Billy Gibbons of ZZ Topp says to "Always play it in the key of G demolished." What does that mean?

This was a quote he gave on the season finale of "Bones" when his character (self) was asked for advice. When the person he said it to said, "I don't know what that means." Billy Gibbons replied- "You either know what it means or you don't." I don't. Are there any ZZ Top Fans or musicians who do?

Anonymous2007-08-12T22:35:59Z

Favorite Answer

At first I thought he meant key of G diminished, but that isn't a key, it's a chord.
If you ignore the ''demolished'' part, the key of G Major holds a very easy resonance for the human ear to hear (just slightly better than other keys, mostly) and is easy for singers to match to the range of. Enough so the Garrison Keillor frequently calls for the Star Spangled Banner to be customly played in GM (Instead of Ab or Bb Major) so that the average person can sing it more accesibly, as the melody is a difficult one, spanning an octave and a half. G is one of the most frequently-employed keys across classical and popular music. This is in part because of its relative ease of playing on both keyboard and string instruments.

James2016-05-21T06:09:46Z

Okay, there are a lot of theories here, let me come at it from a guitarist's perspective.
G is one of the easiest, most rounded chords and chord progressions. And Billy Gibbons is a hard core, deep south rocker. Therefore what he means by "Always play in the key of G Demolished" is simply, live life fast, easy and when all else fails, break ****.
Alternatively, he could just mean play in G and add plenty of distortion and crunch. XD

takacs2016-11-07T12:56:27Z

Demolished Meaning

Michael Rap12014-05-29T18:02:14Z

I think if Billy Gibbons said "G demolished" he meant "G Demolished". He more than most has an
exact handle on a Fender. Very few ever reach the level of a 3 piece band like ZZ top does.
Reverend Billy. "Rock on in demolished my Texan brother.

Anonymous2016-03-23T06:26:22Z

(((((Linz))))) I think there is judgment and then there is JUDGMENT. When I remind people, as I'm wont to do, that they are judging people in direct contradiction to the gospel they claim to adhere to (Mat 7:1, e.g.), they often come back with something like "we make judgments every day. How can we not?" But you're right: having opinions,esp. when a person's actions threaten to harm you, or infringe on your rights, is not only natural, it's necessary. If a person says, "The Bible says to love each other and not to judge, so, those people who are hating and judging and sneering, even though they call themselves Christians, don't seem to be very Christian," that's an "I" statement that is a more of a fact-based opinion about what I perceive. But when a person says "Because you don't use the same religious terminology as I do, or because you eat meat on Fridays, or because you sprinkle instead of dunk, you aren't SAVED and God will send you to hell," that's a judgment. It's a 'you-statement' opinion that is presumptuous and arrogant. This is the kind of judgment that Jesus talked about in Mat 7:1 etc. Of course you always have the odd zealot who believes that just to disagree with him is a treacherous act of demoralizing judgment. They tend to be the ones who have no concept that their personal opinions might not be pure, unadulterated fact. In my experience, these tend to be the "blind-faithers" and since they are told not to think about their beliefs, they have no recourse to debate an honest opinion except to complain that you are judging them by disagreeing. Sorry this is so long. Seems like I can't say anything in less than 2500 words. No, I'm NOT long-winded... I prefer to think of it as *colloquial.* :)

Show more answers (6)