Chords of: Only the Good Die Young (Official Audio) by: Billy Joel. (F, C, G, D) are the main chords of the song. The chords are displayed instantly in real-time with a YouTube player, four synced views, instrument diagrams, loop practice and a built-in vocal-remover mixer.
“Only the Good Die Young (Official Audio)” by Billy Joel is in C Major and runs at about 151 BPM, giving it a fast, energetic pace. Our analysis found 36 different chords across 178 chord changes; the ones that carry the song are F, C, G, D.
C is the chord you will hold longest — roughly 28% of the 3:54 the chords were tracked for. The song opens with F → G → C → G → F → G → C → F. Play the timeline above to hear each change land in real time.
Difficulty: intermediate — 5 main chords including 2 extended or barre voicings. Guitarists can play it as written — C Major sits in open-chord territory, no capo needed.
| Chord | Time held | Share |
|---|---|---|
| C | 1:05 | 28% |
| F | 0:48 | 20% |
| G | 0:38 | 16% |
| Fmaj7 | 0:11 | 5% |
| F6 | 0:10 | 4% |
| D | 0:09 | 4% |
| Am7 | 0:08 | 3% |
| G6 | 0:06 | 3% |
F – G – C6 – F – G – C – F – G/F – C6 – G – F – Dm – G – F/C – B/F# – Em – Abaug – Am7 – F – Gmaj7 – C – F – F#6 – G6 – Am – F – Bb/F – G – Fmaj7 – Gaug – Am7 – F – G – B7 – C6 – F/C – B/F# – G6 – Am7 – F – G – C – F – D/F# – G – C – F – Gmaj7 – …
