# The World's simplest rock songs. . . **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 14, 2006, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worlds-simplest-rock-songs/360693 "2006-06-14T15:48:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Small\_Clanger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@Small\_Clanger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Clanger)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2006, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worlds-simplest-rock-songs/360693/1 "2006-06-14T15:48:01Z")
**Roadrunner** – Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers, two chords all the way through with a third thrown in for the final cadence. **Leave Me Alone** Lou Reed one (1) chord. I’ve only heard a Soft Boys cover of this and IIRC they just play a G all the way through, maybe Mr Reed makes it more complicated? Anyone know of any songs to rival these? I was also thinking of **Oh, Superman** but it’s so long since I’ve heard it I can’t remember if it has some structure or just goes _Ah, ah, ah. . ._ all the way through. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2006, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worlds-simplest-rock-songs/360693/2 "2006-06-14T16:00:43Z")
Dave Barry once wrote that if you threw a guitar off a cliff, and it bounced off the rocks on the way down, it would play “Gloria”. ---
**Author:** ![volvelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/e0b2c6/32.png) [@volvelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/volvelle)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2006, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worlds-simplest-rock-songs/360693/3 "2006-06-14T16:16:08Z")
There’s a great band called Oneida (think Can crossed with Spacemen 3 crossed with the MC5) who do a song called _Sheets of Easter_ on their album _Each One Teach One_. It starts with the line “You’ve got to look into the light”. On the word “light”, they play one loud, crunching, half-second riff, that then repeats, without change, for the next fourteen minutes. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Scrappy\_Hero\_Pup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ea5d25/32.png) [@Happy\_Scrappy\_Hero\_Pup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Scrappy_Hero_Pup)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2006, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worlds-simplest-rock-songs/360693/4 "2006-06-14T16:27:25Z")
“Every Rose Has its Thorn” by Poison. C, C-suspended second. Move two fingers up and down. Even I can play it, and I can’t play guitar. Great song, though. ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2006, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worlds-simplest-rock-songs/360693/5 "2006-06-14T18:25:13Z")
“I’ll Be Around” by The Spinners is based entirely on two chords. ---
**Author:** ![audiobottle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc8723/32.png) [@audiobottle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/audiobottle)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2006, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worlds-simplest-rock-songs/360693/6 "2006-06-14T18:39:13Z")
I think “Horse With No Name” might only be two chords, from what I remember. ---
**Author:** ![Indygrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@Indygrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indygrrl)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2006, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worlds-simplest-rock-songs/360693/7 "2006-06-14T18:41:43Z")
Smoke on the Water comes to mind. ---
**Author:** ![h.sapiens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e0b2c6/32.png) [@h.sapiens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/h.sapiens)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2006, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worlds-simplest-rock-songs/360693/8 "2006-06-14T18:45:27Z")
“96 Tears” by ? and the Mysterians. Two chords, three notes, played on an electronic keyboard. ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2006, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worlds-simplest-rock-songs/360693/9 "2006-06-14T18:48:46Z")
At the risk of angering fans of The Boss, \*Born in the USA \* is about as simple as it gets. It repeats the basic tune of the refrain, essentially three notes, throughout the entire song. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2006, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worlds-simplest-rock-songs/360693/10 "2006-06-14T19:02:12Z")
Suzy-Q is about as basic rock n’ roll as you can get. The lyrics of course are far more sophisticated. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Just1Lurk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c0e974/32.png) [@Just1Lurk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just1Lurk)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2006, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worlds-simplest-rock-songs/360693/11 "2006-06-14T19:06:24Z")
I Want You (She’s So Heavy) - The Beatles ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2006, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worlds-simplest-rock-songs/360693/12 "2006-06-14T19:11:33Z")
> [@McNew](#): > > At the risk of angering fans of The Boss, \*Born in the USA \* is about as simple as it gets. It repeats the basic tune of the refrain, essentially three notes, throughout the entire song. I came into this thread to post this very song. I once heard a Muzak-y version of it sans lyrics. It was the same “DAAAAAh, dah dah Dah dah Dahhhhhhhhh” note sequence repeated, and repeated, and repeated, for 3 minutes. I like the original song, but as elevator music it simply did not work. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2006, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worlds-simplest-rock-songs/360693/13 "2006-06-14T19:18:28Z")
Wow. My suggestion, “Sweet Dreams are Made of This” is freakin’ Mozart compared to some of the suggestions above… ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2006, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worlds-simplest-rock-songs/360693/14 "2006-06-14T20:07:16Z")
> [@Happy Scrappy Hero Pup](#): > > “Every Rose Has its Thorn” by Poison. > > C, C-suspended second. Move two fingers up and down. > > Even I can play it, and I can’t play guitar. > > Great song, though. [nitpick] Of course, it is a bit more complicated than that. If you’re going to do it in the key of ‘C’, you have a C, and then really an Fsus2 for the verses, which end with a G and then an F going into the chorus, which operates chordally like the chorus. There’s also a bridge that goes A minor, G, F, C, A minor, G, F (IIRC… I don’t have a piano/guitar handy). So, the verses/chorus fit reasonably well within the ‘only got three chords’ rock song simplicity, but sticking a bridge with a different chord progression might disqualify this one. 🙂 [/nitpick] ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2006, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worlds-simplest-rock-songs/360693/15 "2006-06-14T20:14:02Z")
You can get away with playing Jane’s Addiction’s “Jane Says” with just G and A. It was the first song I learned to play on the guitar. ---
**Author:** ![Sean\_Factotum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Sean\_Factotum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sean_Factotum)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2006, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worlds-simplest-rock-songs/360693/16 "2006-06-14T20:23:22Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > Wow. My suggestion, “Sweet Dreams are Made of This” is freakin’ Mozart compared to some of the suggestions above… No kidding. I was going to recommend anything bby Ted “Who Needs Four Chords?” Nugent. ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2006, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worlds-simplest-rock-songs/360693/17 "2006-06-14T20:58:16Z")
> [@Mama Zappa](#): > > I came into this thread to post this very song. > > I once heard a Muzak-y version of it sans lyrics. It was the same “DAAAAAh, dah dah Dah dah Dahhhhhhhhh” note sequence repeated, and repeated, and repeated, for 3 minutes. I like the original song, but as elevator music it simply did not work. I hate the song, but only because we’re supposed to accept it from the same guy who gave us the infinitely more creative and musically superior \*Born To Run \* album. _BitUSA_ offends my musical senses _because_ of its simplicity, and because Bruce made a mint from the album despite the fact that it’s crap. [end of rant] ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2006, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worlds-simplest-rock-songs/360693/18 "2006-06-14T21:56:19Z")
There are plenty of one-chord blues songs out there - it was a major part of John Lee Hooker’s style, and Howlin’ Wolf did his share of them as well - and plenty of rock musicians imitated them. _Why Don’t We Do It in the Road?_ is a twelve-bar blues, so it has three chords, but it also has only 14 distinct words by my count. I think it belongs on this list. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2006, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worlds-simplest-rock-songs/360693/19 "2006-06-14T21:58:15Z")
_Silence_, by John Cage. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Phantom\_Dennis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/51bf81/32.png) [@Phantom\_Dennis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phantom_Dennis)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2006, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worlds-simplest-rock-songs/360693/20 "2006-06-14T22:10:42Z")
**For What It’s Worth** , by Buffalo Springfield: E A E A E A E A… Great song though. Simplicity is by no means a bad thing. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worlds-simplest-rock-songs/360693.md?page=2)