Songs with I and IV chords only?

Subject: RE: Songs with I and IV chords only?
From: Terry McDonald
Date: 29 Jul 09 - 01:28 PM

'Rosie Anderson' - just been playing and singing it and suddenly realised there's no dominant in it.

Subject: RE: Songs with I and IV chords only?
From: Eve Goldberg
Date: 29 Jul 09 - 06:30 PM

And I just recently realized that "Green Green Rocky Road" only uses the I and IV chords.

Subject: RE: Songs with I and IV chords only?
From: GUEST,lefthanded guitar
Date: 29 Jul 09 - 06:47 PM

Joshua Gone Barbados, a haunting song about political corruption, has two chords. First learned it from a Tom Rush album, but not sure who the writer is.

Subject: RE: Songs with I and IV chords only?
From: PHJim
Date: 30 Jul 09 - 01:51 PM

I think Joshua Gone... was written by Eric Von Schmidt.

Subject: RE: Songs with I and IV chords only?
From: Eve Goldberg
Date: 30 Jul 09 - 11:20 PM

Here's a link to a thread about Joshua Gone Barbados.

Subject: RE: Songs with I and IV chords only?
From: GUEST,Yanai Morris
Date: 11 Apr 11 - 06:59 AM

My favourite I IV song is "Heroin" by The Velvet Underground. It amazed me how interesting the song was with just the 2 chords repeating for the whole entire song. The tempo changes is the one of the things that gives the song its power.

Subject: RE: Songs with I and IV chords only?
From: Stringsinger
Date: 11 Apr 11 - 12:57 PM

Buffalo Springfield - For What It's Worth (Monterey 1967)

Can be done with I and IV.

Subject: RE: Songs with I and IV chords only?
From: GUEST
Date: 26 Apr 12 - 02:39 AM

Just My Imagination

Subject: RE: Songs with I and IV chords only?
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 26 Apr 12 - 04:13 AM

think divergently

start with the F
then play the c

then you can play the I and V songs in the key of F

weird stuff if you can do the barre F, why wouldn't you be able to do the G7?

Subject: RE: Songs with I and IV chords only?
From: Ross
Date: 26 Apr 12 - 04:48 AM

With God On Our Side by Dylan can be done with two chords

Great lyrics - I heard it when I was 7 - cover version by Manfred Mann and it captured my landscape of the sixties

War & the wild west; and should it be questionerd

Subject: RE: Songs with I and IV chords only?
From: GUEST,bzribee
Date: 17 Jan 14 - 12:16 AM

A reason I looked for this list of songs is related to what Big Aj Whittle said two posts above--I teach beginners and use I, V chords for guitar--there are TONS of songs to get started with. But when I started to teach ukulele, I prefer to teach the C chord first and the F chord second. Since there are so few I IV songs, I either have the students tap the uke in place of the V chord, or I flip to the key of F and we play all the same I, V songs but using F, C. then I teach the G7 and we're back to another gazillion songs....

Thanks for the thread. It's basically reinforced that I stay in F 'til students are comfortable. And I can't use "Trouble, Trouble on my Mind" with little kids. I"m going to learn it, though.

Subject: RE: Songs with I and IV chords only?
From: Gary T
Date: 17 Jan 14 - 12:34 AM

Wild Mountain Thyme (Go Lassie Go) uses only I and IV chords.

Subject: RE: Songs with I and IV chords only?
From: GUEST
Date: 17 Jan 14 - 06:08 AM

Wild Mountain Thyme uses only I and IV chords

Apart from the minor II and III, of course...

Subject: RE: Songs with I and IV chords only?
From: Phil Cooper
Date: 17 Jan 14 - 08:41 AM

Guy Davis' song Hooking Bull at the Landing is a two chord I and IV song. As Eve said way at the top, the number of chords has nothing to do with how good a song is. I know a few songs where you can get away with one chord. To quote the late Lou Reed, one chord is fine, two is all right, three, you're venturing into jazz.

Subject: RE: Songs with I and IV chords only?
From: GUEST,Stew
Date: 17 Jan 14 - 08:46 AM

Angeline Baker

Subject: RE: Songs with I and IV chords only?
From: GUEST,Sarah T
Date: 21 Jan 14 - 11:02 PM

Hi all, long-time Mudcat reader but very rarely post anything. I read this thread last week and then tonight while playing bedtime songs for my mother I realized I had a I/IV song -- California Joe, as recorded by Jim Ringer. In the key of G, G and C are all you need. The song is in the DT and there are multiple threads about it.
--Sarah

Subject: RE: Songs with I and IV chords only?
From: GUEST,Joyce
Date: 20 Aug 14 - 08:42 AM

I teach Intro with a focus on 2 - chord cadence songs and am looking for I-IV-I progression songs also. Simplified version of Imagine uses C - F repeatedly, but begs for the G7 - C at the end. So, I simply point out that the main progression is the IV I cadence until the final and stronger resolution of V7 - I.

Subject: RE: Songs with I and IV chords only?
From: Lonesome EJ
Date: 21 Aug 14 - 12:45 AM

Going Up on the Mountain 1/4 generally G/C

Subject: RE: Songs with I and IV chords only?
From: kendall
Date: 21 Aug 14 - 06:24 AM

One of the first songs I learned was: "The convict and the rose." two chords.Within my prison cell so dreary, alone I sit with weary heart, I'm thinking 'bout my lonely darlin', from her for ever I must part...

And there's "Colin man." 1, 2, 3, 4, Colin man he come, 1, 2, 3, 4, Colin man he come, 1, 2, 3, 4, Colin man he come and his watch and chain hit the belly bum bum bum.

Subject: RE: Songs with I and IV chords only?
From: GUEST,Ashley
Date: 04 Sep 18 - 06:39 PM

Is there any Christian songs that only have I and IV I need it for a class and I don’t find any

Subject: RE: Songs with I and IV chords only?
From: GUEST,Ted
Date: 06 Sep 18 - 09:14 AM

Woody Guthrie - 1913 Massacre

Subject: RE: Songs with I and IV chords only?
From: Bonzo3legs
Date: 06 Sep 18 - 09:22 AM

Bo Diddley - I'm a man

Muddy Waters - I'm your hootchie cootchie man

Subject: RE: Songs with I and IV chords only?
From: GUEST,Joseph Scott
Date: 07 Sep 18 - 01:13 AM

"or blues music" It was rare to leave the V out in blues. For instance people sometimes used I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-V-V-I-I or very close to that, but it was rarer to swap that, to include the IV and leave out the V.

There were (rarely) some 8-bar I-I-I-I-IV-IV-I-I blues, such as "Pretty Mama Blues" by Cannon's Jug Stompers, "Sundown Blues" by Alec Johnson, and "Carroll County Blues" by Narmour and Smith.

Subject: RE: Songs with I and IV chords only?
From: Gibb Sahib
Date: 07 Sep 18 - 03:58 AM

The "Rudeboy Skank" riddim is a 2018 remake of "Feel Like Jumpin'".
https://youtu.be/TMwA-hBMpfs

Subject: RE: Songs with I and IV chords only?
From: GUEST,Jerry
Date: 07 Sep 18 - 04:05 PM

How about Turquoise by Donovan?

Subject: RE: Songs with I and IV chords only?
From: Jason Xion Wang
Date: 25 Apr 23 - 03:26 PM

I remember two songs within the folk genre that use I and IV chords only:

Follow That Road by Anne Hills [A and D]
Prisoners by John Denver [D and G]

Hope this helps.

Subject: RE: Songs with I and IV chords only?
From: Jack Campin
Date: 25 Apr 23 - 08:48 PM

I like abusing instruments by playing them in traditions they were never designed for. The Hungarian tilinko is a flute with no fingerholes that plays the harmonic series over the open tube or the (interleaved) series over a stopped tube if you close the end with a finger. Mine is in C so I get a choice of C or G harmonic series. This works well for a lot of blues in G where I and IV predominate. And I get to play washboard with the other hand.

Subject: RE: Songs with I and IV chords only?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 26 Apr 23 - 02:34 AM

Woody's song Pastures of Plenty, as played by him, has D chords only, arguably with a couple of A chords towards the end.

Subject: RE: Songs with I and IV chords only?
From: GUEST
Date: 26 Apr 23 - 02:57 AM

Steve, D and A are I and V chords, that doesn't meet the thread's criteria. I and IV would be D and G.

Subject: RE: Songs with I and IV chords only?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 26 Apr 23 - 04:53 AM

Yes, I know.

Subject: RE: Songs with I and IV chords only?
From: GUEST
Date: 26 Apr 23 - 06:57 AM

So why did you mention it on this particular thread, Steve?

An odd thing to do...

Subject: RE: Songs with I and IV chords only?
From: GUEST
Date: 26 Apr 23 - 07:29 AM

Why not? I fpound it useful

Subject: RE: Songs with I and IV chords only?
From: The Og
Date: 26 Apr 23 - 10:24 AM

Bill Grant's "The Wall". ...good song!

Subject: RE: Songs with I and IV chords only?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 26 Apr 23 - 01:19 PM

Hey, Guest, I can't tell you how many of my threads have been taken REALLY off-topic - and I don't mind! I thought what I posted was at least vaguely connected...

Subject: RE: Songs with I and IV chords only?
From: The Og
Date: 27 Apr 23 - 10:04 AM

Peter Rowan and Bill Monroe's "Walls of Time" uses a I and a IV chord but in one place the 7th of the IV chord is used.