Eric Clapton - Badge - Chord

Key G major – E minor Chords D, Am, C, Cmaj7, G/B, G, Em9, Em … Difficulty already in its easiest key

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Capo 0

Am   C   Em  C   D

Am                   D                         Em 
  Thinkin' 'bout the times your drove in my car
Am                D                               Em9
  Thinkin' that I might have drove you too far
C                           Am                         Bm  Am9
  And I'm thinkin' bout the love that you laid on my table

Am                  D                          Em9
  I told you not to wander 'round in the dark
Am                     D                                  Em9
  I told you 'bout the swans, that they live in the park
C                           Am                         Bm  Am9
  Then I told you 'bout our kid, now he's married to Mable

D  Cmaj7  G/B  G  D 

D       Cmaj7           G/B       G    D 
 Yes, I told you that the light goes up and down
          Cmaj7        G/B       G     D 
Don't you notice how the wheel goes 'round
        Cmaj7         G/B      G  D 
And you better pick yourself up from the ground
  Cmaj7                 G/B     G     D 
before they bring the curtain down
     Cmaj7                   G/B     G     D    C 
Yes, before they bring the curtain down

Am                D                          Em9
  Talkin' 'bout a girl that looks quite like you
Am                    D                          Em 
  She didn't have the time to wait in the queue
C                    Am                             Bm  Am9
  She cried away her life since she fell off the cradle

End of song Play again?

Eric Clapton - Badge Tabs

NotesX

Harmony analysis

Eric Clapton – Badge: key and chord analysis

The song opens on Am and ends on Am9. Its chords belong to both G major and Em, so every chord below is read both ways.

Major view

G major

Brightness rank 2/7 (bright)

Characteristic notes

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

Minor view

E minor

Brightness rank 5/7 (leaning dark)

Characteristic notes

b6 = C (the minor's melancholy)
b7 = D (natural-minor colour)

Which side does the ear lean to?

Our reading: to us the song feels closer to the G major side because G is heard 12 times against 7 for Em. That is an interpretation, not a rule — hearing the same chords from E minor is just as valid and teaches you something different.

Chord degrees: major and relative minor

Show the degrees above the chords — relative to G or to Em; 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 G major
Degree	Chord	Role	Notes	In song
I	G/B	Tonic — home	G · B · D	6×
I	G	Tonic — home	G · B · D	6×
ii	Am	Supertonic — prepares the dominant	A · C · E	10×
ii7	Am9	Supertonic — prepares the dominant	A · C · E · G · B	3×
iii	Bm	Mediant — a tonic-family shade	B · D · F#	3×
V/vi	B	Secondary dominant V/vi — leads to Emsecondary dominant	B · D# · F#	—
IV	C	Subdominant — moves away from home	C · E · G	6×
IVmaj7	Cmaj7	Subdominant — moves away from home	C · E · G · B	6×
V	D	Dominant — strongest pull home	D · F# · A	15×
vi7	Em9	Relative minor — the melancholy side	E · G · B · D · F#	4×
vi	Em	Relative minor — the melancholy side	E · G · B	3×
vii°	F#dim	Leading-tone chord — tension	F# · A · C	—

Seen from E minor
Degree	Chord	Role	Notes	In song
i7	Em9	Tonic — home	E · G · B · D · F#	4×
i	Em	Tonic — home	E · G · B	3×
ii°	F#dim	Supertonic — prepares the dominant	F# · A · C	—
III	G/B	Relative major — the bright side	G · B · D	6×
III	G	Relative major — the bright side	G · B · D	6×
iv	Am	Subdominant — moves away from home	A · C · E	10×
iv7	Am9	Subdominant — moves away from home	A · C · E · G · B	3×
v	Bm	Minor dominant — soft pull	B · D · F#	3×
V	B	Dominant — borrowed from harmonic minor, pulls hard to the tonicharmonic minor	B · D# · F#	—
VI	C	Submediant — warm colour	C · E · G	6×
VImaj7	Cmaj7	Submediant — warm colour	C · E · G · B	6×
VII	D	Subtonic — steps back to the tonic	D · F# · A	15×

Analysis

The key pair is G major and its relative E minor (1 sharp). 10 different chords appear 62 times in total; 10 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

Cmaj7 G/B GIVmaj7 → Iplagal cadence EmVImaj7 → III ×6
Am D Gii → Vii → V Emiv → VII ×6
D Em9 GV → vi7deceptive cadence EmVII → i7Aeolian arrival ×4
D Em GV → videceptive cadence EmVII → iAeolian arrival ×2
C Em GIV → vi EmVI → iVI → i ×1
C D GIV → VIV → V EmVI → VIIVI → VII ×1

The move to watch is Cmaj7 → G/B, heard 6 times. From the G side it reads IVmaj7 → I (plagal cadence: the soft 'amen' ending); from the Em side it is VImaj7 → III. Knowing where these arrivals fall helps you feel the phrasing and anticipate the next chord.

Improvisation tips

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

No capo — open G shapes
Capo 3 + E shapes
Capo 5 + D shapes

With E minor shapes

No capo — open Em shapes
Capo 2 + Dm shapes
Capo 7 + Am shapes

Easiest keys on guitar

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

The song's harmonic story

Starting on Am, the song gives away its key from the very first bar. The chords that keep coming back are D, Am, C, Cmaj7; read them as V–ii–IV–IVmaj7 in G or VII–iv–VI–VImaj7 in Em. No chord leaves the shared scale, so a single pentatonic shape works over the whole song. Keep an ear on Cmaj7 → G/B (IVmaj7 → I in G, VImaj7 → III in Em): plagal cadence — the soft 'amen' ending. It closes on Am9, letting the G 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.