Adele - Can't Let Go - Chord

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

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Capo 0

C                      F                  Am                            F
  When did it go wrong, I will never know    I have loved you all my life
C                      F                    Am                            F
  How did it slow down, I go round and round Thinking about it all the time

                         C                                     F
I gave you heaven on a platter baby I gave you everything you never gave me
                    Am                             F
I never lied and I never faked it Only wanted for you to save me
         C           F                   Am             F
This love, it ain't over yet There's too much that I haven't said

C                          F        C                            F
Did you find the note that I wrote? I hid it in the seam of your coat
       Am                                F            C                 F       C
It was hard to write with a lump in my throat Do you even know that I can't let go

C                      F                      Am                            F
  Why were you so cold, let the truth be told Tell me was it all for the thrill
C                      F                     Am                            F
  What was I thinking, I gave you everything But you still went for the kill

                         C                                      F
I gave you heaven on a platter baby I gave you everything you never gave me
                    Am                             F
I never lied and I never faked it Only wanted for you to save me

C                          F        C                            F
Did you find the note that I wrote? I hid it in the seam of your coat
       Am                                F            C                 F       C
It was hard to write with a lump in my throat Do you even know that I can't let go

 F         Am              Em           F
Oooh sometimes I feel like I'm in the dark
 F   Am           Em            F
Oooh I thought I died in your arms

C                          F        C                            F
Did you find the note that I wrote? I hid it in the seam of your coat
        Am                               F            C                 F       C
It was hard to write with a lump in my throat Do you even know that I can't let go

    C             F        C
Hope you know, I won't let go

End of song Play again?

Adele - Can't Let Go Tabs

NotesX

Harmony analysis

Adele – Can't Let Go: key and chord analysis

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

Major view

D major

Brightness rank 2/7 (bright)

Characteristic notes

7 = C# (leading tone, pulls home)
4 = G (the note that leans on the 3rd)

Minor view

B minor

Brightness rank 5/7 (leaning dark)

Characteristic notes

b6 = G (the minor's melancholy)
b7 = A (natural-minor colour)

Which side does the ear lean to?

Our reading: we can't honestly pick a side here — the song moves freely between D major and B minor. Try reading the chords both ways and see which feels more like home to you.

Chord degrees: major and relative minor

Show the degrees above the chords — relative to D or to Bm; 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 D major
Degree	Chord	Role	Notes	In song
I	D	Tonic — home	D · F# · A	—
ii	Em	Supertonic — prepares the dominant	E · G · B	2×
bIII	F	Borrowed from the parallel minorborrowed chord	F · A · C	31×
iii	F#m	Mediant — a tonic-family shade	F# · A · C#	—
III	F#	Chromatic colour chordoutside the key	F# · A# · C#	—
IV	G	Subdominant — moves away from home	G · B · D	—
V	A	Dominant — strongest pull home	A · C# · E	—
v	Am	Chromatic colour chordoutside the key	A · C · E	12×
vi	Bm	Relative minor — the melancholy side	B · D · F#	—
bVII	C	bVII — borrowed (Mixolydian / parallel minor)borrowed chord	C · E · G	21×
vii°	C#dim	Leading-tone chord — tension	C# · E · G	—

Seen from B minor
Degree	Chord	Role	Notes	In song
i	Bm	Tonic — home	B · D · F#	—
bII	C	Neapolitan bII — a dark, dramatic colour a half step above the tonicborrowed chord	C · E · G	21×
ii°	C#dim	Supertonic — prepares the dominant	C# · E · G	—
III	D	Relative major — the bright side	D · F# · A	—
iv	Em	Subdominant — moves away from home	E · G · B	2×
#IV	F	Chromatic colour chordoutside the key	F · A · C	31×
v	F#m	Minor dominant — soft pull	F# · A · C#	—
V	F#	Dominant — borrowed from harmonic minor, pulls hard to the tonicharmonic minor	F# · A# · C#	—
VI	G	Submediant — warm colour	G · B · D	—
VII	A	Subtonic — steps back to the tonic	A · C# · E	—
vii	Am	Chromatic colour chordoutside the key	A · C · E	12×

Analysis

The key pair is D major and its relative B minor (2 sharps). 4 different chords appear 66 times in total; 1 of them sit naturally inside the shared scale. F, C are borrowed from the parallel minor, adding a darker shade to the major side.

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

D major pentatonic and B minor pentatonic are the same five notes (D – E – F# – A – B): start from D for a brighter phrase, from B for a bluesier one.
Over F, land on F, A, C — 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.
Over Am, land on A, C, E — the chord's own tones always sound right on strong beats.
On F, follow the chord's notes (F · A · C) rather than the key's scale — it's a borrowed colour.

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 D major shapes

No capo — open D shapes
Capo 2 + C shapes
Capo 5 + A shapes

With B minor shapes

Capo 2 + Am shapes
Capo 7 + Em shapes

Easiest keys on guitar

5 semitones down · capo 5 keeps the original pitch
2 semitones up

The song's harmonic story

The opening C lays a solid floor for everything that follows. The chords that keep coming back are F, C, Am, Em; read them as bIII–bVII–v–ii in D or #IV–bII–vii–iv in Bm. F briefly darkens the picture: borrowed from the parallel minor. It closes on C, letting the D 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.