# Talking Heads' Remain In Light - a no-chord-change wonder **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 19, 2011, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talking-heads-remain-in-light-a-no-chord-change-wonder/589600 "2011-07-19T16:40:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Auction\_Barn\_Messiah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ba8739/32.png) [@Auction\_Barn\_Messiah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Auction_Barn_Messiah)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2011, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talking-heads-remain-in-light-a-no-chord-change-wonder/589600/1 "2011-07-19T16:40:41Z")
As remarkable as Remain In Light is, it’s even more remarkable that there are no base chord changes (OK, maybe one) on the entire album. Has there ever been another album full of various songs that pulls this off? ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2011, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talking-heads-remain-in-light-a-no-chord-change-wonder/589600/2 "2011-07-19T17:04:21Z")
I am not sure what you are talking about. If I listen to, say, Once in a Lifetime, it is in a specific key - I couldn’t tell you what off the top of my head, but there is a note that the music resolves to. Are you saying more that that songs are each structured on a single chord and don’t have changes? Tomorrow Never Knows, off the Beatles’ Revolver, is a famous example of that type of song - you find it in some songs that are meant to sound chant-y or world-beat-y… ---
**Author:** ![Auction\_Barn\_Messiah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ba8739/32.png) [@Auction\_Barn\_Messiah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Auction_Barn_Messiah)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2011, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talking-heads-remain-in-light-a-no-chord-change-wonder/589600/3 "2011-07-19T17:34:49Z")
That’s correct. One base chord, and no change from that point on, save for the Once In a Lifetime chorus which does have one change. Tomorrow Never Knows comes close, but it does feature one small chord change (played on the mellotron) in the second half of each verse. I guess a number of albums deemed “world-beat” or somesuch may stick to similar no-chord-change formats, but for a contemporary song-based (and popular) rock band in the '70s-'80s to do this was daring indeed! ---
**Author:** ![Arrendajo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Arrendajo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrendajo)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2011, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talking-heads-remain-in-light-a-no-chord-change-wonder/589600/4 "2011-07-19T17:40:14Z")
Do you mean bass or base? There are chord changes in the songs, but in **Remain In Light** that single bass line does run right through the whole song. I might be wrong but I think it is fairly common in funk songs, which I think this qualifies as. I don’t have the album right at hand, but it wouldn’t surprise me if it were true. I would suspect it of **Stop Making Sense** too. I might be that Tina Weymouth is not a very good or creative bass player. I don’t know. Her bass parts always fit Talking Heads songs well. Interestingly, I was just thinking about 2 of my favorite Magnetic Fields songs, **Smoke Signals** and **Old Orchard Beach**. Each has the same 3 chord structure, same timing, throughout the songs, and yet the melody and instrumentation change just enough from verse to chorus that it isn’t immediately obvious (to me, anyway). I suspect it is true of many pop/rock songs, and I just happened to notice it for the first time. ---
**Author:** ![Simmerdown](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simmerdown/32/14859_2.png) [@Simmerdown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simmerdown)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2011, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talking-heads-remain-in-light-a-no-chord-change-wonder/589600/5 "2011-07-19T17:42:07Z")
To me it sounds like many of the songs do have some chordal structure, but are not emphasized by this, but rather are focused on African and experimental polyrhythms. I’d have to go give the record another listen, but at the very least, ( **WordMan** already mentioned) Once in a Lifetime, and Listening Wind each have a clear harmony structure, albeit simple. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2011, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talking-heads-remain-in-light-a-no-chord-change-wonder/589600/6 "2011-07-19T18:02:38Z")
> [@Arrendajo](#): > > I might be that Tina Weymouth is not a very good or creative bass player. I don’t know. Her bass parts always fit Talking Heads songs well. Tina Weymouth is an excellent groove bass player. Carry on. ---
**Author:** ![Arrendajo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Arrendajo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrendajo)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2011, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talking-heads-remain-in-light-a-no-chord-change-wonder/589600/7 "2011-07-19T20:55:15Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > Tina Weymouth is an excellent groove bass player. > > Carry on. When I saw them she stepped on her bass cable and yanked the cable out of her bass twice. So she might be kinda spazz… ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2011, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talking-heads-remain-in-light-a-no-chord-change-wonder/589600/8 "2011-07-19T21:04:24Z")
> [@Arrendajo](#): > > When I saw them she stepped on her bass cable and yanked the cable out of her bass twice. So she might be kinda spazz… Standard occupational hazard if you use a cord vs. wireless; not that big of a deal, although she should loop the cord through her strap! I have been playing 33 years and still step on my effects boxes when I don’t want to because I get caught up with the music and performing. But then again, perhaps I am a bit of a spaz, too 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2011, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talking-heads-remain-in-light-a-no-chord-change-wonder/589600/9 "2011-07-19T21:04:51Z")
How did you people know I listenened to a couple of tracks on this one today? > [@Arrendajo](#): > > There are chord changes in the songs, but in **Remain In Light** that single bass line does run right through the whole song. I might be wrong but I think it is fairly common in funk songs, which I think this qualifies as. I don’t have the album right at hand, but it wouldn’t surprise me if it were true. That sounds more accurate to me. > [@](#): > > I would suspect it of **Stop Making Sense** too. Stop Making Sense includes some older songs like Heaven and Psycho Killer, which do have discrenable chord changes. For that matter it also includes Swamp, which is on Speaking in Tongues and is based on a I-IV-V blues progression. > [@](#): > > I might be that Tina Weymouth is not a very good or creative bass player. I don’t know. Her bass parts always fit Talking Heads songs well. Don’t talk smack about Tina. 😉 I like her playing, and in any case, she played different parts earlier in their career and later, when they were doing stuff with more chord changes. This was the kind of music they were interested in making at this point. Remain in Light and Speaking in Tongues both build on the first track on Fear of Music, I Zimbra. ---
**Author:** ![K364](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k364/32/5_2.png) [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2011, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talking-heads-remain-in-light-a-no-chord-change-wonder/589600/10 "2011-07-19T22:48:51Z")
“Helen Wheels” by Paul McCartney has an A chord for the entire song except for the turn-arounds at the end of each verse, where there is a half bar of E. Pretty impressive for a pop song. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2011, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talking-heads-remain-in-light-a-no-chord-change-wonder/589600/11 "2011-07-20T01:32:27Z")
Harry Nilsson’s “Coconut” is another one that was played with only a single chord. ---
**Author:** ![Arrendajo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Arrendajo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrendajo)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2011, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talking-heads-remain-in-light-a-no-chord-change-wonder/589600/12 "2011-07-20T20:33:20Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > How did you people know I listenened to a couple of tracks on this one today? > That sounds more accurate to me. > Stop Making Sense includes some older songs like Heaven and Psycho Killer, which do have discrenable chord changes. For that matter it also includes Swamp, which is on Speaking in Tongues and is based on a I-IV-V blues progression. > Don’t talk smack about Tina. 😉 I like her playing, and in any case, she played different parts earlier in their career and later, when they were doing stuff with more chord changes. This was the kind of music they were interested in making at this point. Remain in Light and Speaking in Tongues both build on the first track on Fear of Music, I Zimbra. Thanks yes I think I meant Speaking in Tongues not Stop Making Sense. Well Talking Heads were great in any case, through all their musical mutations. When I saw them Byrne left the stage in the middle of the concert and Tina and Chris took over and did a bunch of Tom Tom Club songs. It was a terrific show. I remember I Zimbra blew mind mind when it first came out. One of the most influential songs WRT introducing wold/ethnic beats to popular music.