In 1969, American band The Stooges recorded ‘I Wanna Be Your Dog’. The song lasts just over 3 minutes and uses 3 chords, making epic garage rock that forms the start of punk. We could try a semiotic analysis about whether the meaning of the song concerns power, sex or canine grooving but let’s just enjoy the dirtiness and not dig too deep, eh? Be Your Dog is an often-covered song (Sex Pistols, Joan Jett, Sonic Youth) that also features in film (Sid and Nancy), TV (Skins) and computer games (Grand Theft Auto IV). What’s also quite interesting is that it’s one of very few recorded songs that feature sleighbells all the way through. We didn’t hear them until this was pointed out; now we can’t unhear the bells.
An all-girl punk band from the Basque Country Las Vulpes recorded a cover, but changed the words to “Me gusta ser una zorra” (“I like being a slut”). It was their only single, released in 1983. Again, we present this to you with no analysis!
Six chords. It’s practically prog rock if you think about it.