Song: Comfortably Shagged

Artist: HLAH (Head Like a Hole)

Album: Are You Gonna Kiss It or Shoot It?

Songwriters: Tom Watson, Nigel Regan & Nigel “Booga” Beazley

Release date: 1998

Genre: Alternative Rock, Indie Rock

Key: Eb Minor

Chords in Key:

Comfortably Shagged is in the key of E♭minor. This means the subdominant should be written as a C♭, which is the same note as a B♮ (there is no sharp or flat between B and C). When a rock or metal song is in E♭, the guitars (including bass) have usually been tuned down by half a step, or one semitone, giving a tuning of E♭standard. This means, a guitarist will usually think of it as being in E minor since it is functionally the same position as E minor would usually be.

The song is based around a guitar riff. The riff slides upwards from the tonic passing through a blue note to the fifth scale degree. The timing is slightly loose, giving a raw, bluesy feel. The rest of the band enters, with the other guitar playing a three-chord motif using notes from the blues scale. This includes building a chord built from the note a ♭5th above the tonic.

The song doesn’t have a chorus as much as it has a refrain, which uses three descending chords, with the E♭ riff in between, where the title of the song is sung.

The bridge is created by taking the rhythm guitar from the verses and playing it solo before bringing in a harmony line on the other guitar. This is followed by a double-tracked solo and a brief fermata before another verse and chorus. A variation in this verse is the harmony line on the guitar from earlier, which is now used on its own as a riff.

For a glossary of terms visit dictionary.onmusic.org

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