One-chord songs

[JGriffin]

"See Line Woman" - Nina Simone, I think is just one chord.

[;ivlunsdystf]

aretha: chain of fools

DANG - Somehow I never noticed that was only one chord. Kind of reminds me of the time I realized there's no bass in "When Doves Cry".

[mjau]

there's no bass in "When Doves Cry".

4 Cereal?!?!

[Jpp]

Come on, people... LAND OF A THOUSAND DANCES! Even Dave Barry knows that one.

And while "Tomorrow Never Knows" is commonly hailed as a single chord, there actually is a second one in there.

Jpp

[mjl]

Allegedly, every song on this Billy Childish/Holly Golightly album is one chord only.

http://www.amazon.com/Blood-Billy-Child ... 65-1161515

"ONE CHORD! ONE SONG! ONE SOUND!"

Although, even if you just strum a CM (C E G) and sing a simple melody like "C D E F", when you combine the notes from the voice and the notes from the strum, you get more then one chord. So I wonder if any of these examples hold up, from a strict music theory point of view...

[Rufer]

There's a one-chord song on Elvis Costello's "This Year's Model". I forget which one it is. I remember from the liner notes that he set out to write a one-chord song. Sorry to send you on a wild goose chase but I don't have a copy around right now.

You're thinking of Big Boys. He explains in the notes that his goal in sitting down to write the song was the one chord thing but he actually does make some changes.

[;ivlunsdystf]

There's a one-chord song on Elvis Costello's "This Year's Model". I forget which one it is. I remember from the liner notes that he set out to write a one-chord song. Sorry to send you on a wild goose chase but I don't have a copy around right now.

You're thinking of Big Boys. He explains in the notes that his goal in sitting down to write the song was the one chord thing but he actually does make some changes.

That explains why I can never remember which song it is that only has one chord: The correct answer, for that album, is NONE OF THEM.

[lg]

Although, even if you just strum a CM (C E G) and sing a simple melody like "C D E F", when you combine the notes from the voice and the notes from the strum, you get more then one chord. So I wonder if any of these examples hold up, from a strict music theory point of view...

well yeah, given that, but i think, within the 'typical' structure of a pop tune with chords & melody, what's being discussed here are more or less global changes that affect the overall tonality of a composition, not variations on a static chord structure (i'm not sure what the formal name is for what you're talking about, but i get the theory aspect of it). the idea of keepng it simple from a harmonic standpoint is compelling, because it forces the composer to rely on other attributes of the form (rhythm, timbre, phrasing, dynamics, instrumentation, etc.) to keep things interesting. some of the people we've been discussing here do this rather well (miles, though hardly a producer of pop, and thus also kind of 'officially ineligible' for this discussion, was in my opinion a real master at this).

[fallout]

Dont forget, pretty much any Neu! songs...

-J

[drumsound]

Lime In the Coconut
--Nilsson

[sears]

Mother of God, Close Lobsters

[ludwig_van]

Although, even if you just strum a CM (C E G) and sing a simple melody like "C D E F", when you combine the notes from the voice and the notes from the strum, you get more then one chord. So I wonder if any of these examples hold up, from a strict music theory point of view...

well yeah, given that, but i think, within the 'typical' structure of a pop tune with chords & melody, what's being discussed here are more or less global changes that affect the overall tonality of a composition, not variations on a static chord structure (i'm not sure what the formal name is for what you're talking about, but i get the theory aspect of it).

Those are called non-harmonic tones. There are a bunch of different types - passing tones, escape tones, appogiaturas. Check out the non-harmonic tones lesson at http://musictheory.net. Assuming they eventually resolve to a chord tone, they don't actually change the harmony, so they wouldn't disqualify something from being a one-chord song.

[syrupcore]

spacemen 3 made a 'career' out of it.

There are a few Beat Happening and Young Marble Giants songs for sure but I can't think of any off the top of my head.

'your love is strange' by the dramatics has a bridge change but the rest of it is a single drone bass note.

[Miles]

Mannish Boy, Muddy Waters.

[modernkicks]

Descendents - "All"