Shawn Mendes - Aftertaste - Chord

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

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Capo 0

Am     F                   C
Re rewind Friday night, never forget it, how you let me go
 Am       F                         C
No more lies I'll be fine, know where I'm headed, probably should've known

Am               F               C
And now you're gonna say pretty, please forgive me
 Am       F                    G
Fool me once, told you twice gonna regret it, now you're all alone yeah

 Am      G            F  C
Turns out that no one can replace me
Am     G           F   C
I'm permanent, you can't erase me
             Am   G           F    C
I'll help you remember me, one more kiss is all it takes
                  Am   G     F    C
I'll leave you with the memory, and the aftertaste

 Am          F                      C
Close your eyes, you can't hide, try to forget me, but I'm everywhere
Am        F                       C
I'm the smell on your sheets you weren't ready, when you left me there

Am               F               C
And now you're gonna say pretty, please forgive me, yeah
 Am         F                      G
Bet it hurts, it gets worse, you know nobody, said it would be fair oh

 Am      G            F  C
Turns out that no one can replace me
Am     G           F   C
I'm permanent, you can't erase me
             Am   G           F    C
I'll help you remember me, one more kiss is all it takes
                  Am   G     F    C
I'll leave you with the memory, and the aftertaste

 Dm                 Am    G Dm                 Am  G
Now there's something in your way, cause you threw it all to waste
Dm                     Am             G
And you wonder if you could take back what you did that day, and it hurts cause

 Am      G            F  C
Turns out that no one can replace me
Am     G           F   C
I'm permanent, you can't erase me
             Am   G         F      C
I'll help you remember me, one more kiss is all it takes
                  Am   G     F    C
I'll leave you with the memory, and the aftertaste

                   F   C
Truth is that no one can replace me
Am     G           F   C
I'm permanent, you can't erase me
             Am   G           F    C
I'll help you remember me, one more kiss is all it takes
                  Am   G     F    C  Am   G
I'll leave you with the memory, and the aftertaste
     F   C
And the aftertaste

End of song Play again?

Shawn Mendes - Aftertaste Tabs

NotesX

Harmony analysis

Shawn Mendes – Aftertaste: key and chord analysis

The song opens on Am and ends on C. 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: we can't honestly pick a side here — the song moves freely between C major and A minor because it comes to rest on C, it opens on Am and Am is heard 27 times against 23 for C. 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 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	23×
ii	Dm	Supertonic — prepares the dominant	D · F · A	3×
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	25×
V	G	Dominant — strongest pull home	G · B · D	21×
vi	Am	Relative minor — the melancholy side	A · C · E	27×
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	27×
ii°	Bdim	Supertonic — prepares the dominant	B · D · F	—
III	C	Relative major — the bright side	C · E · G	23×
iv	Dm	Subdominant — moves away from home	D · F · A	3×
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	25×
VII	G	Subtonic — steps back to the tonic	G · B · D	21×

Analysis

The key pair is C major and its relative A minor (no sharps or flats). 5 different chords appear 99 times in total; 5 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 ×23
G Am CV → videceptive cadence AmVII → iAeolian arrival ×3
Dm Am Cii → vi Amiv → iminor plagal ×3
F G CIV → VIV → V AmVI → VIIVI → VII ×2

The move to watch is F → C, heard 23 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 Am, land on A, C, E — 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.
Over C, land on C, E, G — 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

The song's harmonic story

The opening Am lays a solid floor for everything that follows. Am, F, C, G carry the song: vi–IV–I–V relative to C, i–VI–III–VII 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 C, 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.