Rihanna - Love The Way You Lie (feat. Eminem) - Chord

Key Bb major – G minor Chords Gm, Eb, Bb, F Easy key G (capo 3)

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Capo 0

Gm                 Eb
On the first page of our story
      Bb             F
The future seems so bright
          Gm                 Eb
And this thing turned out so evil
              Bb                F
I don’t know why I’m still surprised
      Gm                 Eb
Even angels have their wicked
            Bb                 F
Schemes and you take that to new extremes
        Gm              Eb
But you’ll always be my hero
       Bb                 F
Even though you lost your mind

            Gm                       Eb
Just gonna stand there and watch me burn
            Bb                                F
But that’s alright because I like the way it hurts
            Gm                      Eb
Just gonna stand there and hear me cry
            Bb
But that’s alright because
                    F                      Gm
I love the way you lie, I love the way you lie
Eb                         Bb   F
Ooh    i love the way you lie

         Gm                Eb
Now this gravel in our voices
         Bb                   F
Glass is shattered from the fight
        Gm                    Eb         Bb             F
In this tug of war, you’ll always win, even when I’m right
          Gm                      Eb
Cause you feed me fables from your hand
         Bb                   F               Gm
With violet words and empty threats and it’s sick
          Eb                   Bb               F
That all these battles are what keeps me satisfied

            Gm                       Eb
Just gonna stand there and watch me burn
            Bb                                F
But that’s alright because I like the way it hurts
            Gm                      Eb
Just gonna stand there and hear me cry
            Bb
But that’s alright because
                    F                      Gm
I love the way you lie, I love the way you lie
Eb                         Bb   F
Ooh    i love the way you lie

    Gm              Eb
So maybe I’m a masochist
   Bb                F
I try to run but I don’t wanna ever leave
Gm                 Eb
Til the walls are goin’
        Bb                 F
Up in smoke with all our memories

            Gm                       Eb
Just gonna stand there and watch me burn
            Bb                                F
But that’s alright because I like the way it hurts
            Gm                      Eb
Just gonna stand there and hear me cry
            Bb
But that’s alright because
                    F                      Gm
I love the way you lie, I love the way you lie
Eb                        Bb   F
Ooh   i love the way you lie

End of song Play again?

Rihanna - Love The Way You Lie (feat. Eminem) Tabs

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Harmony analysis

Rihanna – Love The Way You Lie (feat. Eminem): key and chord analysis

The song opens on Gm and ends on F. Its chords belong to both Bb major and Gm, so every chord below is read both ways.

Major view

Bb major

Brightness rank 2/7 (bright)

Characteristic notes

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

Minor view

G minor

Brightness rank 5/7 (leaning dark)

Characteristic notes

b6 = Eb (the minor's melancholy)
b7 = F (natural-minor colour)

Which side does the ear lean to?

Our reading: to us the song feels closer to the G minor side because it opens on Gm. That is an interpretation, not a rule — the same chords are just as valid seen from Bb major, and switching between the two views is exactly where the practice value lies.

Chord degrees: major and relative minor

Show the degrees above the chords — relative to Bb or to Gm; 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 Bb major
Degree	Chord	Role	Notes	In song
I	Bb	Tonic — home	Bb · D · F	19×
ii	Cm	Supertonic — prepares the dominant	C · Eb · G	—
iii	Dm	Mediant — a tonic-family shade	D · F · A	—
V/vi	D	Secondary dominant V/vi — leads to Gmsecondary dominant	D · F# · A	—
IV	Eb	Subdominant — moves away from home	Eb · G · Bb	19×
V	F	Dominant — strongest pull home	F · A · C	19×
vi	Gm	Relative minor — the melancholy side	G · Bb · D	19×
vii°	Adim	Leading-tone chord — tension	A · C · Eb	—

Seen from G minor
Degree	Chord	Role	Notes	In song
i	Gm	Tonic — home	G · Bb · D	19×
ii°	Adim	Supertonic — prepares the dominant	A · C · Eb	—
III	Bb	Relative major — the bright side	Bb · D · F	19×
iv	Cm	Subdominant — moves away from home	C · Eb · G	—
v	Dm	Minor dominant — soft pull	D · F · A	—
V	D	Dominant — borrowed from harmonic minor, pulls hard to the tonicharmonic minor	D · F# · A	—
VI	Eb	Submediant — warm colour	Eb · G · Bb	19×
VII	F	Subtonic — steps back to the tonic	F · A · C	19×

Analysis

The key pair is Bb major and its relative G minor (2 flats). 4 different chords appear 76 times in total; 4 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

Eb Bb BbIV → Iplagal cadence GmVI → III ×19
F Gm BbV → videceptive cadence GmVII → iAeolian arrival ×18

The move to watch is Eb → Bb, heard 19 times. From the Gm side it is VI → III; from the Bb side it reads IV → I (plagal cadence: the soft 'amen' ending). Knowing where these arrivals fall helps you feel the phrasing and anticipate the next chord.

Improvisation tips

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

Capo 1 + A shapes
Capo 3 + G shapes
Capo 6 + E shapes

With G minor shapes

Capo 3 + Em shapes
Capo 5 + Dm shapes

Easiest keys on guitar

3 semitones down · capo 3 keeps the original pitch
1 semitone down · capo 1 keeps the original pitch

The song's harmonic story

The first chord is Gm; the ear learns where home is within a second. The backbone is Gm, Eb, Bb, F — vi–IV–I–V from the Bb side, i–VI–III–VII from the Gm side. No chord leaves the shared scale, so a single pentatonic shape works over the whole song. Keep an ear on Eb → Bb (IV → I in Bb, VI → III in Gm): plagal cadence — the soft 'amen' ending. Ending on F, the song seals Bb as home.

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.