylor Swift - Who's Afraid Of Little Old Me - Chord

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

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Capo 0

Dm               F
   The who's who   of who's that
Am               G
   Is poised for   the attack
Dm                    F
   But my bare hands paved their paths
 C                G
You don't get to tell
          F
Me about sad

        Am
If you wanted me dead
      G
You should've just said

         G    
Nothing makes me feel more alive

      C
So I leap from the gallows
       G                    Dm
And I levitate down your street
                        F
Crash the party like a record
                C
Scratch as I scream
         G             Dm      F
Who’s afraid of little old me
      Am
You should be

Dm             F
   The scandal   was contained
Am            G
   The bullet   had just grazed
Dm                     F
   At all costs, keep your good name
 C                G
You don't get to tell me
          F     
You feel bad

         Am
Is it a wonder I broke
           G
Let's hear one more joke

            G
Then we can all

Just laugh until I cry

      C
So I leap from the gallows
       G                    Dm
And I levitate down your street
                        F
Crash the party like a record
                C
Scratch as I scream
         G             Dm      F
Who’s afraid of little old me

       C
I was tame, I was gentle
          G                   Dm
Till the circus life made me mean

Don't you worry, folks
    F                C
We took out all her teeth
         G             Dm      F
Who’s afraid of little old me
           C
Well you should be

      G
You should be
      Dm      F
You should be
      C
You should be
      G
You should be
      Dm      F
You should be

Am            G
   So tell me everything
         F
Is not about me
               C   G/B  Am
But what if it is

Then say they
 G               F 
Didn't do it To hurt me
                  C   G/B  
But what if they did

   Dm           
I wanna snarl and show you
          F 
Just how disturbed
             
This has made me
     Am               
You wouldn't last an hour
         G
In the asylum where they raised me
   Dm                   
So all you kids can sneak
         F                    
Into my house with all the cobwebs
    Am
I'm always drunk
          
On my own tears
      G
Isn't   that what they all said

           C
That I'll sue you
         G         Dm
If you step on my lawn

          C
That I'm fearsome
          G
And I'm wretched
          Am
And I'm wrong
        C          G   
Put narcotics into all
    Dm
Of my songs 
             C 
And that's why
              G      Dm
You're still singing    along 

      C
So I leap from the gallows
       G                    Dm
And I levitate down your street
                        F
Crash the party like a record
                C
Scratch as I scream
         G             Dm      F
Who’s afraid of little old me

       C
I was tame, I was gentle
          G                   Dm
Till the circus life made me mean

Don't you worry, folks
    F                C
We took out all her teeth
         G             Dm      F
Who’s afraid of little old me
           C
Well you should be

      G
You should be
      Dm      F
You should be

           C
Cause you lured me
         G
And you hurt me
         Dm       F
And you taught me

     C
You caged me and
          G          Dm  F
Then you called me crazy
  C         G              Dm        F
I am what I am 'cause you trained me
     C      G       Dm  F
So who's afraid of me
  C      G             Dm      F
Who's afraid of little old me
C          G             Dm     
  Who's afraid of little old me

End of song Play again?

Taylor Swift - Who's Afraid Of Little Old Me Tabs

NotesX

Harmony analysis

Taylor Swift – Who's Afraid Of Little Old Me: key and chord analysis

The song opens on Dm and ends on Dm. 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 C is heard 27 times against 10 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	27×
ii	Dm	Supertonic — prepares the dominant	D · F · A	28×
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	28×
V	G	Dominant — strongest pull home	G · B · D	35×
V	G/B	Dominant — strongest pull home	G · B · D	2×
vi	Am	Relative minor — the melancholy side	A · C · E	10×
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	10×
ii°	Bdim	Supertonic — prepares the dominant	B · D · F	—
III	C	Relative major — the bright side	C · E · G	27×
iv	Dm	Subdominant — moves away from home	D · F · A	28×
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	28×
VII	G	Subtonic — steps back to the tonic	G · B · D	35×
VII	G/B	Subtonic — steps back to the tonic	G · B · D	2×

Analysis

The key pair is C major and its relative A minor (no sharps or flats). 6 different chords appear 130 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 C CIV → Iplagal cadence AmVI → III ×20
F Am CIV → vi AmVI → iVI → i ×8
G C CV → Iauthentic cadence AmVII → III ×3
G/B Am CV → videceptive cadence AmVII → iAeolian arrival ×1
G Am CV → videceptive cadence AmVII → iAeolian arrival ×1

The move to watch is F → C, heard 20 times. From the C side it reads IV → I (plagal cadence: the soft 'amen' ending); from the Am side it is VI → III. 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 Dm, land on D, F, A — 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.

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

The first chord is Dm; the ear learns where home is within a second. G, Dm, F, C carry the song: V–ii–IV–I relative to C, VII–iv–VI–III relative to Am. No chord leaves the shared scale, so a single pentatonic shape works over the whole song. Keep an ear on F → C (IV → I in C, VI → III in Am): plagal cadence — the soft 'amen' ending. It closes on Dm, 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.