In today’s discussion on structuralist theory, I began thinking about how it could be applied to music.  Many people know that the top 40 pop songs tend to sound very similar, but most don’t know just how similar.  The majority of popular songs in the past few decades have only used the same four chords played in various arrangements and time signatures.  Those chords are C, G, A minor, and F, which are all actually just variations on the C scale.  So many songs use these chords that these are typically the first ones any musician learns when learning to play a new instrument.  These four chords allow a musician to play so many songs and so many simplified versions that many people don’t go far past learning these four if they are only interested in casual mastery of their instrument.

            The fact that so many songs use the same four chords has led to many people creating their own songs, tutorials, and videos based around this phenomenon.  You can find many different mash ups on YouTube that provide an example for how many songs use the four-chord formula, but the best one I’ve found is from the spoof band The Axis of Awesome.  Their song, literally called “4 Chords”, is approximately 6 minutes long and includes 47 snippets of different songs.  The video starts off with one of the three members playing the opening melody to Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing” while the other two walk up.  The man at the piano asks the other two if they recognize the song, they answer yes, and the man at the piano says, “Well, there’s a few more songs with the same chords, check it out.” (The Axis of Awesome)  The man at the piano then slips into a simple melody that is used for the rest of the song.  The three men then proceed to sing the snippets of other songs over this melody line, showing how all those other songs follow the same formula with the same four chords.  The never changing melody line, but ever-changing lyrics and beat at which the men sing forms their structuralist criticism.  It shows how many popular artists use the same framework to construct their songs.  The song ends with the lyrics,

Doesn’t that sound familiar?

Doesn’t that hit too close to home?

Doesn’t that make you shiver?

The way that things have gone? …

It’s something I do remember

To never go this far

That’s all it takes to be a star.  (The Axis of Awesome)

The criticism here is how simplistic most songs are and how simple it is to construct a top hit song.  The Axis of Awesome is using structuralism to form their argument by showing just how many songs they can throw together into one piece with the same melody line, which shows how all the songs are using the same frame work.

If you’re interested in the video, you can watch it here.

The Axis of Awesome, director. 4 Chords | Music Videos | The Axis Of Awesome. YouTube, YouTube, 20 July 2011, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOlDewpCfZQ.