best one chord song?

Wrong.

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

D major all the way.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

Neu! and Faust win this one, I think.

"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.

"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.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

drunks with guns - hell house, iirc?

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.

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

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

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.

Sheets of Easter, of course