In terms of chords and melody, Dust to Dust is more basic than the typical song, having below average scores in Chord Complexity, Melodic Complexity, Chord-Melody Tension, Chord Progression Novelty and Chord-Bass Melody.
Dust to Dust is written in the key of B Locrian. According to the Theorytab database, it is the most popular key among Locrian keys and the 72nd most popular among all keys. The B Locrian scale is similar to the B Minor scale except that both the 2nd and the 5th notes (C and F) are a half step lower. This means that the characteristic "home base" chord of B Locrian has a dissonant diminished quality (b˚), which makes it a very uncommon choice for songs. See the B Locrian Cheat Sheet for popular chords, chord progressions, downloadable midi files and more!