Strange Chord Progressions You Have Known And Loved

"Bohemian Rhapsody" is pretty impressive.

"Kiss On My List" has two great chords--in the prechorus, the one on "bliss," as in "if you insist on blowing my BLISS," opens up when you expect it'll close off, and the third chord in the guitar solo progression is unexpected, a flat III, I think.

But yeah, the Beatles are gods. Neil Young, too. Very creative songwriter. People tend to think first of his patented two chord vamp type things (like - ha - "Down By the River"; there's your quintessential major/minor thingy.) But he wrote some really beautifully constructed stuff that I love to play. Like "Speakin' Out" and "Mellow My Mind" from Tonight's the Night for example.

And "Wild Horses" really opens up as a song when you learn to play it. Well, it did for me anyway. Awesome song.

"Every choral piece by Herbert Howells has amazing chord progessions. Ditto a large number of Cure songs.

-- Dan Perry (djperr...), June 11th, 2002."

Come on, now, Dan, you know as well as I do that the Cure's chord progressions are two notches above JAMC's in terms of invention or uniqueness. With some notable exceptions ("If Only Tonight We Could Sleep", "The Loudest Sound") they're fairly generic (though in a good, JAMC-ish way), almost never change key, and the verses mostly oscillate between two common chords: they probably have ten songs based off IIIm-I!!! Most Cure songs live and die by the melodies on top, "Pictures Of You" being the best example.

PS- about Depeche Mode-- "Enjoy the Silence" is one of the most moving chord progressions I've ever heard.
and as to the Cure's chords....you'd be surprised what actually goes on with the guitars, even if they "never change key" and "oscillate between two common chords." Go to www.cure.com, and check out the tabs that Robert Smith posts on his own.

INTRO:(Cmaj7, Gsus2/B, Bbmaj7, Fsus2/A, Dmaj7, Asus2/C#, Cmaj7, Gsus2/B, Ebmaj7, E7#9)
Verse 1:(G13)This is the (F13)day of the(G/A)expanding (F13)man. (G13)That shape is my(F13) shade there (G/A)where I used to(D9) stand. (Fmaj7) It seems like(E7-9) only yest(Am7)erday I gazed through the (Bb13) glass. At(E7) ramblers, (B7)wild gamblers. That's(B7#9)all in the(E7) past(B7#9, E7).
(G13)You call me (F13)a fool you say it's a (G/A)crazy (F13)scene. (G13)This one's for(F13) real I already (G/A)bought (A7)the dream. (Fmaj7) So useless to(E7-9) ask me why. (Am7)Throw a kiss a(Gm7)nd say good(F#maj7)bye. (Fmaj7)I'll ma(Csus2/E)ke it this time. (D9)I'm ready (F/G)to cross that fine line.
CHORUS: (Am7)I'll Learn to work (Em7)the saxophone. (Dm7)I play ju(Cmaj7)st what I feel. (Bbmaj7)Drink scotch whiskey (Am)all night. (Am/G)long(Am/F#, Fmaj7) And (Csus2/E)die beh(Fmaj7)ind the wheel.(Am7) They got a name for the(Em7)winners in the world. (Dm7)I want a (Cmaj7)name when I lose. They (Bbmaj7)call Alabama the (Am)crimson (Am/G)tide.(Am/F#, Fmaj7) (Csus2/E)Call me Dea(Fmaj7)con Bl(Am7)ues (Deacon (Em7)Blues) (Dmaj7, Asus2/C#, Cmaj7, Gsus2/B, Ebmaj7, E7#9)
VERSE 2 : My back to the wall a victim of laughing chance. This is for me the essence of true romance. Sharing the things we know and love with those of my kind. Libations, sensations which stagger the mind. I crawl like a viper through these suburban streets. Make love to these women languid and bittersweet. I'll rise when the sun goes down. Cover every game in town. A world of my own. I'll make it my home sweet home.
CHORUS*Play these instead of the last chords*(Dmaj7, Asus2/C#, Cmaj7, Gsus2/B, Bb13, Gsus2/B)
INSTRUMENTAL: (Cmaj7, Em7, A13, D7#5#9, G13, B7#9, Em7, A13, Fmaj7, F#7#9, Gmaj7, B7#9)*Repeat*
*INTRO* Verse 3:(G13)This is the (F13)night of the (G/A)expan(F13)ding man. (G13)I take one last(F13)drag as I (G/A)approach(A7) the stand. (Fmaj7)I cried when I(E7-9) wrote this song. (Am7)Sue me if I (Gm7)play too lo(F#maj7)ng (Fmaj7). This brother(Csus2/E) is free. (D9)I'll be what(F/G)I want to be.
CHORUS
OUTRO: Same as first half of 1st Verse - except play D9-5 instead of D9. Keep repeating this half verse to fade

Fuck them, that's a great song, but they don't deserve to sing it.

Great album too (Pet Sounds). I even used "Don't Talk" for my ASL project (had to sign a song. Didn't hurt that it's nice and slow, too, hehe)

It's Mandy I object to.

I know there are some interesting shapes/variations on the chords and such, and obviously the melodies (at their best) are incredible... but at the most base level of what they represent (i, II, etc), they're relatively simple. (Besides, that site only has WMS and Bloodflowers - the songwriting on Bloodflowers is nothing like most of their catalog in terms of the guitar chords.)

Trust me, I didn't mean any of the last post as an insult; I actually tend to prefer simple chord progressions as long as there's cool stuff on top.

Em
In the mornin' you go gunnin' for the man who stole your water
Em
And you fire till he's done in but they catch you at the border
Em
And the mourners are all singin' as they drag you by your feet
Em
But the hangman isn't hangin' so they put you on the street

Am7 Bm7 Bm/C Bm7 Em
You go back, Jack, do it again, wheels turinin' 'round and 'round
Am7 Bm7 Bm/C Bm7 Em | | Bm7 (II)
You go back, Jack, do it again

Success?

There are many good ones there too, but you need to always do the "play" test to see which ones are valid first.

I love when people on Olga would go "WELL I WOULD TAB THE SOLO BUT I DONT HAVE TIME RIGHT NOW."

just admit you don't know how man, nobody will care ;)

Props to whoever posted Steely Dan, their first album had
hella cool progressions.

Here's some really cool chord progressions, mostly from my recent
aquisitions:

AP3S - "God Morgon"

Guided By Voices - "Dragons Awake, The Official Ironmen Rally
Song"

Pavement - "Transport Is Arranged"

Soundgarden - _Down On The Upside_, there's a couple of simple
(chordally, anyway) riffage numbers, but most of the songs here
are chordally strange to the max. My favorites are
"Blow Up The Outside World" and "Boot Camp."

Parliament - "Whatever Makes Baby Feel Good"
Lungbutter - "The Martians Aren't Coming"
Robert Pollard - "Girl named Captain"

Generally speaking, hip-hop is not chordally strange, but
De La Soul's "Held Down" has very nice, ethereal chord
progression.

though I agree with you on Upside, it's just too bad I don't actually like the album much :/...not compared to Louder-Superunknown, at least

Uncovered
Full On (Reprise)
Slaves & Bulldozers
Somewhere
Room A Thousand Years Wide

But I think Badmotorfinger is their best album (of what I've heard, that is, keep in mind I don't have Ultramega OK or Screaming Life/F.O.P.P.)...I loved Superunknown too (especially the climax at "Limo Wreck"), but I prefer the songwriting on Motorfinger, plus the fact that Cornell was just in tip-top shape vocally for his performance (not that he wasn't terrific on Superunknown too, but it's like comparing a 99 on a test to a 98, ya know).

I'd say Jesus Christ Pose was one you COULDN'T POSSIBLY LEAVE OFF.

I still love putting their shit on. Stuff like "Mailman" still crushes to this day.

"Footprints" is probably my favorite jazz standard ever. He did "Nefertiti" too, didn't he? That's probably my second favorite.

I so agree that Cornell is an incredible vocalist. He's a
"tuneful screamer" of the top order. Who else in
rock comes sound like him? Robert Plant, John Fogerty, Tool's singer
and the Guess Who's singer are all similar in style, but none of
them can match him in terms of power and range. Ironically, if
Paul McCartney had been a hard-rocker/metallist I think he would
have sounded similar. Then there's his little brother, Peter Cornell,
I nearly forgot about him.

He's like an improved and more tuneful Plant, really, but the ferocity of Cornell's vocals was unmatched. Yet he could sing tenderly when he needed to too. I liked his solo album as well.

The funniest thing was when I used to visit the official SAvatage site, there was one "prima donna" transcriber there who did 75% of the transcriptions on the site, and they were extremely inaccurate. Throughout one tab, in fact, he listed an A chord being played up top, mentioned it was in standard tuning, yet said your fingers needed to be on the third frets of both the 2nd and third strings, with the open first, fourth and fifth strings, which is not an A chord whatsoever, but a load of dissonance...which does not occur in the song at all.

I always wonder when the tabs are ass wrong whether it's just their inexperience transcribing or whether after actually hearing the song they actually HEAR it in their heads that way, incorrectly.

Man it's great to hear someone else say this. I've been celebrating
this change for YEARS. It's so beautiful yet stark and chilling.
Like a burning smurftown. Or something.

dr. phil so OTM it hurts. i'm all for cool, weird changes, but i'm equally all for a good I-IV-V. both are generally meaningless, though, without a melody being played or sung over them. it's all about how the changes relate to the melody. not to mention the whole rhythm thing.

that all said, tommy roe's "dizzy" is a great strange-yet-simple chord progression. I-IV-V played in three different keys as the song moves around from verse to pre-chorus to chorus and back.

I've liked what I've heard of the older material, in the snippets, and I'm going to eventually purchase one of the albums, as I've had Dogman and various others in my hand on various occasions only to find something else to buy (I can rarely afford more than one or two cds at the same time)

And yeah, Dogman's a trip, and I didn't like it when it first came out, but I've gained appreciation for it over the years. Definitely more riff-focused and less Beatlesy-colorful. Just don't get Tape Head, or you'll never want to get any of their other stuff.

Have always loved the progression for the verses in Candy Says:

D F#m F B
Em A D A

The F#m to F to B to Em in particular...

Also, Forever Changes to thread. Art sure loved his major 7ths on that album...

The Ella Fitzgerald version of Jerome Kern's 'The Way You Look Tonight' has got some suprising movement in there, Nelson Riddle's work I think.

Mew are pretty good at sudden and kinda interesting key changes given that their music is pretty straight ahead in the main.

Have always loved the progression for the verses in Candy Says:

D F#m F B
Em A D A

The F#m to F to B to Em in particular...

weird I learned to play this sometime last year, but in a totally different key (starting on A)

The iii -> flat-VII trick as seen in both the verse of Itchycoo Park and the coda of Perfect Day

The little Bm7 -> Cmaj7 -> Bbmaj7 turnaround in David Crosby's Tamalpais High

They way See Emily Play by Pink Floyd tricks you into thinking it's going back and forth between G and A, until the very last chord of the whole song, where it finally resolves and you realise it was in D all along. Actually, most of the Syd Barrett era stuff has pretty audacious chords.

A ton of Jeff Buckley stuff too: the way the D6 A6 G6 comes out of nowhere in the verse of So Real, the ascending/descending bassline stuff he does, like the Em->B7/F# -> G6 -> A6 prechorus in Grace, that insane chorus in Lover, You Should've Come Over where he plays this big symmetric progression that goes the whole way up the neck and back down again.

Way too much Beatles stuff to mention... http://www.icce.rug.nl/~soundscapes/DATABASES/AWP/awp-alphabet.shtml explains it all in exhaustive detail.

And don't even get me started on Bill Evans.

Steely Dan's 'Here at the Western World,'

1 2 3 4
Down at the Lido they welcome you

It's the 4th chord that kills

Mentioned in another post earlier today that a recent Aerosmith PUMP poll subliminally led to me doing "What It Takes" at karaoke on a whim/dare and holy shit is it a pretty complex feat of songwriting, the bridge in particular.

I looked at the guitar tab and now I realize how well-crafted this song is:

First verse is in Gmaj.
Chorus is in Bbmaj (nifty, but nothing too crazy, ya?)
Guitar solo subtly progresses into Fmaj (getting tricky)
but then the bridge...
fakes you out by thinking it's back to Gmaj with a Cmaj to Gmaj but then a Bb -> to Fmaj and then the epic Fmin -> Eb -> C# -> Ab -> C (!!!) -> Bb (!!!!!!!)
then it stays in Bbmaj for the remaining refrain and coda.

...and doing all this in the guise of a radio-friendly power-ballad is pretty slick. kudos.

steely dan - FM chorus wins the thread though yeah?

I'm sort of surprised that the chorus of Deacon Blues is relatively simple--even I can play those chords! I think the song Aja has much more difficult chords, although I'm not sure

My favorite chord "barre" none
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mu_chord

Isn't "Aja" supposedly so complicated that literally nobody can play it?

Listened to a little GbV due to the poll and encountered this:

F  C  Bb
F  C# Bb
F             C
With surgical focus
Bb
she stared at me and 
F                   C#
said I'm willing to reach out
              Bb
get into your head
F
And I will keep you
    C
and clench you
Bb
she glared at me and wept
F                      #C
change is not going to hurt you
        Bb
not this time
                     C        Bb
I've been waiting in line for this
                     Dm   C#   F  
Now that's it taking forever I insist
                       C
Until I get it I can't breathe
         Bb            Dm
Climbing high upon the rocky cliffs
    C#
She plies
              F     C    Bb
With surgical focus
              F     C    Bb
With surgical focus

The Cmaj to C#maj jump every other line of the verse is odd, but what is it called when it does the Dm-C#maj-Fmaj thingy? Is that a common?

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