Two-Chord Songs... Suggestions?

[Nic Neufeld]

The one that stuck out immediately to me was Lennon's "Tomorrow Never Knows", which is pretty much modal with a C pedal (and an implied Bb/C back and forth from C).

It is obviously highly influenced by Indian music and may be the first pop song to feature a tanpura if I recall correctly. Indian music is entirely melody / scale based and has no Western sense of harmony or chordal movement. The b7 in the melody implies Khammaj thaat or Mixolydian mode. Since the Bb triad is actually a part of the C Mixolydian mode it actually feels almost more like a one chord, or rather, purely modal song...