Miley Cyrus - Thousand Miles (feat. Brandi Carlile) - Chord

Key B major – G# minor Chords C, D, Em, G, F Difficulty already in its easiest key

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Capo 0

G  C  G  C 

  G
Amazing
C                 
I'm driving 'round town 
                     Em
In a beat up old Mercedes
D                 C
  You think I'm crazy
              G
You might be right
      C        
But when he smiles
                        Em
I don't care about the past
D             C
  Just like that

   D
I told myself I closed that door
         C
But I'm right back here again
        D
I know half of what I'm saying 

Don't make no sense
         C
So don't ask me where I've been

Em                 D            
   I'm not always right, but still
   C
I ain't got time for what went wrong
Em             D                   C
   Where I end up, I don't really care
Em                D              
   I'm out of my mind, but still
     C
I'm holding on like a rolling stone
Em             D              F
   A thousand miles from anywhere

               G
I look in the rear view
       C        
I was talking to you 
                       Em
'Fore I realized this madness
D             C
  Before the sadness
       G
Oh, I pick up the phone 

And I call back home
    C
But all I get is a dial tone
        Em             D        
And instead of hanging up
           C
I hang my head

   D
I told myself I closed that door
         C
But I'm right back here again
        D
I know half of what I'm saying 

Don't make no sense
         C
So don't ask me where I've been

Em                 D            
   I'm not always right, but still
   C
I ain't got time for what went wrong
Em             D                   C
   Where I end up, I don't really care
Em                D              
   I'm out of my mind, but still
     C
I'm holding on like a rolling stone
Em             D              F
   A thousand miles from anywhere

   D
I told myself I closed that door
         C
But I'm right back here again
        D
I know half of what I'm saying 

Don't make no sense
         C
So don't ask me where I've been

Em                 D            
   I'm not always right, but still
   C
I ain't got time for what went wrong
Em             D                   C
   Where I end up, I don't really care
Em                D              
   I'm out of my mind, but still
     C
I'm holding on like a rolling stone
Em             D              F
   A thousand miles from anywhere

G

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Miley Cyrus - Thousand Miles (feat. Brandi Carlile) Tabs

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Harmony analysis

Miley Cyrus – Thousand Miles (feat. Brandi Carlile): key and chord analysis

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

Major view

B major

Brightness rank 2/7 (bright)

Characteristic notes

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

Minor view

G# minor

Brightness rank 5/7 (leaning dark)

Characteristic notes

b6 = E (the minor's melancholy)
b7 = F# (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 B major and G# 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 B or to G#m; 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 B major
Degree	Chord	Role	Notes	In song
I	B	Tonic — home	B · D# · F#	—
bII	C	Neapolitan bII — a dark, dramatic colour a half step above the tonicborrowed chord	C · E · G	25×
ii	C#m	Supertonic — prepares the dominant	C# · E · G#	—
bIII	D	Borrowed from the parallel minorborrowed chord	D · F# · A	22×
iii	D#m	Mediant — a tonic-family shade	D# · F# · A#	—
III	D#	Chromatic colour chordoutside the key	D# · G · A#	—
IV	E	Subdominant — moves away from home	E · G# · B	—
iv	Em	Minor iv — borrowed from the parallel minorborrowed chord	E · G · B	16×
#IV	F	Chromatic colour chordoutside the key	F · A · C	3×
V	F#	Dominant — strongest pull home	F# · A# · C#	—
bVI	G	Borrowed from the parallel minorborrowed chord	G · B · D	7×
vi	G#m	Relative minor — the melancholy side	G# · B · D#	—
vii°	A#dim	Leading-tone chord — tension	A# · C# · E	—

Seen from G# minor
Degree	Chord	Role	Notes	In song
i	G#m	Tonic — home	G# · B · D#	—
ii°	A#dim	Supertonic — prepares the dominant	A# · C# · E	—
III	B	Relative major — the bright side	B · D# · F#	—
#III	C	Chromatic colour chordoutside the key	C · E · G	25×
iv	C#m	Subdominant — moves away from home	C# · E · G#	—
#IV	D	Chromatic colour chordoutside the key	D · F# · A	22×
v	D#m	Minor dominant — soft pull	D# · F# · A#	—
V	D#	Dominant — borrowed from harmonic minor, pulls hard to the tonicharmonic minor	D# · G · A#	—
VI	E	Submediant — warm colour	E · G# · B	—
vi	Em	Chromatic colour chordoutside the key	E · G · B	16×
#VI	F	Chromatic colour chordoutside the key	F · A · C	3×
VII	F#	Subtonic — steps back to the tonic	F# · A# · C#	—
#VII	G	Chromatic colour chordoutside the key	G · B · D	7×

Analysis

The key pair is B major and its relative G# minor (5 sharps). 5 different chords appear 73 times in total; 0 of them sit naturally inside the shared scale. C, D, Em, G 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

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

Capo 2 + A shapes
Capo 4 + G shapes
Capo 7 + E shapes

With G# minor shapes

Capo 4 + Em shapes
Capo 6 + Dm shapes

Easiest keys on guitar

The song is already written in its easiest key for guitar.

The song's harmonic story

The first chord is G; the ear learns where home is within a second. C, D, Em, G carry the song: bII–bIII–iv–bVI relative to B, #III–#IV–vi–#VII relative to G#m. C briefly darkens the picture: neapolitan bii — a dark, dramatic colour a half step above the tonic. The final chord is G; the ear comes to rest in B.

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.