Chords + Lyrics | Can’t Buy Me Love
Intro
| Em | Am | Em | Am | Dm | G |
Can’t buy me love, love. Can’t buy me love.
Verse 1
| C | C | C | C |
I’ll buy you a diamond ring my friend, if it makes you feel alright.
| F | F | C | C |
I’ll get you anything my friend, if it makes you feel alright.
| G7 | F7 N.C | F7 | C |
‘Cause I don’t care too much for money, for money can’t buy me love.
Verse 2
I’ll give you all I’ve got to give, if you say you love me too.
I may not have a lot to give but what I’ve got, I’ll give to you.
I don’t care too much for money, for money can’t buy me love.
Chorus 1
| Em | Am | C | C |
Can’t buy me love, everybody tells me so.
| Em | Am | Dm7 | G |
Can’t buy me love. No, no, no, nooo.
Verse 3
Say you don’t need no diamond ring and I’ll be satisfied.
Tell me that you want the kind of things, that money just can’t buy.
| G7 | F7 N.C | F7 | C | C |
I don’t care too much for money, money can’t buy me love. Ah-oww.
Solo
| C | C | C | C |
| F | F7 F6 | C7 | C7 |
| G7 | F7 | C | C |
Chorus 2
| Em | Am | C | C |
Can’t buy me love, everybody tells me so.
| Em | Am | Dm7 | G |
Can’t buy me love. No, no, no, nooo.
Verse 4
Say you don’t need no diamond rings and I’ll be satisfied.
Tell me that you want the kind of things, that money just can’t buy.
I don’t care too much for money, money can’t buy me love.
Chorus 3
| Em | Am | Em | Am | Dm7 | G | C | C |
Can’t buy me love, love. Can’t buy me love, oh.
Can’t Buy Me Love Chords: A Clever Twist on a Classic Blues Progression
Mixing a standard 12-bar blues in the key of C for the verse with the minor III and VI chords, followed by a II–V turnaround, Can’t Buy Me Love is a textbook example of pop and rock ’n’ roll songwriting.
Intro
The intro chorus starts with Em – Am, a progression typically associated with VI – II, the beginning of an E minor blues. However, The Beatles introduce a clever twist—what follows is Dm – G, revealing that the progression is actually III – VI, the end of a minor blues rather than the start.
Verse
The verse is a straightforward 12-bar blues but omits the usual dominant 7th chords at first:
| C | C | C | C |
| F | F | C | C |
| G7 | F7 N.C | F7 | C |
Chorus
When the chorus returns, it’s not identical to the intro chorus. This time, the progression moves Em – Am – C, as if the chorus has now been woven into the 12-bar blues structure—a simple yet brilliant shift.
Outro
Finally, the outro chorus returns to the original form, creating a satisfying resolution.
To work out how to combine the two guitars on the original recording and find a part that works in a band, you’ll need TAB. Here’s a link to how I think you should approach playing these chords: Can’t Buy Me Love – Guitar Lesson with TAB.
Once you can play the TAB, all you need is this chord chart.
Can’t Buy Me Love Chord Chart | PDF + iReal Pro Download
I had to make several compromises when writing a chord chart for Can’t Buy Me Love. The main one is how small each bar is—had I not done this, this relatively simple tune would have stretched over two pages.
Notice how similar the intro, chorus, and final chorus are. This is what we call “familiarity with a twist”, an essential element in hit songwriting—no copy and paste here!
Should you want to download my compact chart, you can do so in both PDF and iReal Pro formats:
Can’t Buy Me Love TAB | Course Preview
In the full course, you’ll find complete TAB for every section of Can’t Buy Me Love, carefully arranged to ensure it functions effectively when performed by a single guitarist. Each part has been structured to balance rhythmic drive with harmonic clarity, replicating the essential elements of both guitar parts from the original recording.
As a preview, here’s the TAB for the verse section, illustrating how to maintain the rhythmic pulse and chordal texture while preserving the song’s distinctive melodic contour.
One of many early hits by The Beatles
As the fourth best-selling single of the 1960s (behind She Loves You and I Want to Hold Your Hand), Can’t Buy Me Love was an immediate success, topping charts not only in the U.K. and the U.S., but worldwide.
This was The Beatles’ sixth single, and by this point, the band had become a global phenomenon, with fans going wild wherever they appeared. Taken from the album A Hard Day’s Night—the soundtrack to the film of the same name—Can’t Buy Me Love wasn’t the only classic on the record. It also featured timeless tracks such as And I Love Her and If I Fell.
Can’t Buy Me Love Chords: Continue Learning
Want to master this song? Check out the full TAB lesson here: Can’t Buy Me Love (The Beatles) Guitar Lesson with TAB.
Alternatively, here are five similar tunes you might enjoy:
