“Earth, Wind & Fire were one of the most musically accomplished, critically acclaimed, and commercially popular funk bands of the ’70s,” proclaims AllMusic. “…EWF’s all-encompassing musical vision used funk as its foundation, but also incorporated jazz, smooth soul, gospel, pop, rock & roll, psychedelia, blues, folk, African music, and, later on, disco … More than just versatility for its own sake, EWF’s eclecticism was part of a broader concept informed by a cosmic, mystical spirituality and an uplifting positivity the likes of which hadn’t been seen since the early days of Sly & the Family Stone … at their best, Earth, Wind & Fire seemingly took all that came before them and wrapped it up into one dizzying, spectacular package.”
After several chart-topping albums in the late 70s, in particular the late-70s smashes All ‘n All (triple platinum) and I Am (double platinum), the band released Faces in 1980. “You,” Faces’ fourth single, reached #10 on the Billboard Hot R&B Singles chart and #30 on the Adult Contemporary Songs chart. Like “After the Love Has Gone,” EWF’s quintessential power ballad, “You” was co-written by David Foster.
After starting in G major, 1:13 brings the chorus in E minor; halfway through the chorus (1:27), the tonality folds in on itself and we’ve landed in G# minor. At 1:45, verse two starts, but we’re now elevated up a whole step (A major) relative to the first verse — likely unnoticed due to the overall harmonic sleight of hand! A 2:40, the chorus arrives again, this time to stay: it morphs into an extended outro. The outro centers around three two-chord pairs (F# minor/B minor; A# minor/D# minor; and D minor/G minor), all compellingly connected by half-steps. The three sets, repeating and fading to the end, essentially form a gigantic hemiola effect over the 4/4 time. Many thanks to our faithful mod sender-inner JB for this tune!
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