Chords for The Handsome Family explain how their song wound up on True Detective
Tempo:
123.75 bpm
Chords used:
E
Am
G
A
C
Tuning:Standard Tuning (EADGBE)Capo:+0fret
Start Jamming...
It was a 12 year old album at the time.
[Am] How does a song, and was it like a single or a big song, it was in the middle of the record?
It was actively ignored by the entire world.
I thought [E] it was kind of a novelty song, it's a [A] tango, it was kind of the first [E] song that we wrote that had a real [C] desert flavor,
[E] that had [Dm] Nancy and Lee [Am] exchange and these kind of Calexico sounding trumpets [E] and [C] stuff and all this Morricone.
It was kind of [G] an experiment just to see if we could do that kind of thing.
You were going for that, Nancy Sinatra, [Dm] Lee Hazelwood?
We were not going for a cop show theme song.
Right, [F] right.
It was very, very influenced by [Am] that.
It's like some Velvet Horn.
Sand.
Well it was such a perfect choice because this kind of crime noir American gothic vibe runs throughout the 11 album discography of Handsome [E] Family.
So how did [E] you become aware that they wanted [Dm] to use your music like every week?
You know, it's not anything like you'd [C] expect it would be.
We were on Matthew McConaughey's yacht and he was like, [A] hey dude, let's talk about [F] something.
High five!
There's a circle and it never ends.
We got [C] an email saying that there was some middle man that was [G] talking about contracts for maybe to use a snippet of one of our [Dm] songs for an interrogation room scene in a cop show.
Great, another [F] cop show.
Just what America needs.
You know, but we were thinking, I will [Am] do anything.
Just please help us.
So we were thinking.
So yeah, we were excited about that and there was a PS maybe it also might be considered for the main title theme.
So they [E] sent us a contract saying we're okay with using it for an interrogation room scene or the main title theme.
And then we didn't hear from them for a long time.
And [G] you know, there was some talk of where the multi tracks because somebody might want to remix it.
And we of course did not have any tracks because it was 12 years old.
And that hard drive failed long ago.
So there were many reasons we thought, oh boy, they're not going to use our song because they [Eb] want to remix it and they want to have control.
Well, there's a lot of games involved when you start working with.
There's a lot of people [D] involved with a new show.
So we were totally thinking that the last minute they're going to switch us out.
And so really we found out when the show came on the air and we were sitting there hoping, hoping, hoping.
Wow.
Literally, we [Fm] didn't know to the last minute.
Wow.
Very non communicative.
Is it in any way?
What are the benefits?
What are the drawbacks of having a song placed in a major cable show like that?
They didn't ask to use it for free like everyone else.
So that was good.
No, they paid us and it wasn't like, I mean I've heard Robert Allman talking about how his son wrote the lyrics for the theme to the movie MASH in the 70s.
He just wrote the words and he was 18 and he never had to work again.
So it wasn't like that.
The truth is they paid and they paid well.
I mean probably not what people assume that they paid.
But they're still Spotify. Spotify.
I'm wealthy now.
There's still YouTube.
There's still a lot of ways to hear that song for free.
But the thing about saying that licensing is going to [A] save the music industry is almost as absurd as saying that vinyl will.
I mean the problem with licensing is there just aren't that many slots.
I mean it's a finite amount of work.
I mean it's not like the old days when you could sell a record and actually make five bucks a [C] pop.
So it's a crapshoot.
It's a lottery.
It really is.
True Detective became viral and everybody was talking about it and people were really excited [G] about the show.
But it could have came and went and nobody could have cared.
There's probably a lot of theme songs [Dm] that do come and go.
And so we got incredibly lucky that one, they picked [F] the song out of probably millions of songs that they tried in that opening [Am] sequence.
And then two, that the show actually was watched by people and they did like the song and they liked the opening sequence a lot.
And so those were all like incredibly amazing coincidences that you can't plan or count on.
But they were great.
And the funny thing that I tell people that I think it was really amazing is that [E] that's the one song of ours that's very, very easy [E] to hear for free.
Because [D] it's everywhere.
People have posted [Am] it all over YouTube and all over Spotify and everybody's website.
So you didn't have to buy that song.
But people did go buy it.
[A] So we learned that people do buy music but [E] it's for maybe an emotional reason, not necessarily because you need it.
Sometimes you [C] really like a song and you just want to own it.
So thank you all those people that felt they [G] needed to own it.
Well, it's that one song anyway.
And you know [Dm] that Axl Rose perhaps listened to that song and go, wow, [D] let's [G] use that as our [F] opening music when we go out on this tour.
[Am] It's crazy.
I think that's the craziest story, this whole thing.
There's some great YouTube videos of Guns N' Roses coming on stage in South [G] America.
And they have a backdrop [Em] of a cactus [A] and like a howling [E] coyote.
And there comes Axl and he's dancing to our song.
It [E] doesn't get [Em] much more exciting than that.
[A] A little band from [Am] Chicago.
Pretty cool.
That is awesome.
[Am] How does a song, and was it like a single or a big song, it was in the middle of the record?
It was actively ignored by the entire world.
I thought [E] it was kind of a novelty song, it's a [A] tango, it was kind of the first [E] song that we wrote that had a real [C] desert flavor,
[E] that had [Dm] Nancy and Lee [Am] exchange and these kind of Calexico sounding trumpets [E] and [C] stuff and all this Morricone.
It was kind of [G] an experiment just to see if we could do that kind of thing.
You were going for that, Nancy Sinatra, [Dm] Lee Hazelwood?
We were not going for a cop show theme song.
Right, [F] right.
It was very, very influenced by [Am] that.
It's like some Velvet Horn.
Sand.
Well it was such a perfect choice because this kind of crime noir American gothic vibe runs throughout the 11 album discography of Handsome [E] Family.
So how did [E] you become aware that they wanted [Dm] to use your music like every week?
You know, it's not anything like you'd [C] expect it would be.
We were on Matthew McConaughey's yacht and he was like, [A] hey dude, let's talk about [F] something.
High five!
There's a circle and it never ends.
We got [C] an email saying that there was some middle man that was [G] talking about contracts for maybe to use a snippet of one of our [Dm] songs for an interrogation room scene in a cop show.
Great, another [F] cop show.
Just what America needs.
You know, but we were thinking, I will [Am] do anything.
Just please help us.
So we were thinking.
So yeah, we were excited about that and there was a PS maybe it also might be considered for the main title theme.
So they [E] sent us a contract saying we're okay with using it for an interrogation room scene or the main title theme.
And then we didn't hear from them for a long time.
And [G] you know, there was some talk of where the multi tracks because somebody might want to remix it.
And we of course did not have any tracks because it was 12 years old.
And that hard drive failed long ago.
So there were many reasons we thought, oh boy, they're not going to use our song because they [Eb] want to remix it and they want to have control.
Well, there's a lot of games involved when you start working with.
There's a lot of people [D] involved with a new show.
So we were totally thinking that the last minute they're going to switch us out.
And so really we found out when the show came on the air and we were sitting there hoping, hoping, hoping.
Wow.
Literally, we [Fm] didn't know to the last minute.
Wow.
Very non communicative.
Is it in any way?
What are the benefits?
What are the drawbacks of having a song placed in a major cable show like that?
They didn't ask to use it for free like everyone else.
So that was good.
No, they paid us and it wasn't like, I mean I've heard Robert Allman talking about how his son wrote the lyrics for the theme to the movie MASH in the 70s.
He just wrote the words and he was 18 and he never had to work again.
So it wasn't like that.
The truth is they paid and they paid well.
I mean probably not what people assume that they paid.
But they're still Spotify. Spotify.
I'm wealthy now.
There's still YouTube.
There's still a lot of ways to hear that song for free.
But the thing about saying that licensing is going to [A] save the music industry is almost as absurd as saying that vinyl will.
I mean the problem with licensing is there just aren't that many slots.
I mean it's a finite amount of work.
I mean it's not like the old days when you could sell a record and actually make five bucks a [C] pop.
So it's a crapshoot.
It's a lottery.
It really is.
True Detective became viral and everybody was talking about it and people were really excited [G] about the show.
But it could have came and went and nobody could have cared.
There's probably a lot of theme songs [Dm] that do come and go.
And so we got incredibly lucky that one, they picked [F] the song out of probably millions of songs that they tried in that opening [Am] sequence.
And then two, that the show actually was watched by people and they did like the song and they liked the opening sequence a lot.
And so those were all like incredibly amazing coincidences that you can't plan or count on.
But they were great.
And the funny thing that I tell people that I think it was really amazing is that [E] that's the one song of ours that's very, very easy [E] to hear for free.
Because [D] it's everywhere.
People have posted [Am] it all over YouTube and all over Spotify and everybody's website.
So you didn't have to buy that song.
But people did go buy it.
[A] So we learned that people do buy music but [E] it's for maybe an emotional reason, not necessarily because you need it.
Sometimes you [C] really like a song and you just want to own it.
So thank you all those people that felt they [G] needed to own it.
Well, it's that one song anyway.
And you know [Dm] that Axl Rose perhaps listened to that song and go, wow, [D] let's [G] use that as our [F] opening music when we go out on this tour.
[Am] It's crazy.
I think that's the craziest story, this whole thing.
There's some great YouTube videos of Guns N' Roses coming on stage in South [G] America.
And they have a backdrop [Em] of a cactus [A] and like a howling [E] coyote.
And there comes Axl and he's dancing to our song.
It [E] doesn't get [Em] much more exciting than that.
[A] A little band from [Am] Chicago.
Pretty cool.
That is awesome.
Key:
E
Am
G
A
C
E
Am
G
_ It was a 12 year old album at the time.
[Am] How does a song, and was it like a single or a big song, it was in the middle of the record?
It was actively ignored by the entire world.
I thought [E] it was kind of a novelty song, it's a [A] tango, it was kind of the first [E] song that we wrote that had a real _ [C] desert flavor,
[E] that had _ _ [Dm] Nancy and Lee [Am] exchange and these kind of Calexico sounding trumpets [E] and [C] stuff and all this Morricone.
_ It was kind of [G] an experiment just to see if we could do that kind of thing.
You were going for that, Nancy Sinatra, [Dm] Lee Hazelwood?
We were not going for a cop show theme song.
Right, [F] right.
It _ was very, very influenced by [Am] that.
It's like some Velvet Horn.
_ Sand.
Well it was such a perfect choice because this kind of crime noir American gothic vibe runs throughout the 11 album discography of Handsome [E] Family.
So how did [E] you become aware that they wanted [Dm] to use your music like every week?
You know, it's not anything like you'd [C] expect it would be.
We were on Matthew McConaughey's yacht and he was like, [A] hey dude, let's talk about [F] something.
High five!
There's a circle and it never ends.
We got [C] an email saying that there was some middle man that was [G] talking about contracts for maybe to use a snippet of one of our [Dm] songs for an interrogation room scene in a cop show.
Great, another [F] cop show.
Just what America needs.
You know, but we were thinking, I will [Am] do anything.
Just please help us.
So we were thinking.
So yeah, we were excited about that and there was a PS maybe it also might be considered for the main title theme.
So they [E] sent us a contract saying we're okay with using it for an interrogation room scene or the main title theme.
And then we didn't hear from them for a long time.
_ And [G] you know, there was some talk of where the multi tracks because somebody might want to remix it.
And we of course did not have any tracks because it was 12 years old.
And that hard drive failed long ago.
So there were many reasons we thought, oh boy, they're not going to use our song because they [Eb] want to remix it and they want to have control.
_ Well, there's a lot of games involved when you start working with.
There's a lot of people [D] involved with a new show.
So we were totally thinking that the last minute they're going to switch us out.
And so really we found out when the show came on the air and we were sitting there hoping, hoping, hoping.
Wow.
Literally, we [Fm] didn't know to the last minute.
Wow.
Very non communicative.
Is it in any way?
What are the benefits?
What are the drawbacks of having a song placed in a major cable show like that?
They didn't ask to use it for free like everyone else.
So that was good.
_ No, they paid us and it wasn't like, I mean I've heard Robert Allman talking about how his son wrote the lyrics for the theme to the movie MASH in the 70s.
He just wrote the words and he was 18 and he never had to work again.
_ So it wasn't like that. _
_ The truth is they paid and they paid well.
I mean probably not what people assume that they paid.
But they're still Spotify. Spotify.
I'm wealthy now.
There's still YouTube.
There's still a lot of ways to hear that song for free.
But the thing about _ _ saying that licensing is going to [A] save the music industry is almost as absurd as saying that vinyl will.
I mean the problem with licensing is there just aren't that many slots.
I mean it's a finite amount of work.
I mean it's not like the old days when you could sell a record and actually make five bucks a [C] pop.
So it's a crapshoot.
It's a lottery.
It really is.
True Detective became viral and everybody was talking about it and people were really excited [G] about the show.
But it could have came and went and nobody could have cared.
There's probably a lot of theme songs [Dm] that do come and go.
And so we got incredibly lucky that one, they picked [F] the song out of probably millions of songs that they tried in that opening [Am] sequence.
And then two, that the show actually was watched by people and they did like the song and they liked the opening sequence a lot.
And so those were all like incredibly amazing coincidences that you can't plan or count on.
But they were great.
And the funny thing that I tell people that I think it was really amazing is that [E] that's the one song of ours that's very, very easy [E] to hear for free.
Because [D] it's everywhere.
People have posted [Am] it all over YouTube and all over Spotify and everybody's website.
So you didn't have to buy that song.
But people did go buy it.
[A] So we learned that people do buy music but [E] it's for maybe an emotional reason, not necessarily because you need it.
Sometimes you [C] really like a song and you just want to own it.
So thank you all those people that felt they [G] needed to own it.
Well, it's that one song anyway.
And _ you know [Dm] that Axl Rose perhaps listened to that song and go, wow, [D] let's [G] use that as our [F] opening music when we go out on this tour.
[Am] It's crazy.
I think that's the craziest story, this whole thing.
There's some great YouTube videos of Guns N' Roses coming on stage in South [G] America.
And they have a backdrop [Em] of a cactus [A] and like a howling [E] coyote.
And there comes Axl and he's dancing to our song.
It [E] doesn't get [Em] much more exciting than that.
[A] A little band from [Am] Chicago.
Pretty cool.
That is awesome. _ _ _ _ _ _ _
[Am] How does a song, and was it like a single or a big song, it was in the middle of the record?
It was actively ignored by the entire world.
I thought [E] it was kind of a novelty song, it's a [A] tango, it was kind of the first [E] song that we wrote that had a real _ [C] desert flavor,
[E] that had _ _ [Dm] Nancy and Lee [Am] exchange and these kind of Calexico sounding trumpets [E] and [C] stuff and all this Morricone.
_ It was kind of [G] an experiment just to see if we could do that kind of thing.
You were going for that, Nancy Sinatra, [Dm] Lee Hazelwood?
We were not going for a cop show theme song.
Right, [F] right.
It _ was very, very influenced by [Am] that.
It's like some Velvet Horn.
_ Sand.
Well it was such a perfect choice because this kind of crime noir American gothic vibe runs throughout the 11 album discography of Handsome [E] Family.
So how did [E] you become aware that they wanted [Dm] to use your music like every week?
You know, it's not anything like you'd [C] expect it would be.
We were on Matthew McConaughey's yacht and he was like, [A] hey dude, let's talk about [F] something.
High five!
There's a circle and it never ends.
We got [C] an email saying that there was some middle man that was [G] talking about contracts for maybe to use a snippet of one of our [Dm] songs for an interrogation room scene in a cop show.
Great, another [F] cop show.
Just what America needs.
You know, but we were thinking, I will [Am] do anything.
Just please help us.
So we were thinking.
So yeah, we were excited about that and there was a PS maybe it also might be considered for the main title theme.
So they [E] sent us a contract saying we're okay with using it for an interrogation room scene or the main title theme.
And then we didn't hear from them for a long time.
_ And [G] you know, there was some talk of where the multi tracks because somebody might want to remix it.
And we of course did not have any tracks because it was 12 years old.
And that hard drive failed long ago.
So there were many reasons we thought, oh boy, they're not going to use our song because they [Eb] want to remix it and they want to have control.
_ Well, there's a lot of games involved when you start working with.
There's a lot of people [D] involved with a new show.
So we were totally thinking that the last minute they're going to switch us out.
And so really we found out when the show came on the air and we were sitting there hoping, hoping, hoping.
Wow.
Literally, we [Fm] didn't know to the last minute.
Wow.
Very non communicative.
Is it in any way?
What are the benefits?
What are the drawbacks of having a song placed in a major cable show like that?
They didn't ask to use it for free like everyone else.
So that was good.
_ No, they paid us and it wasn't like, I mean I've heard Robert Allman talking about how his son wrote the lyrics for the theme to the movie MASH in the 70s.
He just wrote the words and he was 18 and he never had to work again.
_ So it wasn't like that. _
_ The truth is they paid and they paid well.
I mean probably not what people assume that they paid.
But they're still Spotify. Spotify.
I'm wealthy now.
There's still YouTube.
There's still a lot of ways to hear that song for free.
But the thing about _ _ saying that licensing is going to [A] save the music industry is almost as absurd as saying that vinyl will.
I mean the problem with licensing is there just aren't that many slots.
I mean it's a finite amount of work.
I mean it's not like the old days when you could sell a record and actually make five bucks a [C] pop.
So it's a crapshoot.
It's a lottery.
It really is.
True Detective became viral and everybody was talking about it and people were really excited [G] about the show.
But it could have came and went and nobody could have cared.
There's probably a lot of theme songs [Dm] that do come and go.
And so we got incredibly lucky that one, they picked [F] the song out of probably millions of songs that they tried in that opening [Am] sequence.
And then two, that the show actually was watched by people and they did like the song and they liked the opening sequence a lot.
And so those were all like incredibly amazing coincidences that you can't plan or count on.
But they were great.
And the funny thing that I tell people that I think it was really amazing is that [E] that's the one song of ours that's very, very easy [E] to hear for free.
Because [D] it's everywhere.
People have posted [Am] it all over YouTube and all over Spotify and everybody's website.
So you didn't have to buy that song.
But people did go buy it.
[A] So we learned that people do buy music but [E] it's for maybe an emotional reason, not necessarily because you need it.
Sometimes you [C] really like a song and you just want to own it.
So thank you all those people that felt they [G] needed to own it.
Well, it's that one song anyway.
And _ you know [Dm] that Axl Rose perhaps listened to that song and go, wow, [D] let's [G] use that as our [F] opening music when we go out on this tour.
[Am] It's crazy.
I think that's the craziest story, this whole thing.
There's some great YouTube videos of Guns N' Roses coming on stage in South [G] America.
And they have a backdrop [Em] of a cactus [A] and like a howling [E] coyote.
And there comes Axl and he's dancing to our song.
It [E] doesn't get [Em] much more exciting than that.
[A] A little band from [Am] Chicago.
Pretty cool.
That is awesome. _ _ _ _ _ _ _