Shawn Mendes - Youth (feat. Khalid) - Chord

Key A major – F# minor Chords Em7, Bm7, C, Am7 Difficulty already in its easiest key

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Capo 0

Em7  Bm7  C  Am7

 Em7                               Bm7
Here I am, stuck on this couch, scrolling through my notes
            C                 Am7
Heart was broken, still not growing, nah
 Em7                                Bm7
Waking up to headlines filled with devastation again
              C                 Am7
My heart is broken, but I keep going

Em7             Bm7
   Pain, but I won't let it turn into
C            Am7
 Hate, no I won't let it change me
 Em7                      Bm7
Never losing sight of the one I keep inside
        C               Am7
Now I know it, yeah I know it

 Em7
You can't take my youth away
      Bm7
This soul of mine will never break
    C
As long as I wake up today
 Am7
You can't take my youth away

 Em7
You can't take my youth away
      Bm7
This soul of mine will never break
    C
As long as I wake up today
 Am7
You can't take my youth away
You can't take my youth away

      Em7                      Bm7
It's hard to sleep at night, knowing what's outside
         C                Am7
Feeling hopeless, I need focus
 Em7                           Bm7
You hit me with words I never heard come out your mouth
       C               Am7
To be honest, I don't want it, no

Em7             Bm7
   Pain, but I won't let it turn into
C            Am7
 Hate, no I won't let it change me

 Em7
You can't take my youth away
      Bm7
This soul of mine will never break
    C
As long as I wake up today
 Am7
You can't take my youth away

 Em7
You can't take my youth away
      Bm7
This soul of mine will never break
    C
As long as I wake up today
 Am7
You can't take my youth away
           Em7                       Bm7
You can't take my youth away 
           C                  Am7
You can't take my youth away, oh yeah

Em7             Bm7
   Pain, but I won't let it turn into
C            Am7
 Hate, no I won't let it change me
Em7             Bm7
   Pain, but I won't let it turn into
C            Am7
 Hate, no I won't let it change me

 Em7
You can't take my youth away
      Bm7
This soul of mine will never break
    C
As long as I wake up today
 Am7
You can't take my youth away

 Em7
You can't take my youth away
      Bm7
This soul of mine will never break
    C
As long as I wake up today
 Am7
You can't take my youth away

 Em7
You can't take my youth away
      Bm7
This soul of mine will never break
    C
As long as I wake up today
 Am7
You can't take my youth away

 Em7
You can't take my youth away
      Bm7
This soul of mine will never break
    C
As long as I wake up today
 Am7
You can't take my youth away

 Em7
You can't take my youth away
      Bm7
This soul of mine will never break
    C
As long as I wake up today
 Am7
You can't take my youth away
You can't take my youth away

End of song Play again?

Shawn Mendes - Youth (feat. Khalid) Tabs

NotesX

Harmony analysis

Shawn Mendes – Youth (feat. Khalid): key and chord analysis

The song opens on Em7 and ends on Am7. Its chords belong to both A major and F#m, so every chord below is read both ways.

Major view

A major

Brightness rank 2/7 (bright)

Characteristic notes

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

Minor view

F# minor

Brightness rank 5/7 (leaning dark)

Characteristic notes

b6 = D (the minor's melancholy)
b7 = E (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 A major and F# 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 A or to F#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 A major
Degree	Chord	Role	Notes	In song
I	A	Tonic — home	A · C# · E	—
i7	Am7	Chromatic colour chordoutside the key	A · C · E · G	20×
ii7	Bm7	Supertonic — prepares the dominant	B · D · F# · A	20×
bIII	C	Borrowed from the parallel minorborrowed chord	C · E · G	20×
iii	C#m	Mediant — a tonic-family shade	C# · E · G#	—
III	C#	Chromatic colour chordoutside the key	C# · E# · G#	—
IV	D	Subdominant — moves away from home	D · F# · A	—
V	E	Dominant — strongest pull home	E · G# · B	—
v7	Em7	Chromatic colour chordoutside the key	E · G · B · D	20×
vi	F#m	Relative minor — the melancholy side	F# · A · C#	—
vii°	G#dim	Leading-tone chord — tension	G# · B · D	—

Seen from F# minor
Degree	Chord	Role	Notes	In song
i	F#m	Tonic — home	F# · A · C#	—
ii°	G#dim	Supertonic — prepares the dominant	G# · B · D	—
III	A	Relative major — the bright side	A · C# · E	—
iii7	Am7	Chromatic colour chordoutside the key	A · C · E · G	20×
iv7	Bm7	Subdominant — moves away from home	B · D · F# · A	20×
#IV	C	Chromatic colour chordoutside the key	C · E · G	20×
v	C#m	Minor dominant — soft pull	C# · E · G#	—
V	C#	Dominant — borrowed from harmonic minor, pulls hard to the tonicharmonic minor	C# · E# · G#	—
VI	D	Submediant — warm colour	D · F# · A	—
VII	E	Subtonic — steps back to the tonic	E · G# · B	—
vii7	Em7	Chromatic colour chordoutside the key	E · G · B · D	20×

Analysis

The key pair is A major and its relative F# minor (3 sharps). 4 different chords appear 80 times in total; 1 of them sit naturally inside the shared scale. C is 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

A major pentatonic and F# minor pentatonic are the same five notes (A – B – C# – E – F#): start from A for a brighter phrase, from F# for a bluesier one.
Over Em7, land on E, G, B — the chord's own tones always sound right on strong beats.
Over Bm7, land on B, D, F# — 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.
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 A major shapes

No capo — open A shapes
Capo 2 + G shapes
Capo 5 + E shapes

With F# minor shapes

Capo 2 + Em shapes
Capo 4 + Dm shapes

Easiest keys on guitar

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

The song's harmonic story

The opening Em7 lays a solid floor for everything that follows. The backbone is Em7, Bm7, C, Am7 — v7–ii7–bIII–i7 from the A side, vii7–iv7–#IV–iii7 from the F#m side. C briefly darkens the picture: borrowed from the parallel minor. The final chord is Am7; the ear comes to rest in A.

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.