50s progression
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 50s progression is a chord progression (ie sequence of chords) used in Western popular music. As the name implies, it was common in the 1950s and early 1960s and is particularly associated with doo-wop. The Finnish language name for this progression is Aku Ankka -kierto (Donald Duck progression).
The progression is
- I vi IV V
for example, C Am F G (in C).
As with any other chord progression, there are many possible variations, for example turning the V into a V7, or extended repeats of I vi followed by a single IV V. A very common variation is replacing the IV with ii.
[edit] Songs using the progression
There are far too many examples of songs using this progression to produce an exhaustive list. However some examples of well-known songs which use it are:
- 'Heart and Soul (song)' - Hoagy Carmichael
- 'Diana' - Paul Anka
- 'Blue Moon' - Rodgers and Hart
- 'Oh Carol' - most associated with Neil Sedaka
- 'Every Breath You Take' - The Police
- 'Please Mister Postman' - The Marvelettes
- 'I Know It's Over' - The Smiths
- 'Stand By Me' - Ben E. King
- 'Sleep Walk' - Santo & Johnny
- 'Once Upon a Time' - Bobby Darin
- Pts 1 & 2 ('Jesus of Suburbia' and 'City Of The Damned') of 'Jesus of Suburbia' - Green Day
- 'In the Aeroplane Over the Sea' - Neutral Milk Hotel
- 'Baby, I'm an Anarchist! - Against Me!
- 'Wasted' - Carrie Underwood
- 'Earth Angel' - The Penguins
- 'All I Have to Do Is Dream' - Felice and Boudleaux Bryant
- 'Why Do Fools Fall in Love?' - Frankie Lymon
- 'D'yer Mak'er' - Led Zeppelin
- 'Octopus's Garden' and 'Happiness Is a Warm Gun' (second half) - The Beatles
- 'Dream' - Johnny Mercer
- 'The Quiet Things That No One Ever Knows' - Brand New
- 'Soul Love' - David Bowie
- 'The Thin Ice' - Pink Floyd
- 'Those Magic Changes' - Sha Na Na (featured in the film Grease, the lyrics to this song seem to be about the 50s progression)
- 'Untitled - Simple Plan
- 'Music When the Lights Go Out' - the Libertines uses the ii substitution
- 'Runaround Sue' - Dion
- Dance With Me - Adam Green
- Teenager Liebe - Die Ärzte
- Last Kiss - Pearl Jam
- 'Grace Cathedral Hill' - The Decemberists (uses I-vi-IV-V-V7 in the verse)
- '1234 1234' - Streetlight Manifesto
- She's Everything by Brad Paisley
- 'Go Cry on Somebody Else's Shoulder' and 'What's the Ugliest Part of Your Body?' - The Mothers of Invention, both of which parody doo-wop.
- Little Darlin' - The Diamonds
- Unchained Melody - The Righteous Brothers
- The piece played on the giant keyboard in Big
- If I Could Turn Back the Hands of Time - R. Kelly
- Crocodile Rock - Elton John (Na Na Na Part)
- Telephone Line - ELO (Chorus)
- Little Surfer Girl - Beach Boys
[edit] See also
- Twelve bar blues, another common chord progression
