Elise

Amy Grant | That’s What Love Is For

“If you were listening to any kind of normal radio in the early 90s, you remember ‘Baby, Baby,’ which hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, as well as ‘Every Heartbeat,’ which hit No. 2. ‘That’s What Love Is For,’ ‘Good For Me’ and ‘I Will Remember You’ all were Top 20 hits as well,” (Daily Vault).

The best part about (1991’s Heart in Motion) … is not the success it brought Grant as much as the way it openly addressed important issues in life. ‘Ask Me’ talks about how faith can help heal a person’s past, specifically child abuse; ‘That’s What Love Is For’ addresses that relationships are tough and take work. Strength and hope are the themes of Heart in Motion … The simplicity of Grant’s voice with her honest lyrics contrast what so many other big names (Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, Christina Aguilera) attempt to achieve.”

“That’s What Love is For” begins in E major, building gradually through its first two verses. The chorus, in C# major, then appears with great fanfare at 1:08; the video further obliges the mood change with a shift from black and white to full color. At 1:42, we dive back into another verse — in the original key and the original black and white! The pattern continues until 3:04, when we stumble into D major as we hop over yet another B+W/color border.

Rod Stewart | You’re In My Heart (The Final Acclaim)

“Over the course of his career, Rod Stewart has … written several songs that turned into modern standards; he’s sung with the Faces, who rivaled the Rolling Stones in their prime; and he’s had massive commercial success” as a solo artist (AllMusic). “He’s one of rock & roll’s best interpretive singers, as well as an accomplished, innovative songwriter whose work created a raw, loose, and charming combination of folk, rock, blues, and country. After Stewart became successful, he began to lose the rootsier elements of his music, adapting his style to suit the times, leading to smash hits in the disco, new wave, and MTV eras.”

Stewart’s 1977 release “You’re In My Heart,” a single from Footloose and Fancy Free, hit #1 on the Australian and Canadian pop charts, peaking at #4 on the Billboard pop chart in the US and in the top ten in Ireland, the Netherlands, and the Stewart’s native UK.

After a start in B major, the soft-spoken mid-tempo tune’s chorus shifts to A major from 1:36 – 1:54 before returning to its original key. The pattern continues throughout. Surprisingly, the song performed much better on the singles charts than “Hot Legs,” the album’s lead track, which was much more in keeping with Stewart’s raucous image at the time; Billboard called “Hot Legs” a “blistering blues rocker.”

George Michael | You Have Been Loved

“Think back to August 1997. George’s album Older had already been out for a year, spinning off a quintet of top 3 singles in the UK whilst being largely ignored in the US,” (The Singles Jukebox). “And then the heretofore unthinkable happened: Diana, Princess of Wales, died in a car crash in Paris. In light of Diana’s death — not to mention that most knew of the friendship between George and Diana — ‘You Have Been Loved’ took on added resonance and became a profoundly moving, albeit unintentional, tribute to the late Princess.

‘You Have Been Loved’ was included a few months later on the Diana, Princess of Wales: Tribute compilation, alongside a number of suitably somber songs, both previously released and newly recorded. ‘Loved’ is the second song on the double album, behind only ‘Who Wants to Live Forever’ by Diana’s beloved Queen, and immediately prior to Annie Lennox’s ‘Angel.'”

The tune begins with an E minor that spends very little time on its tonic chord. But after briefly wending its way through several other tonalities, the chorus ends squarely on C major, starting at 2:37 and running until an interlude and verse 2 begin at at 3:04 in the original key. The track’s final measures are also in C major.

Seals + Crofts | Get Closer

“’Get Closer’ (1976) has all those soft-rock flourishes that everyone loves to deride: the wash of strings, the soulful piano, the soothing harmonies … The lyrical premise of ‘Get Closer’ is simple and pleasantly symmetrical,” (SF Weekly). “Seals and Crofts are asking for reciprocity in their romantic relationships. ‘If you desire emotional intimacy with me, I need you to open up more,’ they seem to be saying. ‘You want me to be monogamous with you? Then quit sleeping around with my friends.’

This song has the added bonus of the voice of Carolyn Willis. Willis was a member of the R&B group Honey Cone in the early 1970s. After the group broke up, she worked as a session singer in Los Angeles for many years before retiring. She seems to have never pursued a solo career; aside from ‘Get Closer,’ you may also recognize her voice on the original ‘Wonder Woman’ theme.”

After starting in G major through the verse, there’s a shift up to A major at 1:01 the chorus. At 1:41, an unprepared modulation back down to G major would have been a bit jarring all on its own, but we’re also knocked further off balance by an unexpected 2/4 bar in an otherwise 4/4 arrangement. The pattern continues from there — until we jump all the way up to E major for the balance of the track at 3:12.

Bonnie Tyler | Total Eclipse of the Heart

“Bonnie Tyler, the gravelly voiced, Grammy-nominated Welsh pop star whose 1983 chart-topping power ballad ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’ enchanted succeeding generations with its bombastic charms during solar and lunar eclipses, has died. She was 75,” (AP, 7/9/26). “Tyler earned three Grammy nods and … was honored as a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 2022 for her services to music by Queen Elizabeth II, thanks mainly to ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart,’ which has had more than 1 billion streams, boosted by real eclipses in 2017 and 2024.

The song spent four weeks at #1; when Stereogum re-evaluated it in 2020, the music outlet declared it an ‘extinction-level event rendered in musical form … It’s pop music as heart-pounding, chest-thumping, blood-gargling, heavens-falling passion explosion. It’s sheer spectacle. It’s fireworks and lasers and lightning and thunder. It soars and swoops and barrel-rolls,’ the site said … The song has never really gone away: it was covered by the English singer Nicki French in 1995 and the band Westlife in 2006. Cate Blanchett sang it while hitting Billy Bob Thornton with her car in 2001’s Bandits, it appeared in a wedding scene in 2003’s Old School, and One Direction sang it in 2010 on a U.K. version of The X Factor.“

The tune was written and produced by Jim Steinman, Meatloaf’s longtime collaborator. Steinman’s flair for the dramatic is immediately on display from the track’s opening bars. The tune provided Tyler, a Wales native, with her biggest hit; it was later voted the third favorite #1 1980s hit in the UK. Beginning in a slightly uptuned Bb minor, the tune shifts upward to B mixolydian at 0:22, then E major at 0:37, before jumping back to begin a second verse in the original key. At 1:29, the Ab major chorus makes its first entrance, followed by a short interlude that runs through 2:59, leading into an instrumental verse. The pattern continues from there. Many thanks to “Copley Scott” for his suggestion of this tune!

Toad the Wet Sprocket | Starting Now

“By 2019, it was evident that there would be a new Toad the Wet Sprocket album,” (American Songwriter). “As frontman Glen Phillips was toiling with what he thought was new solo material, something wasn’t sticking. What he had was a Toad record. ‘We’d taken a long break from recording together,’ says Phillips, ‘and it felt like we had the right songs and the right energy again.’

As he was pulling together Starting Now, Phillips was also coping with bigger life changes, the end of his 23-year marriage, and his kids leaving home, all shifts he says transformed his relationship to songwriting … He adds, ‘For me, it’s much more a matter of like, I am trying to find my way in the wilderness, and I need all the help I can get, so the songs are my own bread crumbs for the things that I know to be true but often forget, and in that realm, it’s about leaning towards hope.’”

“Starting Now,” the mid-tempo track from the 2021 album of the same name, begins in C# minor. An instrumental bridge (1:54 – 2:17) pivots subtly towards its end, leading to a shift up into D# minor at 2:18 as the next verse begins.

Scott Walker | Angelica

“Scott Walker … the pop idol turned crooner turned shocking avant-garde auteur, died (in 2019) at age 76, but not before leaving behind one of the most fascinating catalogues of the rock era,” (The Second Disc). “An American and child actor on Broadway who found his success in England as one third of The Walker Brothers, Scott could have been content reliving his glory days of ‘The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore,’ ‘Make It Easy on Yourself,’ and ‘Joanna.’ But the uncompromising artist never stopped pushing the envelope, as a songwriter, performer, and producer.

… The music business is famous for hyperbole, but it’s no exaggeration to say that few have had a career anything like that of Scott Walker. An American who skyrocketed to fame on British shores in the heady time that was the mid-1960s, Walker (born Noel Scott Engel in 1943) turned his back on the world of a pop idol. He became one of the first major performers to embrace and champion the dark musical melodramas of Jacques Brel but that, too, didn’t last long. After some largely undistinguished albums recorded during his self-described ‘lost years’ and a period of relative seclusion, Walker emerged, creating provocative soundscapes that dispensed with any traditional notions of melody or songwriting.”

“Angelica” (1967), written by Brill Building legends Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, begins in B minor. At 1:10, a soaring vocal melody leads us into the first chorus, with a shift into B major. At 2:03, the pattern repeats, beginning with a second minor verse.

Nickel Creek | Scotch and Chocolate

“These are not veterans of bluegrass – these were three young people who drove their string machines like race cars … they have an appeal for the average ear just short of a confection – but never too sweet,” (Americana Highways). “They have the skill to play impressively and rollick in a bluegrass-commercial flavor that’s tasty … Their recordings are well-made and the group possesses a pearl of musical wisdom to perform with agility, passion, and creative beauty.

… Nickel Creek manages to balance these genres with each performance. It’s obvious the trio could play adeptly alongside such traditional mainstay contemporaries as the classic English ensembles Pentangle, Fairport Convention, Curved Air, the Acoustic Strawbs, Steeleye Span, Dando Shaft, Amazing Blondel and the Incredible String Band.”

After a soft-spoken, meandering intro, “Scotch and Chocolate” (2005) solidly settles into A major at 0:51. At 2:05, with the tempo now at a gallop, D major takes center stage for the balance of the track. This performance is from the COVID-cancelled series Live From Here, the more music-centric successor to A Prairie Home Companion. The series was hosted by Nickel Creek’s mandolinist, Chris Thile.

BTS | For Youth

Popsugar, 2022: “To commemorate nine years in the music industry, BTS have dropped a three-disc anthology album titled Proof. While the album largely consists of past hits, the world’s biggest mainstream K-pop group added three new tracks to the mix, including … ‘For Youth.’ As fans put on the record and relive the hits that made them a lifelong stan, many may wonder about the inspiration behind the closing track, ‘For Youth.’

The song’s placement on the album is undoubtedly intentional, as it’s dedicated to the the K-pop phenom’s avid fanbase … there’s something poetic about including fans in a song that’s basically a love letter addressed to them, thanking them for their love and support over the years … Having gained worldwide prominence at an early age, the group members talk about how they can’t look back on their younger years without associating them with the kindness fans showed them …”

BTS tracks have garnered a staggering 51 billion streams to date — more than three times as many as the next most popular K-pop group. “For Youth,” a track with a gentle 6/8 feel, is augmented in this performance by fans singing tightly coordinated backup lines. The tune features a minimal accompaniment compared to the dense textures of most K-Pop. 3:37 brings a half-step shift upwards from D major to Eb major. Many thanks to our multi-post contributor Ziyad for yet another great submission!

David Bowie | Life on Mars

“In music, there are some songs that speak to some people, and some speak to every one of us,” (Anurag Arya). “This is a song that makes us think of escapism and disillusionment with the world: ‘Life on Mars’ by David Bowie. The song is a career-defining one for Bowie, and one of his most-covered songs. Originally appearing on his Hunky Dory album (1971), it isn’t your standard rock ballad by any means. Bowie could have easily made a four-chord hit out of this one, but instead, this song contains about twenty chords, with unusual scale and tempo changes.

… In a song with a duration of about four minutes, David Bowie made us think of life, a sense of purpose versus a tendency to escape the real world, and commercialism with vivid imagery and a beautiful melody. No wonder his genius lives on even after his death: Among the generic and commercial tropes within pop music, David Bowie managed to cut through the clutter and redefine songwriting musically and lyrically.”

After beginning in E major, 0:42 brings us to a transitional pre-chorus with plenty of pivots in tonality. But at 0:58, we land squarely in A major for the chorus. After another unsettled section — this time an instrumental interlude (1:38 – 1:53), another E major verse returns. The pattern continues from there, with the tune ending with a return to A major.

Many thanks to Mark B. for submitting this tune — his fifth contribution to MotD!