Sam Smith - Love Is A Losing Game - Chord

Key C major – A minor Chords Cmaj7, F/G, Fm6, Fm, Am7, Dm9, B7, E7 Easy key A (capo 3)

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Capo 0

Fm Cmaj7

Cmaj7                  F/G
      For you I was a flame
 Fm6             Cmaj7
Love is a losing game
Cmaj7               F/G
     Five story fire as you came
 Fm6             Cmaj7
Love is a losing game

Am7                     Dm9
   One I wish I never played
Fm           Cmaj7
   Oh what a mess we made
Cmaj7           F/G
And now the final frame
 Fm6             Cmaj7
Love is a losing game

Fm

 Cmaj7                  F/G
      Played out by the band
 Fm6             Cmaj7
Love is a losing hand
 Cmaj7                   F/G
      More than I could stand
 Fm6             Cmaj7
Love is a losing hand

Am7                Dm9
Self professed, profound
Fm                  Cmaj7
'Til the chips were down
Cmaj7                F/G
     Know you're a gambling man
 Fm6             Cmaj7
Love is a losing hand

Fm

Cmaj7               F/G
      And though I batted blind
 Fm6             Cmaj7
Love is a fate resigned
Cmaj7               F/G
     Memories mar my mind
 Fm6             Cmaj7   B7   E7
Love is a fate resigned

 Am7 Dm9
Over  futile odds
Fm               Cmaj7
   And laughed at by the gods
Cmaj7               F/G
And now the final frame
 Fm6             Cmaj7
Love is a losing game

End of song Play again?

Sam Smith - Love Is A Losing Game Tabs

NotesX

Harmony analysis

Sam Smith – Love Is A Losing Game: key and chord analysis

The song opens on Fm and ends on Cmaj7. 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)
#7 = G# (harmonic-minor leading tone from the V chord)

Which side does the ear lean to?

Our reading: to us the song feels closer to the C major side because it comes to rest on C, C is heard 22 times against 3 for Am and the major V chord points straight at 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
Imaj7	Cmaj7	Tonic — home	C · E · G · B	22×
ii7	Dm9	Supertonic — prepares the dominant	D · F · A · C · E	3×
iii	Em	Mediant — a tonic-family shade	E · G · B	—
V7/vi	E7	Secondary dominant V/vi — leads to Amsecondary dominant	E · G# · B · D	1×
IV	F/G	Subdominant — moves away from home	F · A · C	9×
iv6	Fm6	Minor iv — borrowed from the parallel minorborrowed chord	F · Ab · C · D	9×
iv	Fm	Minor iv — borrowed from the parallel minorborrowed chord	F · Ab · C	6×
V	G	Dominant — strongest pull home	G · B · D	—
vi7	Am7	Relative minor — the melancholy side	A · C · E · G	3×
vii°	Bdim	Leading-tone chord — tension	B · D · F	—
V7/iii	B7	Secondary dominant V/iii — leads to Emsecondary dominant	B · D# · F# · A	1×

Seen from A minor
Degree	Chord	Role	Notes	In song
i7	Am7	Tonic — home	A · C · E · G	3×
ii°	Bdim	Supertonic — prepares the dominant	B · D · F	—
V7/v	B7	Secondary dominant V/v — leads to Emsecondary dominant	B · D# · F# · A	1×
IIImaj7	Cmaj7	Relative major — the bright side	C · E · G · B	22×
iv7	Dm9	Subdominant — moves away from home	D · F · A · C · E	3×
v	Em	Minor dominant — soft pull	E · G · B	—
V7	E7	Dominant — borrowed from harmonic minor, pulls hard to the tonicharmonic minor	E · G# · B · D	1×
VI	F/G	Submediant — warm colour	F · A · C	9×
vi6	Fm6	Chromatic colour chordoutside the key	F · Ab · C · D	9×
vi	Fm	Chromatic colour chordoutside the key	F · Ab · C	6×
VII	G	Subtonic — steps back to the tonic	G · B · D	—

Analysis

The key pair is C major and its relative A minor (no sharps or flats). 8 different chords appear 54 times in total; 4 of them sit naturally inside the shared scale. The major V of Am brings the harmonic-minor leading tone, giving the minor side a sharper, more dramatic pull; seen from C, the same E7 is V7/vi, a secondary dominant heading for Am. B7 acts as a secondary dominant, briefly pointing at another chord of the key. Fm6, Fm are borrowed from the parallel minor, adding a darker shade to the major side.

Chord movement

Fm6 Cmaj7 Civ6 → Imaj7minor plagal Amvi6 → IIImaj7 ×9
Fm Cmaj7 Civ → Imaj7minor plagal Amvi → IIImaj7 ×6
E7 Am7 CV7/vi → vi7secondary resolution AmV7 → i7harmonic-minor cadence ×1
B7 E7 CV7/iii → V7/visecondary resolution AmV7/v → V7 ×1

The move to watch is Fm6 → Cmaj7, heard 9 times. From the C side it reads iv6 → Imaj7 (minor plagal: a bittersweet arrival with a borrowed iv); from the Am side it is vi6 → IIImaj7. 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 Cmaj7, land on C, E, G — the chord's own tones always sound right on strong beats.
Over F/G, land on F, A, C — the chord's own tones always sound right on strong beats.
Over Fm6, land on F, Ab, C — the chord's own tones always sound right on strong beats.
When E7 comes, swap the scale's G for G#: that single note is the harmonic-minor sound of the chord.
On Fm6, follow the chord's notes (F · Ab · C · D) 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 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

3 semitones down · capo 3 keeps the original pitch
4 semitones up

The song's harmonic story

The first chord is Fm; the ear learns where home is within a second. The chords that keep coming back are Cmaj7, F/G, Fm6, Fm; read them as Imaj7–IV–iv6–iv in C or IIImaj7–VI–vi6–vi in Am. B7 is the interesting twist: in C it is a chromatic chord (V7/iii), while in Am it becomes the dominant (V7/v) that makes the minor side sound so determined. Keep an ear on Fm6 → Cmaj7 (iv6 → Imaj7 in C, vi6 → IIImaj7 in Am): minor plagal — a bittersweet arrival with a borrowed iv. It closes on Cmaj7, 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.