The song that spawned the four chords of pop
The common belief is that most modern pop music has been swallowed by the dreaded “four chords of pop”. Whereas the early days of rock and roll relied on three chords, amateur musicians have tried using the switches from the harmonic I-V-iv-IV as a cheat code to get some of their biggest hits, with some of them not even using all four to get their point across. Although countless songs might bear this iconic chord sequence these days, what’s the one song that started it all?
The basic building blocks of harmony have existed long before music was documented, and some of the earliest examples of this chord progression come from classical music. In various works from the likes of Mozart and Bach, they have used this cascading chord progression to give a building dynamic to their songs.
Classical musicians may have used the progression sparingly throughout their tenure, but it didn’t rise to prominence in the pop charts until the 1950s. As the doo-wop craze began, countless songs by now-unknown artists bore this chord progression, only starting on a different chord to start the progression. Since the tones are shifted, this theme variation makes the listener feel like they’re going on a short melodic journey throughout each section of the song.
Out of the early genesis of rock and roll, Phil Spector also co-opted the chord progression for the song ‘To Know Him is To Love Him’. From there, it progressed into the folk-rock world, with Bob Dylan using it as one of the main progressions for his song ‘Don’t Think Twice It’s Alright’.
Seeing how this is one of the most satisfying chord progressions of all time, it’s only natural that The Beatles picked it up a handful of times, using it as the basis for ‘Let It Be’. From there, different rock musicians used the progression throughout the ’70s, using it for either ballads or power-pop songs such as The Police’s ‘So Lonely’.
As different artists continued to innovate with new sounds, the ’80s were where the progression became far more prominent, with classics like ‘Don’t Stop Believin’ by Journey using it and the U2 tearjerker ‘With Or Without You’. Given how easy the chord progression is to get under one’s fingers, it was co-opted by countless songs from pop-punk acts towards the end of the ’90s, with everyone from Green Day to Blink-182 using it for many different songs in their catalogue.
Once the new millennium started, the progression peaked, with much of the hit parade being populated with songs that used the chords in a continuous loop throughout the entire song. In just a few decades, these four chords had quickly replaced the 12-bar blues as one of the most common chord progressions on the pop charts. The trend continues in different pockets to this day, with artists like Harry Styles and Taylor Swift using the chord progression for a handful of their solo hits.
Although there is a sense of safety in using the infamous “four chords” throughout a song, the power behind them hasn’t dissipated, with songwriters still finding ways to twist the chords around just the right way to touch people’s hearts. The “four chords” might just be passed off as a sort of musical cheat code for songwriters everywhere, but it takes a master to play them with conviction.
