“Bring Me To Light” from Jeanine Tesori‘s musical Violet (2015) is filled with some amazing key changes, outlined below:
Starts in A Major
to G Major (0:43)
to E Major (1:02)
to Gb Major (1:33)
to G Major (2:04)
to C Major (subtly) (2:20)
to Eb Major to the end (2:39)
Unlike his huge 1980s hits, pop/soul artist Robert Palmer‘s 1994 release “Know By Now” was more subtle than flashy. It reached only #25 in the UK and garnered next to no airplay in the US. Sadly, in 2003, Palmer died of a heart attack at the age of only 54. The track, which Billboard magazine reviewed as “stick(ing) to the brain after one spin,” features key changes at almost every turn. The prominent placement of the word “honey” in the lyrics (1:35, etc.) seems to be a nod to the host album’s title.
Palmer told The Canadian Press in 1994: “I happen to think that it is probably the best song I’ve written for many reasons – first of all, it’s three songs in one, in that each piece of it was a separate inspiration at a different time, not merely a reason to get from A to C.”
0:00 C# Major (intro, after a brief F# Minor key of the moment)
0:38 E Minor (verse)
1:11 C# Major (pre-chorus)
1:36 F# Minor (chorus)
1:58 E Minor (verse)
2:30 C# Major (pre-chorus)
2:55 F# Minor (chorus to end)
The Foundations released their hit “Build Me Up, Buttercup” in 1968; it reached #1 in the US, Canada, and Australia. It’s often played during the 7th inning stretch during Los Angeles Angels games. The key change is at the tail end of this short single (2:45), just as the tune begins its fade-out.
From Tuesday’s MLB All-Star Game, featuring a double modulation at 1:11 and 1:23 (2018). Enjoy!
Score another mod for MotD member Rob P., who suggested this tune:
The UK’s Wang Chung had a few huge new wave/pop hits in the 80s, including “Everybody Have Fun Tonight” (1986). “’When we came up with the original line, I then went away and wrote with a Hey Jude-style ballad around it, trying to be ironic,” (American Songwriter). “And then when we got in the studio with Peter Wolf, he was like, This is an amazing dance hit, you rock the tempo, you’ve got to really deliver what the title suggests.’
By leaning into the good-timey vibes of the title with a big old synths-and-horns production, Wang Chung danced all the way to #2 on the U.S. pop charts in 1986. The song almost immediately cemented itself in the world of pop culture … Everybody Have Fun Tonight’ rebuilt Wang Chung’s image in one fell swoop. It might have taken them a while to settle on that band moniker, but they wielded it like a weapon on their biggest hit.”
The verse and choruses seem pretty straightforward, but then the bridge (2:32) catches us off guard with a few distinct sections — and two modulations — before returning to the original key at 3:29.
Featuring Frank Sinatra with “That’s Life” (1966) today, from an album of the same name. The track was a top-5 hit during an era otherwise dominated by rock acts. Key change at 2:25.
Whitney Houston‘s 1990 release “All The Man That I Need” was just another garden-variety hit for the songstress, then at the peak of her powers: #1 on the US pop, adult contemporary, AND R&B/hiphop charts, plus many more high chart positions worldwide. Modulation at 2:41.
Lenny Kravitz‘s soulful pop release “It Ain’t Over ’til It’s Over” (1991) featured the Phenix Horns from Earth, Wind & Fire. According to a 2000 interview with VivaMusic.com, Kravitz said “That song just came out one day, and I knew it had a classic vibe, and still love that song very much today.” There’s a modulation during the bridge (2:02 – 2:30).
Transatlantic band Pretenders (frontwoman Chrissie Hynde, an American, founded the band with an all-Brit team of sidemen) released “Kid” in 1979, just as the band began to find its audience. The tune features a direct modulation at 1:35.
“The Song is You” is a jazz standard covered by everyone from Charlie Parker to Stan Getz to Frank Sinatra — and this 1959 version by trumpeter/vocalist Chet Baker. The tune modulates in its middle section and then back to its original key (the first middle section runs from 0:49 to 1:11).
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