Few chords but intresting song, how?

[halfpower]

I mainly just use chords to fatten up the sound. Another way to do this is to use effects such as distortion, compression, reverb, etc.

[jancivil]

the memorable thing about a tune, is the tune. people don't go around humming the chord progression really.

[Ja.x]

Fancier chords/effects/bells&whistles can become more important in the recording/performing stage. Not necessarily in the song writing stage itself.

[JumpingJackFlash]

the memorable thing about a tune, is the tune. people don't go around humming the chord progression really.

True, but a mediocre melody with good harmony sounds a lot better than a great melody with poor harmony. (NB: By 'good' I don't necessarily mean always consonant, and the harmony also includes the orchestration and part writing.)

[jancivil]

that's true enough! I remember hearing REM do Wichita Lineman, which is a song I've arranged, performed, and know well, and they didn't find what the changes actually were apparently... and that does not present the song in its best light. But this is just competence vs not.

there is a point where the harmony is the thing and the melody owes to it, Giant Steps by John Coltrane, the whole point is to move the harmony as much as humanly possible and what you do with it, the head itself in fact, is completely dependent on it.

For simple tunes this may be a matter of an arranger's craft. Context...

Somewhere Over the Rainbow is a useful example, it can be harmonized a lot of different ways and you still know the tune. But the tune itself implies certain chords. It's such a strong tune you can bypass the obvious.