best one chord song?

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What do you think, excuding 'the one note samba'

― lexurian (lexurian), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 09:51 (twenty years ago)

Neu - Fur Immer (et al)
Hawkwind - lots of them

― Bifidus Digestivum (Dada), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 09:53 (twenty years ago)

Depends on how you define it. There is no such thing as a good one chord song, but if the bass is the same while the rest changes, like on "Tomorrow Never Knows", it may work out.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 09:54 (twenty years ago)

anything by green day ?

― basketcaser, Tuesday, 14 June 2005 09:55 (twenty years ago)

vu - i'm waiting for the man ? tis all one chord aint it ?

― mark e (mark e), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 10:02 (twenty years ago)

and .. didn't the ravonettes make whole albums around single chords ?

oh, and of course there is Sputnik ..

― mark e (mark e), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 10:03 (twenty years ago)

Usually needs at least four different chords for a song to be great. Three may work out if they are not I - IV - V. As for one, or even two, no way.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 10:03 (twenty years ago)

anything by green day ?

-- basketcaser (nimro...), June 14th, 2005.

I think you need more than one brain cell to hear the other chords.

You should probably get to work on that.

― Hari A$hur$t (Toaster), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 10:04 (twenty years ago)

vu - i'm waiting for the man ? tis all one chord aint it ?

Nope

― Bifidus Digestivum (Dada), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 10:04 (twenty years ago)

Animal Collective - Kids On Holiday or Visiting Friends.

― dog latin (dog latin), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 10:06 (twenty years ago)

I was thinking of Spacemen 3 -'Revolution' what's their other stuff like? any good. Actually I think 4 chords and excessive and greedy.

― lexurian (lexurian), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 10:06 (twenty years ago)

Popol Vuh - too many to mention

― Bifidus Digestivum (Dada), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 10:07 (twenty years ago)

Sorry, I can type really, just my computer was running a bit slowly there. As far as VU goes, 'The Gift' is one chord really innit, or one wee riff at least, pretty boring though. What about that Sunno(( (?) band?

― lexurian (lexurian), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 10:21 (twenty years ago)

"The Gift" is not one chord either

― Bifidus Digestivum (Dada), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 10:24 (twenty years ago)

'Rats' - Syd Barrett

― Jonathan Z. (Joanthan Z.), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 10:26 (twenty years ago)

faust: 'krautrock'

― N_RQ, Tuesday, 14 June 2005 10:28 (twenty years ago)

Now that is one chord!

― Bifidus Digestivum (Dada), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 10:28 (twenty years ago)

Alan Vega - Viet Vet (all 13 minutes of it)

― Bifidus Digestivum (Dada), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 10:29 (twenty years ago)

A lot of North Mississippi hill-country blues sounds one-chordish to me, although sometimes with additional chords in the breaks between lines or verses (but I haven't studied it carefully enough to know for sure). So -- nominations from John Lee Hooker, Junior Kimbrough, or R.L. Burnside?

― Vornado, Tuesday, 14 June 2005 10:30 (twenty years ago)

the raveonettes made an album in the same key. which is something entirely different (unlike the raveonettes)

― stanley j hammerhead jr., Tuesday, 14 June 2005 10:34 (twenty years ago)

'A lot of North Mississippi hill-country blues sounds one-chordish to me' - yeah, totally agree about that, I think that's why I like it so much.

― lexurian (lexurian), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 10:38 (twenty years ago)

"Tommorow Never Knows" is, I can confirm, a one-chord song.

(geir implodes)

― mark grout (mark grout), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 10:42 (twenty years ago)

ah ha .. ta stanley. i didn't remember the finer point to the detail.

― mark e (mark e), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 10:42 (twenty years ago)

... aren't those crap Indian songs of George Harrison's all one chord songs too?

― Bifidus Digestivum (Dada), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 10:43 (twenty years ago)

There was a Band of Susans song that just repeated an E chord, loudly. Probably on "Hope against Hope", in fact, it may even be the title track.

― bg (creamolafoam), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 10:47 (twenty years ago)

Can - Butterfly

― Bifidus Digestivum (Dada), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 10:48 (twenty years ago)

Usually needs at least four different chords for a song to be great. Three may work out if they are not I - IV - V. As for one, or even two, no way.

"You Really Got Me" is just two chords, isn't it?

― Telephonething, Tuesday, 14 June 2005 10:52 (twenty years ago)

Nope. Why do people know so little about chords?

― Bifidus Digestivum (Dada), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 10:53 (twenty years ago)

Exactly zero formal music education, mostly putting things together from guesswork.

― Telephonething, Tuesday, 14 June 2005 10:57 (twenty years ago)

"1 Cord City" by The Sluts (New Orleans 80s punk)

― Amon (eman), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 11:05 (twenty years ago)

'Tomorrow never knows' must win then surely?

― lexurian (lexurian), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 11:08 (twenty years ago)

I can't be bothered running thru "Tomorrow Never Knows" in my head to find out if it does only have one chord

― Bifidus Digestivum (Dada), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 11:09 (twenty years ago)

bo diddley - bo diddley

― bo diddley, Tuesday, 14 June 2005 11:12 (twenty years ago)

"Tommorow Never Knows" is, I can confirm, a one-chord song.

Surely it's a two-chorder: over the "It is not dying" lines the chord descends a tone, although the bass remains the same playing a pedal note.

The only one-chord song I can recall is I'm Gonna Move Right In by the Velvet Underground (on Another View).

― Jez (Jez), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 11:14 (twenty years ago)

'I can't be bothered running thru "Tomorrow Never Knows" in my head to find out if it does only have one chord' -awww, bless, has the musical ignorance of this thread jaded you?

― lexurian (lexurian), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 11:16 (twenty years ago)

I've got better things to do than have Beatles' songs clogging up my brain.

― Bifidus Digestivum (Dada), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 11:18 (twenty years ago)

I'd also say tomorrow never knows has 2 chords...

― AleXTC (AleXTC), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 11:29 (twenty years ago)

Well, I can sympathise with that. I hate that thing that so many people go through of getting obsessed with the Beatles, and playing them to the exclusion of everything else. Very tedious.

― lexurian (lexurian), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 11:30 (twenty years ago)

Jesus and Mary Chain must have done some one-chorders?

― lexurian (lexurian), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 11:31 (twenty years ago)

Archie Bell and the Drells - Tighten Up

― Come Back Johnny B (Johnney B), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 11:32 (twenty years ago)

If Lou Reed never wrote any one chord songs then I doubt they did. (xpost)

― Bifidus Digestivum (Dada), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 11:33 (twenty years ago)

Geir - im pretty sure Galaxie 500's Tell Me is a three chord I-IV-V progression, and their 4th of July is almost a I-IV progression. Both are amazingly amazing.

― AaronK (AaronK), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 11:34 (twenty years ago)

"Tommorow Never Knows" is, I can confirm, a one-chord song.

One note in the bass. The bass plays C all the time. However, the electronic noises on top play several B major chords, turning it into a two-chord song.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 11:34 (twenty years ago)

Geir - im pretty sure Galaxie 500's Tell Me is a three chord I-IV-V progression, and their 4th of July is almost a I-IV progression. Both are amazingly amazing.

Wrong.

Pulp's "Common People" works out in a way, but would have been better with more chords than just I - IV - V.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 11:35 (twenty years ago)

And, therefore, two chords short of a good song in the much the same way as Geir is two sandwiches short of a picnic (xpost)

― Bifidus Digestivum (Dada), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 11:36 (twenty years ago)

about tomorrow never knows :
http://www.recmusicbeatles.com/public/files/awp/tnk.html

― AleXTC (AleXTC), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 11:36 (twenty years ago)

VU's "Run run run" is all in D.
Not a very good song though.

― Koens (Koens), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 11:37 (twenty years ago)

It has more than one chord tho! The chorus! The chorus! Jesus!

― Bifidus Digestivum (Dada), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 11:37 (twenty years ago)

(snigger)

― lexurian (lexurian), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 11:39 (twenty years ago)

Do people not bother to listen to choruses and middle eights anymore?

― Bifidus Digestivum (Dada), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 11:39 (twenty years ago)

Palace Brothers - (I was drunk at the) Pulpit

D major all the way.

― hmmm (hmmm), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 11:40 (twenty years ago)

The only harmonic movement at all in the song is the implied vacillation toward flat-VII in the second half of virtually every verse, colored in each case by what sounds like sythesized brass instruments; either French horns or trombones.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 11:40 (twenty years ago)

Bifidus - probably some attention span related problem, a.d.d?

― lexurian (lexurian), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 11:43 (twenty years ago)

Do people not bother to listen to choruses and middle eights anymore?

since hit songs are gonna be more and more made to become ringtones...

― AleXTC (AleXTC), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 11:48 (twenty years ago)

VU's "Run run run" is all in D.
Not a very good song though.

you're a freekin' smackhead man... that's one of the best.

― Nic de Teardrop (Nicholas), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 11:52 (twenty years ago)

Oh, Mega Armageddon Death - The Electro Hippies. That only had one chord. Like, actually, only one. Played once, loudly.

― bg (creamolafoam), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 12:01 (twenty years ago)

I second "Drunk at the Pulpit." There's so much going on in the lyrics I didn't even notice how static the music was until I saw Oldham play the song live.

― Derek Krissoff (Derek), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 12:04 (twenty years ago)

The REM song "Hope" is a gloss on Leonard Cohen's "Suzanne."

The version on the record has at least three chords (F, C, Em), but I once saw Stipe do it solo, live, while playing an acoustic guitar. Up until that point I had no idea he played any instrument whatsoever.

Anyway, it sure looked to me like he was just strumming a G chord the whole way through. I could be wrong. But that's the only thing I can think of.

― The Mad Puffin, Tuesday, 14 June 2005 12:27 (twenty years ago)

Howlin' Wolf - "Smokestack Lightnin'"
John Lee Hooker - "Boogie Chillin'"

― Jazzbo (jmcgaw), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 12:40 (twenty years ago)

Something by Circle, like the last track on the 2lp version of Prospekt.

― Tripmaker (SDWitzm), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 12:46 (twenty years ago)

"Pump It Up" is one chord for verses, one other chord for choruses. Pretty close.

― joseph cotten (joseph cotten), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 12:51 (twenty years ago)

yeah, arent Masters of War and Working Class Hero both 3 chords?

― AaronK (AaronK), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 12:58 (twenty years ago)

this is rediculous anyway.

― AaronK (AaronK), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 12:58 (twenty years ago)

"I Do Dream You" by Jennifer Gentle (great song, btw) seems to have only one chord.

― o. nate (onate), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 13:05 (twenty years ago)

Hey, I would like to ask some of the musicologists a question relating to this.

First, if I bang away on a C chord on a piano with my left hand, and sing some crap along at the same time, I am playing a one-chord song, yes?

Second, if I start banging with my right hand, starting on C also, but sometimes switching to A minor, that would probably become a two chord song, yes? What is the other chord apart from C, is it Am or C6?

Is it still a two-chord song if I start banging really loudly with my left hand, and very very quietly with my right?

Okay, last one: if I stop banging with my right hand, just keep up hitting a C with my left hand, and use my right hand to pick up a piccolo which I start tooting away on, just blowing on the note of A from time to time, is that a one- or two-chord song?

That is the last question for now.

― Eyeball Kicks (Eyeball Kicks), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 13:16 (twenty years ago)

> "Pump It Up" is one chord for verses, one other chord for choruses. Pretty close.

True enough that the verse stays on is B7 and the chorus E7.

But the main riff goes B B B B Bb A, B B B B Bb A. Even if you don't count the Bb (just hit in passing), the A is pretty necessary and makes three.

Lately in concert he does some Bo Diddley-ish stuff with the verse that should technically count as additional chords.

― The Mad Puffin, Tuesday, 14 June 2005 13:22 (twenty years ago)

Dear Eyeball,

First of all, my answer would be that you cannot really play two "chords" at the same time on the same piano -- the notes of both chords would form one chord, as a chord is just a group of notes played at the same time. So in your example you'd basically be playing a C6.

Part two of your question is harder for me to answer -- I think it would depend on just how you were playing the A on the piccolo -- whether you were playing it in tandem with the piano chord or just erratically.

― Hurting (Hurting), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 13:30 (twenty years ago)

Rhys Chatham did some one chord pieces.

Neu! and Faust win this one, I think.

― Brooker Buckingham (Brooker B), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 13:39 (twenty years ago)

I was thinking of Spacemen 3 -'Revolution' what's their other stuff like?

"O.D. Catastrophe" is my favourite S3 one-chord song.

In Stereolab's "Superelectric", the guitar plays only one chord throughout, but the organ changes chords a couple of times. I'm not sure if this counts.

― MindInRewind (Barry Bruner), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 13:39 (twenty years ago)

Kevin Coyne - White Horse (and quite a few others)

― Bifidus Digestivum (Dada), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 13:40 (twenty years ago)

The accoustic live "Hope" i saw required michael to ask mike remind him of the changes.

"I do dream you" is mostly one chord (G# i think)..but theres some passing chords thrown into the bridgy, prechorus/postchorus bits.

― b b, Tuesday, 14 June 2005 13:56 (twenty years ago)

scelsi pwns this thread

― you will be shot (you will be shot), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 13:59 (twenty years ago)

"I do dream you" is mostly one chord (G# i think)..but theres some passing chords thrown into the bridgy, prechorus/postchorus bits

Yeah, I was thinking that on some of the turnarounds they seem to allude to some other chords, but mostly it's that one glorious chord.

― o. nate (onate), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 14:00 (twenty years ago)

'drifter's escape" by bob dylan (john wesley harding)

― naturemorte, Tuesday, 14 June 2005 14:16 (twenty years ago)

Eddie Grant's "Electric Avenue" is just A the whole way through, isn't it?

― Curt1s St3ph3ns, Tuesday, 14 June 2005 14:16 (twenty years ago)

(though it is still disqualified from this thread because it sucks)

― Curt1s St3ph3ns, Tuesday, 14 June 2005 14:17 (twenty years ago)

Blasphemer!

― o. nate (onate), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 14:18 (twenty years ago)

That one Medicine song where they play one long guitar chord for like nine minutes.

― Mr. Snrub (Mr. Snrub), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 14:51 (twenty years ago)

Ernest Ranglin's new
album contains a great song
called "One Chord Stylee"

I kept listening
to make sure there was just one,
and in fact it's true

― Haikunym (Haikunym), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 15:03 (twenty years ago)

Ah! That Medicine song, "One More Kiss," right?
Haven't thought about that for a long time. Or heard it, either.

― Tripmaker (SDWitzm), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 15:18 (twenty years ago)

Spoon - Small Stakes. Unless they snuck a V7 in there somewhere.

― C-Real (neither nor easter), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 15:30 (twenty years ago)

BTW, "One Note Samba" is not one chord, nor is it even one note.

― Hurting (Hurting), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 15:31 (twenty years ago)

That's a note on the guitar (and its various overtones) in that Medicine song, not a chord, I think... in that the bass note alternates, it could be seen as more than one chord.

― 666 (Robust Cookies), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 15:32 (twenty years ago)

(XPOST HURTING!!)

I just want to point out that "One Note Samba" has quite a few chords! The only thing that's "one note" about it is the melody of the verse -- and not even the whole verse! "This is just a little samba, built upon a single note, other notes are bound to follow, but the root is just this note" -- all that's one note, but then the next line is a fifth up, so there's a total of two notes in the verse.

The chords, on the other hand, are always moving, on like every other beat: "this is JUST(Dm7) a little SAM(C#7)-ba, built u-PON(Cmin7) a single NOTE(B7b5)."

And then the chorus, of course, is all about the contrast with the verse, running up and down scales, more or less.

― jaymc (jaymc), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 15:35 (twenty years ago)

The Adverts - One Chord Wonders

― PappaWheelie (PappaWheelie), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 16:17 (twenty years ago)

yeah, I know about the one note samba.

― lexurian (lexurian), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 16:27 (twenty years ago)

It's an interesting case, tho, isn't it?

― jaymc (jaymc), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 16:29 (twenty years ago)

Cornershop's "Jullander Shere" (yes, both of them) is a one-chorder I believe.

Jesus and Mary Chain must have done some one-chorders?

Nope - they were a whole lot more melodic than people remember. Even their cover of Can's "Mushroom" has at least a couple.

― CharlieNo4 (Charlie), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 16:36 (twenty years ago)

"Jullandar Shere" uses a second chord during the chorus, but 95% of the song (both versions) do in fact use only one chord.

― MindInRewind (Barry Bruner), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 16:39 (twenty years ago)

dammit you're right - and an obvious one too.

― CharlieNo4 (Charlie), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 16:41 (twenty years ago)

There's several songs that feel like one-chord drones, but the chord changes in the last two counts of an eight-count. Lots of Stereolab songs, also "Roadrunner."

― jaymc (jaymc), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 16:43 (twenty years ago)

Eddie Grant's "Electric Avenue" is just A the whole way through, isn't it?
-- Lagartija Curt1sss (curtis.stephen...), June 14th, 2005 8:16 AM. (Curtis Stephens)

C#maj and yes it is only one chord the whole song. Good thing we're not talking about dub music.

― gygax! (gygax!), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 16:50 (twenty years ago)

GODZ PWN: "PERMANENT GREEN LIGHT," "RADAR EYES," "SOON THE MOON"

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 17:00 (twenty years ago)

never heard the j richman verion, but again, G500's Dont let your youth go to waste is two chords, and mostly just 1.

― AaronK (AaronK), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 17:01 (twenty years ago)

so what's THE BEST?????

― lexurian (lexurian), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 17:09 (twenty years ago)

I told you at the top of the thread, "Fur Immer" by Neu!

― Bifidus Digestivum (Dada), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 17:19 (twenty years ago)

Swans - Celebrity Lifestyle is pretty much all G5. and a strong candidate for the top spot.

― joseph cotten (joseph cotten), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 17:41 (twenty years ago)

Mojo Nixon and Skid Roper, "The Story Of One Chord"

― pdf (Phil Freeman), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 17:55 (twenty years ago)

names are escaping me, but Liquid Liquid has some one-chord (or no-chord) tunes that are great. Konono No.1, too.

The key is to get rid of that whole "melody" thing and focus on rhythm instead. Granted, this statement is coming from a drummer, but surely that doesn't COMPLETELY discredit me.

― matlewis, Tuesday, 14 June 2005 17:59 (twenty years ago)

I nominate Funkadelic's "Loose Booty"

The Godz could barely manage HALF a chord!

― Myonga Von Bontee (Myonga Von Bontee), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 18:05 (twenty years ago)

Elvis Costello: Big Boys

― Ryan Pitchfork, Tuesday, 14 June 2005 18:17 (twenty years ago)

you guys are fucking lame-o's
it's obviously "theoretical girls" by theoretical girls
i prefer the live version

― Fetchboy (Felcher), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 18:36 (twenty years ago)

The key is to get rid of that whole "melody" thing and focus on rhythm instead.

Geir, are you when we need you most?!

― PappaWheelie (PappaWheelie), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 18:36 (twenty years ago)

BTW, "One Note Samba" is not one chord, nor is it even one note.

-- Hurting (Hurtingchie...), June 14th, 2005.

And, for that matter, "I'm in the Mood for a Melody" has almost no melody at all.

― Hurting (Hurting), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 19:20 (twenty years ago)

The Godz could barely manage HALF a chord!

-- Myonga Von Bontee (scottyfield...), June 14th, 2005.

E minor, baby.

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 19:21 (twenty years ago)

"Plastic Dreams" - Jaydee

LOCK THREAD

― The Ghost of Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 19:29 (twenty years ago)

The key is to get rid of that whole "melody" thing and focus on rhythm instead.

Then, there isn't a song anymore.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 19:32 (twenty years ago)

Geir, don't you ever tire of being wrong? I mean, on a basic, fundamental, dictionary-definition level, YOU ARE WRONG. Give up already, it's okay to say that there are ways of writing songs that you dislike, you don't have to exclude them from being music altogether.

― The Ghost of Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 19:35 (twenty years ago)

Lucinda Williams "Joy" I think

― dan. (dan.), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 19:38 (twenty years ago)

Crap, you're right about "Run run run".
Just.

― Koens (Koens), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 19:38 (twenty years ago)

"Duane Eddy" by the Great Unwashed (ie the Clean pretty much).

― Venga (Venga), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 19:39 (twenty years ago)

"Coconut" by Harry Nilsson (C7, I think)

― electric derby, Tuesday, 14 June 2005 19:47 (twenty years ago)

matlewis - I'm just impressed that a drummer has learnt to use the internet.

― lexurian (lexurian), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 20:11 (twenty years ago)

Costello's Big Boys is comprised of E, A, B, G, Em, C, & D. It does however stay on E at the beginning for quite some time.

xxxxxxpost

― darin (darin), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 20:40 (twenty years ago)

Run Run Run by VU briefly switches chords (in the chorus)...

― Joe (Joe), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 21:41 (twenty years ago)

"Silverfuck" by the Smashing Pumpkins is technically only one chord, right? At least the main riff is...

― The Brainwasher (Twilight), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 21:47 (twenty years ago)

Years and years ago the Mission, the band who British Sea Power most resemble, did a version of 'Tomorrow Never Knows' and proudly told the Melody Maker that they'd put an F in there as the original was boring.

― snotty moore, Tuesday, 14 June 2005 22:07 (twenty years ago)

it *is* boring, regardless of how many chords it has.

― AaronK (AaronK), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 22:23 (twenty years ago)

Dylan's "Drifter's Escape" is A and D/a as recorded on John Wesley Harding. In its current live incarnation, it's just one chord with a lead part, though.

His "TV Talkin' Song" is only one chord, but it's not a very good song.

How about "Papa Was A Rolling Stone"? The bass moves, but the song's actual tonality never changes.

― Douglas (Douglas), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 22:51 (twenty years ago)

bo diddley - bo diddley

Not as Bo performed it, since whenever he went into a break, he dropped from I to VII. (But it is the best song mentioned so far on this thread.)

― Frank Kogan (Frank Kogan), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 23:11 (twenty years ago)

guided by voices, "postal blowfish"

(not the best, i'm sure of that. but it's one chord and it's good, which should count for something.)

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Wednesday, 15 June 2005 00:54 (twenty years ago)

"Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)" - Sly Stone (the winner)
"Shake Your Hips" - Rolling Stones
"Fun House" - Stooges
"Ballad of Hollis Brown" - Bob Dylan
"Frankie Teardrop" - Suicide
"Yeah" - LCD Soundsystem
"Whitey on the Moon" - Gil Scott Heron

There's tons of them, especially r&b/funk tunes (James Brown, Parliament, etc) that are just build on a riff or bass line.

― Keith C (kcraw916), Wednesday, 15 June 2005 01:10 (twenty years ago)

lcd soundsytem, "losing my edge"

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Wednesday, 15 June 2005 01:11 (twenty years ago)

bo diddley, "who do you love" (i think; haven't heard it in a while)

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Wednesday, 15 June 2005 01:11 (twenty years ago)

The key is to get rid of that whole "melody" thing and focus on rhythm instead.

Then, there isn't a song anymore.

-- Geir Hongro (geirhon...), June 14th, 2005.

-- The Ghost of Dan Perry (djperr...), June 14th, 2005.

It's not "wrong" to say that a "song" has to have a "melody". By dictionary definition, it does have to have a melody.

― Hurting (Hurting), Wednesday, 15 June 2005 01:14 (twenty years ago)

Now it’s past my bed I know
And I’d really like to go
Soon will be the break of day
Sitting here in blue jay way

I'm so happy that I get to be the first to mention this song.

― billstevejim (billstevejim), Wednesday, 15 June 2005 04:04 (twenty years ago)

"Blue Jay Way" good call. In fact, most of George Harrisons' Indian influenced songs have only one chord. The musical sophistication in Indian ragas lies in the melody, not in the harmonies.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Wednesday, 15 June 2005 08:35 (twenty years ago)

blue jay way is not a one chord song !

― AleXTC (AleXTC), Wednesday, 15 June 2005 09:00 (twenty years ago)

attaque surprise by Vive La Fete!!!

― breezy, Wednesday, 15 June 2005 13:14 (twenty years ago)

blue jay way is not a one chord song !

I'm afraid it is.

explain how it isn't please.

― billstevejim (billstevejim), Wednesday, 15 June 2005 17:06 (twenty years ago)

C#maj and yes it is only one chord the whole song. Good thing we're not talking about dub music.

It is SO not C#.

― Curt1s St3ph3ns, Wednesday, 15 June 2005 18:21 (twenty years ago)

It's an A that's slightly sharp of concert pitch, I do believe.

― Curt1s St3ph3ns, Wednesday, 15 June 2005 18:22 (twenty years ago)

"Silverfuck" by the Smashing Pumpkins is technically only one chord, right? At least the main riff is...

The main riff is, but other chords be droppin' later.

― Curt1s St3ph3ns, Wednesday, 15 June 2005 18:24 (twenty years ago)

It's not "wrong" to say that a "song" has to have a "melody". By dictionary definition, it does have to have a melody.

but surely this definition isn't still relevant. what with avant garde, noise, various types of non-Western music...

― matlewis, Wednesday, 15 June 2005 19:44 (twenty years ago)

I generally shy away from using "song" to describe instrumental music.

― jaymc (jaymc), Wednesday, 15 June 2005 19:47 (twenty years ago)

"Pulse" by the Furs

At least I think it is. I think Tim Butler said it was one chord.

― Aja (aja), Wednesday, 15 June 2005 20:04 (twenty years ago)

Unrest, various versions of "Hydro"

― Zack Richardson (teenagequiet), Wednesday, 15 June 2005 20:14 (twenty years ago)

jaymc OTM. Song =/= Music

― Hurting (Hurting), Wednesday, 15 June 2005 20:42 (twenty years ago)

jaymc OTM. Song =/= any piece of music

― Hurting (Hurting), Wednesday, 15 June 2005 20:42 (twenty years ago)

Unrest, various versions of "Hydro"

does that one win for longest song without a chord change?

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Wednesday, 15 June 2005 20:45 (twenty years ago)

Breath deeper.

Daydreamer.

― Michael F Gill (Michael F Gill), Wednesday, 15 June 2005 21:18 (twenty years ago)

Tenacious D - One Note Song

― pinder (pinder), Wednesday, 15 June 2005 21:41 (twenty years ago)

Well ok, let's assume that in order to have a song you need a melody. Still, the melody can be so minimalistic or uninteresting as to be at best a secondary element of the song. Take Can's "Vitamin C." Melody takes a back seat to harmony and, most of all, to rhythm. More than one chord there, though.

― These Robust Cookies (Robust Cookies), Thursday, 16 June 2005 04:20 (twenty years ago)

The Doors -- "L.A. Woman"

― Flaneur, Thursday, 16 June 2005 14:12 (twenty years ago)

A song is "A brief composition written or adapted for singing." Whatever is sung is the primary melody.

― Curt1s St3ph3ns, Thursday, 16 June 2005 14:21 (twenty years ago)

The Doors -- "L.A. Woman"

One chord? Are you deaf?

― Dadaismus (Dada), Thursday, 16 June 2005 14:26 (twenty years ago)

Did somebody already mention "Coconut" by Harry Nilsson? That's indisputably one chord and it's indisputably a proper song - and a damn fine one too!

― Dadaismus (Dada), Thursday, 16 June 2005 14:31 (twenty years ago)

Was going to say "Who Do You Love" but see I was beaten to it. There are a lot of great two-chord songs. One-chorders are decidedly rarer.

― Burr (Burr), Thursday, 16 June 2005 14:48 (twenty years ago)

about blue jay way : http://www.recmusicbeatles.com/public/files/awp/bjw.html

― AleXTC (AleXTC), Thursday, 16 June 2005 15:02 (twenty years ago)

I say "Rollin' and Tumblin'," Elmore James, that is the best one-chord tune. And yeah, "Tomorrow Never Knows" is a C pedal tone with a B-flat over it; "chords" don't really describe this song anyway. Same thing with "Blue Jay Way," it's just a drone/mode over C. "One Note Samba" is actually a fiendishly difficult song with a zillion chords. Most later James Brown things are really blues with something left out, like "Sex Machine" is A6 which goes to D and some chromatic shit in there. That Nilsson tune is one seventh chord. Anyway, yeah Geir, please give up sometimes, the Elmore James song is a fucking song, so is "Coconut" and so is "Sex Machine" and "Super Bad" and "It's a New Day" and "There It Is."

― edd s hurt (ddduncan), Friday, 17 June 2005 02:06 (twenty years ago)

I don't see anywhere in the notes on "Blue Jay Way" to state that there's more than 1 chord in the song. I see how it shows that melody notes and fills are added to the one chord, which I already knew. It stays in C for the whole song.

― billstevejim (billstevejim), Friday, 17 June 2005 04:26 (twenty years ago)

hum...to me there's a slight change with D#. but haven't listened to it in a while so i may be wrong...

― AleXTC (AleXTC), Friday, 17 June 2005 07:15 (twenty years ago)

Sly Stone's "Thank You" is just about my favorite song ever, but I wouldn't quite call it a one-chorder--think of the little break that got sampled for Janet Jackson's "Rhythm Nation."

Sonic Youth play "Within You Without You" as a one-chorder on Sgt. Pepper Knew My Father.

Very few of James Brown's funk-era songs are actually on a single chord--there's almost always a bridge (which is almost always on a IV chord).

― Douglas (Douglas), Friday, 17 June 2005 08:04 (twenty years ago)

"Thank You" has one bass line in the entire song, which is in E. Where are you saying it moves? Try playing any other chord besides E7 against the riff--it doesn't sound right. The whole thing's in E.

― Keith C (kcraw916), Friday, 17 June 2005 10:06 (twenty years ago)

>Sly Stone's "Thank You" is just about my favorite song ever, but I wouldn't quite call it a one-chorder--think of the little break that got sampled for Janet Jackson's "Rhythm Nation."

Don't have the first version at hand, but the songbook I have for Sly's "Riot" has that version as A7. "Riot" is just about my favorite album ever.

― edd s hurt (ddduncan), Friday, 17 June 2005 12:53 (twenty years ago)

"This Song Has One Chord" by Art Paul Schlosser

[Sung]

This song has one chord
This song has one chord
This song has one chord

[Spoken]

And that's why you're bored

[Sung]

One chord
You're Bored
One chord
You're bored

― Pete Scholtes, Monday, 20 June 2005 16:48 (twenty years ago)

This speaks well of ILM, but I don't remember a thread with more factually wrong answers.

If you're talking about a song, not just one instrument, chords are formed by all the notes you hear. If the singer hits a note that's NOT part of that chord, it changes the chord of the song to something else.

None of George Harrison's Beatles songs are one-chord.

― Pete Scholtes, Monday, 20 June 2005 17:16 (twenty years ago)

Yabbut, I suspect the point is more along the lines of refuting "OMG taht's a bad band bcuz they only know 3 cords OMG they suck."

Fetishization of difficulty as a prog-rock shibboleth and all that.

If we can find a song that doesn't require a lot of chords to play [meaning, here, guitar chords] and is undeniably a fantastic song, then the equation of "knowing a lot of chords" with "making good music" can be further shown to be a false equation. It opens out, then, into the larger discussion of Does Technique Help or Harm?

Now that I think about it, though, one might add that inasmuch as the comparatively-hard-to-perceive pitches of drums and cymbals and other percussion instruments play into the finished sound of a song, then those ought also to be counted in with the "chord" that is being played by the band. Also harmonic resonances in the room, as well as sounds supplied by effects (e.g., reverb and chorus) would also have to be considered, as they will almost never be exactly the same note as the singer/instrumentalist is making. Isn't that in fact the whole point of a chorus effect, that one copy of the sound is detuned slightly?

So there may not in fact BE any one-chord songs if you follow that logic.

― The Mad Puffin, Monday, 20 June 2005 18:08 (twenty years ago)

Well, hmm, I mean this doesn't sound right to me. The structure of a song--talking in the language-of-chords/harmonic language kinda thing--is unchanged whether you decide to sing or play a note over that's "not in the chord." Lester Young did it all the time, and he was playing the song, right? He wasn't changin' the chord, he was having fun with what the overall structure implied. This is basically what jazz does, right? The whole point of learning all the stuff you have to learn to be able to play jazz is to deveop that facility; re-harmonizing. I think what you're talking about is what I'd call "arranging." If I'm playing a song that has a B7 and a D-flat in it, and I play an F natural over the B7, it doesn't change the fact that the chord is B7--I'm, I hope, playing the F natural because I want to say something about the D-flat chord, which contains a F natural, not because I'm somehow "changing the B7 into another chord."

― edd s hurt (ddduncan), Monday, 20 June 2005 20:21 (twenty years ago)

rockist thread rockist thread.

― Piano Man, Monday, 20 June 2005 20:27 (twenty years ago)

idiotic post idiotic post.

― Pete Scholtes, Tuesday, 21 June 2005 22:38 (twenty years ago)

...playing the F natural because I want to say something about the D-flat chord, which contains a F natural...

Right, I mean playing or singing something NOT contained in the chord.

Obviously dissonance is a gray area, I'll buy that you're hearing a variation of the same chord sometimes. But if your ear hears it as a change or a progression, it probably is one. Sometimes chord changes are implied by nothing but one changed note, and you hear it as a change.

― Pete Scholtes, Tuesday, 21 June 2005 22:43 (twenty years ago)

I'm pretty sure Pete S is right here. His is the only definition that makes sense to me. I know music a bit from playing music but am by no means knowledgable, however, I am confident that none of the songs mentioned above that I actually know are 1 chord songs. esp Tomorrow Never Knows and both "Yeah" and "Losing My Edge" by LCD Soundsystem (Yeah has 3 chords during a single repetition of the bassline).

― Ian Kynnersley (Wobble), Wednesday, 22 June 2005 12:10 (twenty years ago)

Actually I think the proposition "a song can be numbingly simple, in terms of musicianship, and still be good" is a fairly anti-rockist position.

Doesn't rockism generally hail chops, up to a certain point?

― The Mad Puffin, Wednesday, 22 June 2005 13:07 (twenty years ago)

I would hope that the comment "idiotic post" isn't directed at mine, above. If it isn't, fine; if it is, I might ask why my perfectly reasonable words about the difference between re-harmonizing a tune, where you do indeed change chords, and just playing a note that is "outside the chords" (which is in itself hardly straightforward, as I tried to express by using examples from jazz) evokes such a response, since I'm, I believe, being perfectly polite. And again, "if a singer hits a note that's not a part of the chord"--this does not mean the chord itself is changed, since *melodies* use passing tones and other notes that aren't necessarily within the chord itself. If I play a G minor 7 and I sing an F-sharp as part of the melody and the next chord is D natural, that doesn't make the G minor 7 something else, it just means that the melody is working off the ambiguity implied by the chord progression. These kind of things are built into songs that someone has sat down and through through, a good example is a tune I've been playing around with lately, Big Star's "Back of a Car," where you have a D major chord with a G-sharp melody line--it's expressed as an E over a D, and plus you're getting into a whole-tone scale there too, and it doesn't mean you've somehow changed the D chord to something else; they are two things working together to create an effect, which is very different from "changing the chord." And again, if the comment wasn't directed toward me, my apologies.

― edd s hurt (ddduncan), Wednesday, 22 June 2005 17:11 (twenty years ago)

Exactly. If, for instance, I sing a C over an A5, it wouldn't make the chord an A minor; I can bend that note up to C# and the chord won't automatically become A major; etc (in this case, it will just give the tune a vaguely Eastern feel but you'll hear the same A5 chugging under it)

― joseph cotten (joseph cotten), Wednesday, 22 June 2005 17:20 (twenty years ago)

janet jackson - alright.

― g e o f f (gcannon), Wednesday, 22 June 2005 17:22 (twenty years ago)

I think the "idiotic post idiotic post" was directed at the "rockist thread rockist thread" preceeding it.

Just trying to maintain ILM's much-vaunted civility.

― John Justen (johnjusten), Wednesday, 22 June 2005 17:29 (twenty years ago)

I always think a cool example of this is Howlin' Wolf's "No Place To Go," where the vocal line goes through blues changes but the accompaniment just vamps on one (the I) chord.

― k/l (Ken L), Wednesday, 22 June 2005 17:51 (twenty years ago)

and both "Yeah" and "Losing My Edge" by LCD Soundsystem (Yeah has 3 chords during a single repetition of the bassline).

Uh, wrong.

― Keith C (kcraw916), Thursday, 23 June 2005 02:58 (twenty years ago)

None of George Harrison's Beatles songs are one-chord.

http://www.simpsonspark.com/images/whitepages/hutz_lionel.jpg
That was a right-pretty speech, sir.

Although the Harrison songs don't match the proper definition of a true one-chord song, they do all contain instruments which plays 5 chords throughout the songs' entireties. So there is at least one instrument which plays only one chord for the whole song, and the bass notes remain stagnant as well. It may not fit the definition you're anticipating, but it does answer what the question was asking.

― billstevejim (billstevejim), Thursday, 23 June 2005 04:01 (twenty years ago)

"karen" the b-side to the first Go-Betweens single

― OCP (OCP), Thursday, 23 June 2005 04:58 (twenty years ago)

galaxie 500 do not have any one chord songs

― shine headlights on me (electricsound), Thursday, 23 June 2005 05:57 (twenty years ago)

Yeah, Edd, I was responding to "rockist thread rockist thread."

I don't have perfect pitch, so I can't really know what you're talking about without taking it to a piano, and I don't remember the Big Star song. But to me, even admitting the vast gray area, the point stands: The test isn't in how you'd write out the chords or explain them to other musicians, but in how you'd hear them. To my ears, when you play a C major chord, and then play the same chord while at the same time adding a C sharp, you just changed the chord. Maybe I'm wrong, or my terminology is fucked, but it sure sounds like the chord has changed to me...

― Pete Scholtes, Thursday, 23 June 2005 17:10 (twenty years ago)

the most obvious (and one of the best) answers:

straitjacket fits - life in one chord

also happens to be the fits best song

― chris andrews (fraew), Thursday, 23 June 2005 22:28 (twenty years ago)

one year passes...

i'm still right

― Fetchboy, Friday, 16 March 2007 15:22 (nineteen years ago)

"Jungle Blues," by Jelly Roll Morton

― Jazzbo, Friday, 16 March 2007 15:33 (nineteen years ago)

"karen" the b-side to the first Go-Betweens single

There are two chords in that one.

― Jazzbo, Friday, 16 March 2007 15:34 (nineteen years ago)

We're gonna rock down to, electric avenue

Isn't that just an A?

― filthy dylan, Friday, 16 March 2007 16:47 (nineteen years ago)

PISSED JEANS - Boring Girls

― Colonel Poo, Friday, 16 March 2007 16:55 (nineteen years ago)

We're gonna rock down to, electric avenue

Isn't that just an A?

Someone mentioned it above.

― o. nate, Friday, 16 March 2007 17:11 (nineteen years ago)

galaxie 500 do not have any one chord songs

cover of "Don't Let Our Youth Go to Waste" is one chord.

Anyway the correct answers to these thread have already been cited: Faust, Neu!, Hawkwind, Spacemen 3, Sunnnn O)))), etc.

― Shakey Mo Collier, Friday, 16 March 2007 17:37 (nineteen years ago)

Haha wow this thread is like a monument to WTF wrongness, from the question on down.

― nabisco, Friday, 16 March 2007 17:47 (nineteen years ago)

Talking Heads- practically any song on Remain in Light: "Born Under Punches", "Cross-Eyed and Painless", "Houses in Motion", "Great Curve" and so on.

― Joe, Friday, 16 March 2007 18:44 (nineteen years ago)

Neil Young "Piece of Crap".

You guys are a piece of crap for not mentioning this song yet on this thread.

― nickalicious, Friday, 16 March 2007 20:08 (nineteen years ago)

yeah I'm amazed this thread quickly devolved into what constitutes "one chord" - way to go Geir.

― Shakey Mo Collier, Friday, 16 March 2007 20:24 (nineteen years ago)

Well when the first example offered has about three dozen really complicated jazz chords in it, it's not exactly surprising that a What Are Chords refresher might crop up.

― nabisco, Friday, 16 March 2007 20:28 (nineteen years ago)

I don't know the Neu song in question off the top of my head... Hawkwind def. have a lot of one chord songs tho, bless 'em!

― Shakey Mo Collier, Friday, 16 March 2007 20:30 (nineteen years ago)

(I'm sure Neu does actually have a bunch of one-chord songs too, I just can't keep any of their songtitles straight in my head)

― Shakey Mo Collier, Friday, 16 March 2007 20:30 (nineteen years ago)

drone
doom
ambient

― Cameron Octigan, Friday, 16 March 2007 21:37 (nineteen years ago)

Well when the first example offered has about three dozen really complicated jazz chords in it, it's not exactly surprising that a What Are Chords refresher might crop up.

Erm, the 'not the one note samba' proviso was a joke.

― erganom, Friday, 16 March 2007 22:32 (nineteen years ago)

Oh, sorry -- I guess the joke was kinda undercut by so many suggestions that seem equally off. (I mean, "Waiting for the Man?")

― nabisco, Friday, 16 March 2007 23:02 (nineteen years ago)

Green Day, people, Green Day.

― Shakey Mo Collier, Friday, 16 March 2007 23:03 (nineteen years ago)

Talking about Harrison's Indian compositions (and a song like Tomorrow Never Knows, to some extent) in terms of how many chords they have is not going to be useful - you can't apply traditional western harmonic analysis to things outside of that domain.

There seemed to be some confusion earlier about non-harmonic tones; this is a good introduction.

― St3ve Go1db3rg, Friday, 16 March 2007 23:33 (nineteen years ago)

Also, the irony of Geir is not that he's wrong on a philosophical level, but that he gets technical stuff wrong too. I think every comment I've seen him make about theory or composition or whatnot has some kind of error in it.

― St3ve Go1db3rg, Friday, 16 March 2007 23:35 (nineteen years ago)

i'm gonna say Tenacious D - One Note Song

― pinder, Friday, 16 March 2007 23:37 (nineteen years ago)

you gotta do the little bendy thing!

― unfished business, Friday, 16 March 2007 23:48 (nineteen years ago)

I've skipped half the thread but would "Waterfront" by Simple Minds count? It runs through with a single bass note and only Jim Kerr's melody moves around over that, there's no chord progression per se. Also, it is shit.

― Trayce, Friday, 16 March 2007 23:55 (nineteen years ago)

There's definitely a chord change in Tomorrow Never Knows - it's on the "DIE" in the first "It is not DIE-ying."

― Hurting 2, Saturday, 17 March 2007 00:00 (nineteen years ago)

There's definitely a chord change in Tomorrow Never Knows - it's on the "DIE" in the first "It is not DIE-ying."

Yeah, it goes to B-flat, but I'm saying the song isn't about functional harmony, it's pretty much just a drone/sound effects, so talking about its "chord progression" or whatever is kind of futile. That song is sort of a tweener, though - the preceding is more true for Harrison's Indian compositions.

― St3ve Go1db3rg, Saturday, 17 March 2007 00:03 (nineteen years ago)

Yeah, but you could probably argue the same for some Velvet Underground songs.

― Hurting 2, Saturday, 17 March 2007 00:06 (nineteen years ago)

(my pick is actually just one chord, as opposed to pretty much every other fucking song mentioned on this thread - it's probably A but it could also be G# depending on whether my guitar is in tune or not)

― Colonel Poo, Saturday, 17 March 2007 01:01 (nineteen years ago)

I stand by my original comment

― James Redd and the Blecchs, Saturday, 17 March 2007 01:06 (nineteen years ago)

Which is?

― Colonel Poo, Saturday, 17 March 2007 01:11 (nineteen years ago)

the answer is CLEARLY Spacemen 3's 'An Evening Of Contemporary Sitar Music'.

all 44 minutes of it.

― unfished business, Saturday, 17 March 2007 01:13 (nineteen years ago)

Panda Bear - Comfy in Nautica

― St3ve Go1db3rg, Saturday, 17 March 2007 01:43 (nineteen years ago)

constantines "draw us lines"

― stephen, Saturday, 17 March 2007 06:13 (nineteen years ago)

I'm actually having trouble thinking of one-chord songs.

Palace - I Was Drunk at the Pulpit

― Hurting 2, Saturday, 17 March 2007 06:20 (nineteen years ago)

If the "song" by Band of Susans mentioned above is Guitar Trio by Rhys Chatham, I think it does indeed qualify as having only one chord. The ensemble strums a chord while a soloist highlights different overtones of the fundamental through picking techniques that bring out various harmonics.

I don't recall which album it was originally released on, I only have Wired for Sound now & it's the last track on the songs without words disc.

― Herb Levy, Sunday, 18 March 2007 12:47 (nineteen years ago)

my pick is actually just one chord, as opposed to pretty much every other fucking song mentioned on this thread

"Electric Avenue" is one chord.

― Curt1s Stephens, Sunday, 18 March 2007 20:38 (nineteen years ago)

three years pass...

Alan Vega "Jukebox Babe"

― bigdawg (crüt), Wednesday, 19 January 2011 05:25 (fifteen years ago)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6CFyn_WzVY

― Meme From Turner (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 19 January 2011 05:52 (fifteen years ago)

lots that have already been listed, but also:

'7:20 am Jullander Shere' by Cornershop

― Blazes Boyband (Pillbox), Wednesday, 19 January 2011 06:10 (fifteen years ago)

one year passes...

I was listening to the Prince vocals version of "Love thy will be done" and it suddenly appeared to me that it's a one chord song since the bass plays the same note through the whole song !
of course, the synth plays other notes but still (It's a bit like "tomorrow never knows" which has the bass playing one chord and some noises playing other notes, I guess...)

I'd forgotten what a great song it is anyway...

― AlXTC from Paris, Wednesday, 9 May 2012 14:52 (fourteen years ago)

Best one-chord song round my house right now is "Sabotage"

― poxen, Wednesday, 9 May 2012 15:57 (fourteen years ago)

I'd say the Adverts' "One Chord Wonders," but it probably has more than one.

― clemenza, Wednesday, 9 May 2012 16:08 (fourteen years ago)

Best concert promo poster ever, for a tour featuring The Adverts and The Damned: "The Adverts know one chord, the Damned know three. See all four at...."

Several mentions of Nilsson's "Coconut", but how about "Jump Into the Fire"? Those should get bonus points for being consecutive hit singles.

― Lee593 (Lee626), Wednesday, 9 May 2012 19:52 (fourteen years ago)

Jump Into the Fire has more than one chord. I believe two or maybe three, in fact.

― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 9 May 2012 19:55 (fourteen years ago)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1rp8lJFwv8

― fishermen are coveted by whores & stoners (Pillbox), Wednesday, 9 May 2012 20:01 (fourteen years ago)

Jennifer Gentle "I do dream you"

― Trip Maker, Wednesday, 9 May 2012 20:04 (fourteen years ago)

surfin bird for a good minute. and it is a very good minute.

― Philip Nunez, Wednesday, 9 May 2012 20:11 (fourteen years ago)

Prolly mentioned upthread, but EC tried this once or twice, with "Uncomplicated" and a couple of others from that era.

― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 9 May 2012 22:00 (fourteen years ago)

Jump Into the Fire has more than one chord. I believe two or maybe three, in fact.

There are two chords built into the guitar riff, but that falls short of an actual chord change imo.

― Lee593 (Lee626), Wednesday, 9 May 2012 22:05 (fourteen years ago)

haw, this thread is pretty funny.

― tylerw, Wednesday, 9 May 2012 22:14 (fourteen years ago)

Trying very hard not to mark snarky comments.

― Chewshabadoo, Wednesday, 9 May 2012 22:23 (fourteen years ago)

I'd like to note that "Frankie Teardrop" has only one note, not really a chord, BUT happily "Ghost Rider" has only one chord and it is also a song of high quality

― poxen, Thursday, 10 May 2012 00:14 (fourteen years ago)

Just read through this thread. I would also say that 'Tomorrow Never Knows' is a two-chord song, even though it apparently written as a one-chord song.

― The Jupiter 8 (Turrican), Thursday, 10 May 2012 00:40 (fourteen years ago)

I'd like to note that "Frankie Teardrop" has only one note, not really a chord, BUT happily "Ghost Rider" has only one chord and it is also a song of high quality

lol, came here to mention "ghost rider". amazed it hasn't come up prior.

― 10. “Pour Some Sugar On Me” – Tom Cruise (contenderizer), Thursday, 10 May 2012 00:42 (fourteen years ago)

Is 'one note samba' actually one chord? I can tell it revolves for the most time in the key of Bb major but I can hear B and Db on the bridge.

― Moka, Thursday, 10 May 2012 01:01 (fourteen years ago)

what do you think? bossanova is really tricky in that regard but i'd say there are several chord changes all over the tune.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMQNMRJn-Eo

― cock chirea, Thursday, 10 May 2012 02:03 (fourteen years ago)

joao gilberto's undiu is technically a one chord song, tho there are several transitional chords in there.

― cock chirea, Thursday, 10 May 2012 02:05 (fourteen years ago)

pink - get the party started

― cock chirea, Thursday, 10 May 2012 02:06 (fourteen years ago)

Fleetwood Mac - World Turning

― Johnny Hotcox, Thursday, 10 May 2012 03:14 (fourteen years ago)

@ cock chirea, I heard four chords in the first four seconds

― poxen, Thursday, 10 May 2012 06:20 (fourteen years ago)

I'd say the Adverts' "One Chord Wonders," but it probably has more than one.

yeah, it has loads...

I think it's a reference to the "F" chord shape, slide up and down the neck of the guitar to perform all the major chords ...

― Mark G, Thursday, 10 May 2012 08:36 (fourteen years ago)

Not a one chord song as such (therefore, by rights, I should be berating myself as vehemently as I was berating others upthread) but "Me About You" by the Turtles has straight-down-the-middle-100%-no-messin' one note bassline, which is admirable to me as it's not some arty wankfest but a pop song

― Charles Kennedy Jumped Up, He Called 'Oh No'. (Tom D.), Thursday, 10 May 2012 11:07 (fourteen years ago)

OK, how about "I'm Chief Kamanawanamaka (We're the Royal Macadamia nuts)" by the same group?

― Mark G, Thursday, 10 May 2012 11:10 (fourteen years ago)

I'm ashamed to admit I don't have that album!

― Charles Kennedy Jumped Up, He Called 'Oh No'. (Tom D.), Thursday, 10 May 2012 11:11 (fourteen years ago)

It's difficult to get on CD

Unless you get a really good clean original and write it to CD

and make a nice label and envelope printed with the photo you took of it, and so on.

I have it right here..

― Mark G, Thursday, 10 May 2012 11:15 (fourteen years ago)

"heart and soul" by joy division could be a perfect one chord song just excluding those 'fake' chords from barney that add some color post verses (there are no key changes anyway so there you have it)

― cock chirea, Thursday, 10 May 2012 11:47 (fourteen years ago)

"Born in the USA" comes close...

Saw a few suggestions of "Exodus" by Bob Marley, "Run Through the Jungle" by CCR, "No Diggity," "Forever In My Life" by Prince ...

Keith Urban has a song called "One Chord Song." What is "Showbiz Kids" by Steely Dan? I guess a lot of these songs can be played with one chord on guitar, though the recordings may not necessarily stick there.

― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 10 May 2012 11:52 (fourteen years ago)

love thy will be done IS NOT a one chord song, try humming the vocal melody and you will realise there are at least 2 or 3 chord changes during the verses

― cock chirea, Thursday, 10 May 2012 12:07 (fourteen years ago)

raga bihag. padma talwalkar & buddies do a good version.

― iglu ferrignu, Thursday, 10 May 2012 12:33 (fourteen years ago)

I'd just like to say that it's _my favourite thing ever_ when there is a triad or an open 5th that drones on for the song's entirety... chord changes, bass movement may happen, but that chord stays on, regardless. "2nd Thought" and "Of all the things we've made" by OMD are key examples

― poxen, Thursday, 10 May 2012 12:43 (fourteen years ago)

Yeah, 'Of All The Things We've Made' is great. Love the way the bassline moves around while the guitars stay on the one chord throughout.

― The Jupiter 8 (Turrican), Thursday, 10 May 2012 14:23 (fourteen years ago)

drunks with guns - hell house, iirc?

― arby's, Thursday, 10 May 2012 14:35 (fourteen years ago)

love thy will be done IS NOT a one chord song, try humming the vocal melody and you will realise there are at least 2 or 3 chord changes during the verses

yeah, that's what I always thought but listening to it recently, I realized the bass stays on the one note the whole time. of course there are some other notes played by the synth and I agree that it feels like there are more chords though.

― AlXTC from Paris, Thursday, 10 May 2012 16:49 (fourteen years ago)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVoMrAtrj00

― caro's johnson (Eazy), Friday, 11 May 2012 05:29 (fourteen years ago)

Bo Diddley wrote sarky songs to Chubby Checker? Oh hang on...

― Mark G, Friday, 11 May 2012 06:05 (fourteen years ago)

seven years pass...

eheh, listening to "Love Thy Will Be Done" on the Prince Originals comp made me think of this thread... only to find out I had already written the EXACT same thing I was planning to post !
Ageing memory...
Regarding "Tomorrow Never Knows" I think I remember McCartney actually saying in the Anthology or something that Lennon was just strumming the C chord throughout the song and how unusual and new it was for them.

― AlXTC from Paris, Friday, 28 June 2019 10:00 (six years ago)

Sheets of Easter, of course

― mfktz (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Friday, 28 June 2019 10:18 (six years ago)

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