One-chord songs

[Karlos the Jackal]

I like limitations: I was recently thinking about songs that are limited to one chord.

I'm aware of, like, old-school blues, and noise stuff that is "chord-free" entirely. But my main interest here is pop, and I'm having a hard time thinking of any pop songs with no chord changes.

(Songs that have chord changes only on, say, the bridge still do not count!)

So -- what is there?

--K

[curtiswyant]

Beatles - Tomorrow Never Knows

[Babaluma]

neither really pop as such, but i can think of two off of the top of my head:

spacemen 3 - revolution (from the "playing with fire" album)

and

cluster - sowiesoso (from the album of the same name)

and loads more drone stuff, but then that's moving even further from pop...

[Spark]

I was thinking the Trashmens Surfin Bird might be the closest I can think of, but I there are chord changes in the chorus.

[mjau]

Bonnie "Prince" Billy - Madeline Mary (A minor)

[;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.

[JGriffin]

John Lee Hooker, "Boogie Chillun'."

[JGriffin]

I was thinking the Trashmens Surfin Bird might be the closest I can think of, but I there are chord changes in the chorus.

Yeah, that's 12-bar blues with the first IV chord removed.

[pablotf]

I think Sly and The Family Stone's "Everyday People" has two chords in it, but its bassline uses only one note.

[percussion boy]

Well, there's all of Indian classical music . . . amazing singers, sitarists, and so forth wailing against the same open fifth drone for hours, while the drums play on . . .

[standup]

Pop O'Pies -- Fascists Eat Donuts.

[alex matson]

Grant Lee Buffalo - It's the Life
The Verve - Make It Til Monday
You can hear the first one by searching on you tube. as a bonus, you get to see the drummer bury his drums on the beach!
REM - Bandwagon

[cgarges]

Sly and The Family Stone's

"Thank You Falettinme Be Mice Elf Again"
"Dance To The Music" (except the vocal break near the top)

"Jean Pierre" (Miles Davis)

"Girlfriend Is Better" (Talking Heads)

"Voices Inside My Head" (The Police)

"The Funky Drummer" (James Brown)

Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC

[lg]

aretha: chain of fools

talking heads: crosseyed & painless

tom verlaine: present arrived, sleepwalkin', saucer crash...

bob marley: exodus

miles: shhh/peaceful

and of course,

war: low rider

[lg]

one i forgot- and it's actually quite a nice little album: 'one of our girls has gone missing' by a. c. marias (angela conway, bruce gilbert, et al): almost every song is a one-chord wonder, with the exception of the title track, which finally breaks into a few changes. i always thought it was a fresh if somewhat delicate take on pop song structures. not much of a wire edge for gilbert, but you can hear it in some of the textures, fwiw.