so fresh, so clean (2000)
outkast. hip hop, Atlanta GA USA.
(original)
(radio-friendly)
key: C minor
mode: C mixolydian — C D E F G A Bb C
melody: l t d r m f s l'
form: verse-chorus-bridge/breakdown
meter: duple
English function names: tonic subdominant
Tagg (modified): home counterpoise (away)
Riemann: t s
Scale degrees: i iv
Chords: Cm7 Fm7 Cm7 Fm7
|:/ / / / |/ / / / :| loopI’m going to think out loud here: What can I say about this track? Obviously, not for classroom use. Obviously, the interest in this song is in the rhythm — particularly the interplay between the drum track and the rap — and not the chord progression. Obviously, the interest is in the timbre and not the melody or harmony, although both are quite nice examples of latter day funk/soul/r&b. I could transcribe parts of it, but I feel that it would illuminate little about the use of two chords, though it certainly would be educational, for me at least.
Sometimes, you can do a lot with only two chords. The use of two chords carries a lot of the weight of the work of the song. Sometimes, you are using two chords because you want something else to carry the song. You want to leave more room for another aspect of the structure or ingredients to shine. More complex harmonies could distract from the lyrics and the rhythmic feel, which is clearly the focus here. I am sure there are remixes out there that get all fancy. Yet the rhymes and the rhythms are fancy enough. Perhaps "distract" is not the right word. More harmonies are going to significantly change the emotional trajectory of the piece. Do we need that kind of drama? I think not. Not if we are going to play it cool, like Outkast.
There are a few overarching lessons in this blog that are illustrated nicely by this song. One is that you don't need to have a lot going on harmonically to create an effective song. Two is that it's always worth thinking about how much you really need to get a piece of music going and how much you really need to sustain it. What is going to carry the motion forward and why and how? In its own way this song is totally over the top, yet also quite understated. Using only two chords is part of how they pull that off.