I've been boring people for years, pointing out a chord sequence that I hear repeated again and again in tons of different songs. Normally people just shrug or don't agree "No, it is different", etc...but now some clever sod has proved my point brilliantly for me with this fantastically-clever bit of YouTubery.
Check it out, and weep at our popstars' unoriginality.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4_f6pfabQk&eurl=http://www.b3ta.com/links/Four_Chords_36_Songs
Which four chords are they?
I have not heard of many of the bands or songs there, so will have to assume the video is right. 
haha that's crazy Lee. Pretty funny too. I noticed Red Hot Chilly Peppers were there twice.
E major, B major, C sharp minor, A major.
Degrees of the scale, that's I - V - VI - IV, then back to I.
So if it was in C major, you'd get C major, G major, A minor, F major...
I started looking for other stuff by those Axis of Awesome guys. There pretty funny.
Good YouTubery to be sure, Lee. But what does it prove? Only that they are good chords to go together. It doesn't even mean the songs sound similar. David Bowie once did two songs on the same album with exactly the same chord sequence - they're both great songs, but completely different.
Most African jazz uses I - IV - Ic - V. Another four chord sequence.
Very simple. It's the way it goes. 
It's a progression (I V VI IV) as old as them thar hills and in addition to those 36 there's probably about another 36 thousand.
Ain't too much new under the sun really.
Good vid though.
Missed the point of this one. Isn't melody the key to a song? As Larry Adler said " Even Bach boils down to blow suck blow"
I used to hear the teenager in love sequence G Em C D and repeat all over the place.
Quote: Griff @ February 4 2009, 8:40 AM GMTAlso check out this clip where the sublime Ukulele Orchestra Of Great Britain demonstrate that "Life On Mars" and "My Way" are basically the same song: http://7clips.blogspot.com/2008/12/ukulele-orchestra-of-gb-life-on-mars.html
(BTW apparently Bowie has admitted that LOM was a "homage" to "My Way"...)
Wasn't Bowie asked to write the lyrics to My Way, but his version was rejected?
I can't remeber what his version was like, possibly about gnomes and hobgoblins
I can be a rock star with four chords........YEAH!!!!
Quote: Griff @ February 4 2009, 12:03 PM GMTYou're right Dolly, I checked further and Bowie's song is much more than just a "homage" to the original:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/soldonsong/songlibrary/lifeonmars.shtml
For example in the "Teenager in Love" sequence of C Am F G, you're very
Is G Em C and G just a slightly easier version then?
Quote: Griff @ February 4 2009, 1:29 PM GMTG Em C and D is the same progression but for people with higher voices such as John Inman and yourself.
As Griff rightly says, the same progression, just starting on a different note. Same as singing a tune in a different key.
I love the fact the other guy can't sing at all!
Hahahahahahaha... The Take On Me is ace.