Sep292022

Paramore – This Is Why Chords on Piano & Ukulele

Updated January 8, 2026

ChordsEm A C Am

KeyKeyCapo

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[Intro]
Em
Em A

[Verse 1]
Em
If you have an opinion
Em
  Maybe you should shove it
   A
Or maybe you could scream it

[Pre-Chorus]
Might be best to keep it to
     C
yourself (To yourself)
       Em
To yourself (To yourself)

[Chorus]
Em
This is why I don't
leave the house
    Em
You say the coast is clear
    Em
But you won't catch me out
    C
Oh, why?
        Am
This is why

[Verse 2]
Em
Better have conviction
       Em
'Cause we were crimes of passion
   A
Survival of the fittest
       A
You're either with us or

[Pre-Chorus]
                       C
You can keep it to yourself
(To yourself)
       Am
To yourself (To yourself)
       C
To yourself, yourself, yourself
       Em
To yourself (To yourself)

[Chorus]
Em
This is why I don't
leave the house
    Em
You say the coast is clear
    Em
But you won't catch me out
    C
Oh, why?
        Am
This is why
Em
This is why I don't
 leave the house
    Em
You say the coast is clear
    Em
But you won't catch me out
    C
Oh, why?
        Am  Em
This is why


[Bridge]
Am           Em
  One step beyond your door
   C
It might as well have
 been a free fall
Am           Em
  One step beyond your door
C
Fallin' down an endless hall
Am           Em
  One step beyond your door
C
Might as well have been a free fall
Am           Em
  One step beyond your door
        C
And I'm fallin' like a cannonball

[Chorus]
Em
This is why I don't
leave the house
    Em
You say the coast is clear
    Em
But you won't catch me out
    C
Oh, why?
        Am
This is why
Em
This is why I don't leave the house
    Em
You say the coast is clear
     Em
But, oh no, won't catch me out
    C
Oh, why?
        Am
This is why

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How to play This Is Why: key, chords and progression

These are This Is Why chords by Paramore on Piano, Ukulele, Guitar, and Keyboard.

This Is Why by Paramore keeps coming home to F major (one flat: B♭). You need 4 chords: Em, A, C and Am.

Listen for Em – C – Am – Em (vii – V – iii – vii in F major): the song comes back to it again and again. In solfa, that is te – soh – mi – te. Once these 4 changes are comfortable, most of the song is done.

Beginner-friendly: on guitar every chord is an open shape, which makes this a good song to learn early on.