Ever wonder why all those pop songs sound kinda the same? ...simple! They all use the same 4 Chords!

[NurseJackie]

4 Chords | Music Videos | The Axis Of Awesome

Ever wonder why all those pop songs sound kinda the same? Well, it's pretty simple; They all use the same 4 Chords!

SONGS in 4 CHORDS

Journey -- "Don't Stop Believing"
James Blunt -- "You're Beautiful"
Black Eyed Peas -- "Where Is the Love"
Alphaville -- "Forever Young"
Jason Mraz -- "I'm Yours"
Train -- "Hey Soul Sister"
The Calling -- "Wherever You Will Go"
Elton John -- "Can You Feel The Love Tonight" (from The Lion King)
Akon -- "Don't Matter"
John Denver -- "Take Me Home, Country Roads"
Lady Gaga -- "Paparazzi"
U2 -- "With Or Without You"
The Last Goodnight -- "Pictures of You"
Maroon Five -- "She Will Be Loved"
The Beatles -- "Let It Be"
Bob Marley -- "No Woman No Cry"
Marcy Playground -- "Sex and Candy"
Men At Work -- "Land Down Under"
Theme from America's Funniest Home Videos
Jack Johnson -- "Taylor"
Spice Girls -- "Two Become One"
A Ha -- "Take On Me"
Green Day -- "When I Come Around"
Eagle Eye Cherry -- "Save Tonight"
Toto -- "Africa"
Beyonce -- "If I Were A Boy"
Kelly Clarkson -- "Behind These Hazel Eyes"
Jason DeRulo -- "In My Head"
The Smashing Pumpkins -- "Bullet With Butterfly Wings"
Joan Osborne -- "One Of Us"
Avril Lavigne -- "Complicated"
The Offspring -- "Self Esteem"
The Offspring -- "You're Gonna Go Far Kid"
Akon -- "Beautiful"
Timberland featuring OneRepublic -- "Apologize"
Eminem featuring Rihanna -- "Love the Way You Lie"
Bon Jovi -- "It's My Life"
Lady Gaga -- "Pokerface"
Aqua -- "Barbie Girl"
Red Hot Chili Peppers -- "Otherside"
The Gregory Brothers -- "Double Rainbow"
MGMT -- "Kids"
Andrea Bocelli -- "Time To Say Goodbye"
Robert Burns -- "Auld Lang Syne"
Five for fighting -- "Superman"
The Axis of Awesome -- "Birdplane"
Missy Higgins -- "Scar"

[DFW]

1. I only know some of those

But Country Roads has 1, 4, 5, 6 and 7, and Africa has far more than just 1, 4, 5, and 6. maybe there is some sheet music out there that simplifies some of these songs for people just learning their first guitar chords?

[NurseJackie]

2. Interesting observations!

(PS: Are you still home in the states? Or did you make it safely home to Germany? )

[DFW]

4. We are in New York City, about to head for LaGuardia

We‘ll be in Dallas from this evening until the weekend, and then we have a flight to Frankfurt on Saturday.

There is no rest for the weary!

[NurseJackie]

6. Safe travels!

[HUAJIAO]

8. You're a brave soul to do so much flying these days,

Last edited Sun May 9, 2021, 11:08 PM - Edit history (1)

especially time spent in airports. TSA, hanging at gate, boarding lines, de-planing, baggage pick up........

Stay safe..

[DFW]

12. Routine for us

Not anything we aren‘t used to

[IrishAfricanAmerican]

5. The chorus in Africa...

is pretty much a 6-4-1-5 pattern but it's in a different key than the main song, (a modal shift,) and the tag at the end is completely different.

The verses are definitely much more than that pattern. I'd say including this song in their list is misleading at best.

[Binkie The Clown]

3. Well, as Oz of Dingoes Ate my Baby once said...

"Other bands know more than three chords. Your professional bands can play up to six, sometimes seven completely different chords."

[Swede]

7. Why does every painting of the sunset all seem kinda the same.

I mean, the sun, the horizon, birds, clouds! Come on.

[HUAJIAO]

10. Not quite the same thing. :))))

[jmbar2]

9. With so much harmonic material to work with

I wonder why so many modern songs are so repetitious.

I don't listen much to today's "hit" music - most of my exposure is from bands on SNL. But what I notice is that they sing a repetitive motif over a basic chord progression, starting quietly, and ending up screaming at the end. Almost no melodic development.

As you can see above, good melodic ideas are endless with bare bones chords.

[msongs]

11. many youtube videos on why current pop music sounds so much the same