In a previous post, I explored making a simple melody more interesting by creatively harmonizing it (link below).  In that song – NRBQ’s ‘If I Don’t Have You’ – the melody and chords were mostly diatonic; that is, they basically stayed in one key.  And when they left the key, they did so in a way that our ears are familiar with from many blues and pop songs.

This week I’m going to look at a song that does some similar things but takes the harmony further – Radiohead’s ‘Karma Police’.

In NRBQ’s song, the lyric and musical idea was happy.  The diatonic chords reflected that.  In ‘Karma Police’, the lyric and music idea is much more disturbing and ambiguous, and the harmonization embodies and reflects that.  The slipping and sliding involving the key – quickly out, and just as quickly back in – creates an unsettling effect that’s perfect for the theme of the song and the lyric itself, which further enhances that effect by not using rhymes.

If you’re not already familiar with this song, you’ll find it helpful listen to the the video below and to play through the chord progression as you sing or hum the melody, however roughly.

Play the video here.

The melody of the first 6 bars – three 2-bar phrases – moves between just 4 notes – B, C, D, E.  At the end of the 6th bar it expands downwards, ending the phrase by adding an A and a G.

So the melody is a simple (note-wise) and evocative diatonic melody, using every note in an A minor scale except the 6th, which would be F or F#.  As we’ll see, leaving this scale tone out of the melody creates opportunities that are exploited in the way the song is harmonized.

Here’s the chord progression for the 8 bar Verse:

(Note: Minus signs indicate a minor chord.  Therefore A- indicates an A minor chord, etc. Also, a ‘/’ after a chord indicates a different bass note.  So D/F# means play a D chord, but with an F# in the bass.)

||: A- D/F# | E- G | A- F | E- G | A- D | G D/F# C G/B | A- | B- D :||

Try playing it through a few times – it’s a great chord progression.

As you can see, the chords for those first three 2-bar phrases are the same except the 2nd chord varies in each – first it’s D/F#, then F, then D (the 6th bar is different; but the melody is different there too).

After setting us up the first time with a D/F# (bar 2) , the move to an F chord in the second phrase (bar 4) is particularly effective – unexpected, unsettling, yet very musical.  The bar with the F chord also ends in a B melody note – the flatted 5th.  While that’s being held briefly, the F chord moves to an E- chord, so the flatted 5th resolves by becoming the 5th of the E- chord.

The harmony basically stays in one key (A minor) but by using the F# under the D chord the first time, then F chord the second time, it chordally explores the tension between the 6th scale tone – F# – and  the flatted 6th – F… the notes that are left out of the melody scale.

Try playing and singing the song with the chords from the first two bars – | A- D/F# | E- G | – repeating in the 3rd and 4th bar – in other words, play the D/F# again instead of playing the F chord the second time.  It actually works fine without the variation.  They could have written it that way.

But then try it as they did write it, with the F chord in bar 4…. A whole different feeling, just by changing one chord.  This song is a great example of using unexpected chords to create a complex subtext to go under or along with words and melody.

And the Bridge has something I really love.  The chords are | C D/F# | G F# |  The way-out-of-key F# major chord that follows the simple C to D to G (IV to V to I) progression is brilliant.  Very Beatle-esque!  In fact the whole song sounds to me like what The Beatles might have done if they’d popped up and made The White Album 30 years later.

The Link to the NRBQ post is here.  I also wrote a bit about Karma Police’s no-rhyme lyrics here.